Sustainable Rural Livelihoods under Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme: Some Evidence from West Bengal, India

The objectives of this article are to assess linkages and impact of participatory JFM Programme on Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) across socioeconomic group of forest fringe communities. The study is based on four sample FPCs – one female FPC and three joint FPCs - in Midnapore and Bankura districts in West Bengal. The results suggest that the JFM Programme under the sample FPCs/villages in West Bengal is participatory. With regard to the SRL framework, strong sustainability criteria meet for very poor and poor households, which live below poverty line and are dependent on forest resource for their livelihood security. The study suggests that force or law cannot effectively control illegal collection of TFPs by the households living below poverty line, until a considerable increase in the collection of legal forest products – NTFPs, fuelwood etc. – and wage income from forest are ensured.