Informatics Publishing Limited

C. K. Sreedharan , Jagannadha Rao Matta

Abstract

Joint Forest Management (JFM), a co-management programme between government Forest Departments and local people, has been hailed as a successful strategy in arresting forest degradation and promoting socio-economic development of forest fringe villages in India. Sustaining the programme, however, was found to be a major challenge in the absence of lasting institutional mechanisms and regular income flow to the participating communities. The Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (TAP) addressed these challenges by focusing on (i) providing stronger rights and responsibilities for local forest management, (ii) developing specific institutional measures toward empowering rural poor and women, (iii) ensuring improved sectoral integration and flow of additional developmental assistance, and (iv) promoting flexible and effective programme implementing organizations and stakeholder capacities. These approaches and their outcomes are discussed in the paper.

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C. K. Sreedharan

Abstract

The response of the forest sector towards the liberalization and privatization set in our country has to be positive. There is need to bring in changes in laws, rules and regulations to make tree growing much more attractive and profitable in private lands. We should not miss the excellent opportunity available in the present era. Some areas where changes are required are indicated.

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C. K. Sreedharan , K. Dhanapal

Abstract

Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (TAP) was carried out from 1997 onwards to restore the degraded forests, by involving the local villagers abutting such forest areas, based on Joint Forest Management (JFM) concept. The project mainly focuses on improving the forest, hydrological resources and community development. Monitoring the project is vital to assess the long-term sustainability of the resources and thereby to make informed decisions. Among the many criteria and indicators of the project objectives, forest cover improvement would attract the attention of the policy makers. Information about the change is necessary for monitoring the progress of intervention carried out in any project. The paper deals with the forest cover change detection using remotely sensed data obtained before (1998) and after (2002) the intervention of TAP, in Jothinagar village of Tiruvannamalai District in Tamil Nadu State. The results shows that there is an improvement in 35% forest cover in the study area over a period of four years.

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Ashutosh Samant Singhar , C. K. Sreedharan

Abstract

Any type of change in environmental setup tends to generate conflict. Effective conflict management requires understanding the underlying dynamics of the conflict by higher level managers. Implementation of Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project in Tamil Nadu under JFM, in the recent years, has resulted in several conflicts, e.g. conflicts at formation of VFCs, interests, Panchayat vs VFC, carrying capacity, grazing, species choice and technology, wildlife-human interface and conflicts within the Forest Department etc., which provided new experiences to the foresters. This paper enumerates a few such conflicts and tries to analyse the dynamics from management prospective, with an eye on possible solutions.

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C. K. Sreedharan , Manoj Kumar Sarcar

Abstract

More than 300% of the total forest area in Tamil Nadu has been badly degraded due to heavy biotic interference in the past years. Neither the enforcement of various legal Acts nor the raising of plantations could produce any desired result. It was gradually realised that the only answer would be to take up afforestation programmes on watershed basis with complete participation of people on Joint Forest Management principle. The evolution and development of Joint Forest Management in Tamil Nadu is described.

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