Present Status and Future Prospects of Joint Forest Management in West Bengal

JFM is a recent concept adopted by various States of India, which is an institution building process (not a silvicultural management system) by which it is easier to manage the forests through active participation of the fringe people. But the viability and continuity of these institutions rest on certain factors. The most important is the sustainability of the development process by which the benefits received by the FPC members should be commensurate, at least to some extent, with the services rendered by them in managing the forests effectively. Attempts are made in this article to examine this from institutional, economic and ecological point of view of this programme and suggest improvements. Income of the beneficiaries may not be complementary, but definitely it can be supplemented to great extent, if certain technical and technological measures can be taken. Above everything, motivation and interaction with the FPCs are vital and imparting training for value addition of natural resources is an important factor to augment the income.