Forest participation of local communities: a study of a tribal dominated region in India

Abstract

The present paper attempts to quantify the level of participation of local communities comprising women, landless people, illiterate people, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes (SC/ST), youth and elders who are involved in the participatory forest management program of India. The paper also tries to estimate the factors responsible for participation in different stages like planning, implementation and monitoring. This paper is based on primary data collected from 252 households in Bagmundi forest range office under Purulia forest division of West Bengal, India, in the month of January 2020. A multistage sampling technique and a questionnaire method have been used for data collection. Linear regression model is applied to estimate factors affecting participation at various stages. The level of participation is higher for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, landless and illiterate households. The overall participation of the households is influenced by gender, family size, occupation, landholdings, forest income to total income, distance from residence to forest, distance from residence to market and cooperation on the part of forest department. The paper has an important policy implication for social and economic development.