Socio-Economic Heterogeneity and Distributional Implications of Joint Forest Management (JFM): An Empirical Investigation from Orissa

Abstract

In a developing economy like India, the development of rural economy through effective and proper management of common property resources (CPRs) such as forests has increasingly become an integral part of sustainable development policy in the past couple of decades. This policy initiative has, however, become largely popular due to a strong disillusionment with the performance of central management policy to provide sufficient incentives to the users to manage CPRs in a sustainable way. Some scholars (Jodha, 1986; Wade, R. 1987; Chopra et al., 1989; Ostrom, 1990) argue that the well organised community-based institutions can play a significant role in overcoming the socio-economic problems faced by the rural economy and can avoid the tragedy of commons as envisaged by Hardin (1968). Having recognised this proposition, developing countries like India and other South Asian countries have started to support community-based forest resource management through granting community property rights over the local natural resources with a view to enhance local level economic development, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. The recognition of community-based forest has led to the devolution of forest resource management from centralised to local level user groups in India (Behera, 2006). In fact, Government of India adopted a participatory approach in management, protection, and development of forest resources under the aegis of Joint Forest Management (JFM) that was introduced in the National Forest Policy of 1988. The stakeholders are ensured property rights in the management of forest resources under the system of JFM. Under this policy initiative, the degraded national forests were handed over to the forest protection committees (FPCs) as community forest under a community-based property rights regime. In response to the national forest policy and to ensure equity and social justice, the state governments, which are responsible for forest management under Indian constitution, have started encouraging the communities living nearby the state forests for formation of forest protection committees (FPCs) under JFM. With regard to implementation of the new forest