Question

8. What is Joint Forest Management?
Mention the roles of this organisation
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Answer 1

The foresters had long been working with the forest dwellers through the taungya system of cultivation under which the agriculture crops were raised alongwith the forest plantations for a few years. Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme in the present form can be traced to the Arabari experiment initiated by foresters in the state of West Bengal. This experiment provided a strong feedback for incorporation of the system in the National Forest Policy of 1988. In many locations people’s voluntary groups were engaged in protection of forests without any initiative from the Government. Subsequently, based on the experience, the process of institutionalizing people’s participation in forest protection and regeneration began. This type of collective endeavour in protection and management of forests through people’s involvement was later termed as Joint Forest Management.

Answer 2

Joint forest management is concept of developing relationships between fringe forest groups and forest department on the basis of mutual trust and jointly defined roles and responsibilities for forest protection and development. ... JFM is still in force at Arabari.

ROLES OF JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT:

1. It encourages the development of partnerships between local people and forest department to manage forest lands jointly.
2. It provides a communication structure for consultation and negotiation between forest department and forest users and provides legalized access for the local communities to forest land .