The Structure, Functioning and Organisational Interaction of Community Based Forest Management System: Empirical Evidence from Goalpara District of Assam

Abstract

India has been following the Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) system since 1990 in the form of Joint Forest Management (JFM). The data of Forest Survey of India shows that the regions where the JFM system is implemented has not improved the forest cover whereas there is improvement in forest cover in the regions where no JFM committee exists. This means that there is a failure of the CBFM system in the state. The failure of the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) is linked to the organizational structure and functioning of these JFMCs. This study points to the array of conflicts between the actors involved in forest conservation activities viz., the JFMCs and Traditional Forest Protection Committees, the Nominees of Forest Department and Local JFMC functionaries, and JFMCs and the Forest Dependent Households. These conflicts explain the reasons for lack of cooperation between the actors and emphasize the need to provide the forest dependent people not a nominal participant role but a more substantive role in defining the purpose and the process of forest conservation.