Aspects and Sustainability of Joint Forest Management

"The book attempt to justify the need for change in management of natural resources in collaboration with local communities in the light of failure of the prevailing scientific or regulatory management system. A sincere attempt has been made to explain the various aspects of Joint Forest Management including attitudinal change amongst forest personnel as well as local communities, need of transparency in management and distribution of usufructs for sustainable development of forests for the posterity. An analytical model has been presented incorporating the role of different agencies viz. local communities, Forest Department, NGOs along with their capacity building besides methodology for micro planning including PRA, RRA and PRRA. Different exercises to be performed like fodder and fuelwood matrices, resource map sketch, labour distribution, labour contribution etc. have been explained in detail with examples. The role of women in Joint Forest Management has been elucidated extensively. The sustainability measures viz. Lantana furniture making, leaf plate making, charcoal briquetting, water harvesting, NADEP compost pit method, rope making, mulberry plantation and silkworm rearing for amelioration of village forest ecosystem along with income and employment generation to village communities, and monitoring and evaluation indicators in field conditions are the other significant features of this book. A brief description of Joint Forest Management models in various states of India as well as some countries of the world have also been furnished to permit a comparative understanding of the subject at the National and International levels. "