The strategy of forest management incorporating joint efforts of the government and the local people is called as joint forest management.
The concept of joint forest management was initiated on a large scale through guidelines issued by the government of India in 1990. According to those guidelines the village communities are to be involved in the development and protection of degraded forests based on taking their genuine share of benefits from those forests.
Later on, joint forest management became a programme of the government of India for the protection and management of forests in different states. By 2005, 28 states of India adopted the resolution of the joint forest management and about 17.33 m ha of the forest area of the country was brought under the programme.
By 2005, about 85.28 lakh families were involved in this programme in India. The joint forest management programme has immense importance in the conservation of soil besides its importance in other sectors of the environment.
Afforestation
The generation of fresh artificial forests by planting of trees is called as Afforestation. It is important for the conservation of soil by increasing vegetation cover on land together with solving the problem of fuel wood, fodder and rural energy. The government of India set up the national Afforestation and Eco-development Board (NAEB) in August 1992. The aims of the establishment of this board were
(a) The Promotion of Afforestation
(B) Plantation of trees
(c) Ecological restoration
(d) Eco- development
National Scenario of Conservation and Management of Forests
The forest cover in India is 6, 75,538 sq km which constitutes 20.55 percent of its geographical area. When we compare the forest cover assessment of 2001 with that of 1999, we come to know that there is an increase of six per cent which constitutes an increase of 1.16 per cent of India’s geographical area. The Government of India has introduced several programmes to increase the forest cover up to thirty percent of its geographical area. A National Afforestation and Eco Development Board were constituted in August 1992 in order to expand forest generation in the country.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, has constituted the National Forest Commission on 7 February 2003. This commission reviews the working of Forest and Wildlife sector. Now, if someone wants to divert a forest land for non-forest purposes, he is bound to take permission from the Central Government under the Forest (conservation) Act, 1980.
The Indian Government introduced Joint Forest Management (JFM) in 1990. Under this programme, about 45000 village communities in 21 states, are managing more than11 million ha of the degraded forests. The Central Government has formulated an Integrated Forest Protection Scheme by merging “Forest Fire Control and Management”, and “Bridging of Infra structure Gaps in Forestry Sector in eastern region and Sikkim”. This scheme has been extended to all the states and union territories during the tenth Five Year Plan.
Conservation and Management of Forests by Local Communities
The communities living near forests remain dependent on them for their livelihood. On the other hand, now they are being increasingly aware of the roles of forests in the environment. Hence, they tend to oppose every stress on their forests caused by contractors and other people including the government officials.
The CHIPKO (1973, Uttarakhand), the APPIKO (1983, Karnataka), the social fencing of Shivalik Hills (1986), the Silent Valley Movement (1963, Kerala) and Joint Forest Management (J.F.M.) in West Bengal (1981, Midna Pur, Bankura and Purulia districts), are some examples of conservation and management of forests through the efforts of local communities in India. Inspired by the J.F.M. in Bengal the Joint Forest Management was introduced in India, on government level in 1990.
Principal Measures to Conserve Forests
1. The extraction of timber should be done judiciously and it should not interfere with the local watersheds.
2. Felling of trees should be minimized, and it should be matched by planting of trees.
3. The use of fire wood should be discouraged and alternate sources of energy should be promoted.
4. Modern techniques of promotion, protection and regeneration of forests like promotion of silvi- culture, disease and pest management, weed control, breeding of endangered tree species and application of techniques of tissue culture should be promoted.
5. Forest conservation and management rules should be enforced properly.
6. All the interference in forests should be banned completely.
7. Poaching and hunting of wild animals should be banned.
