1. Joint Forest Management - With special
reference to Kerala.
Geo Basil Paul
Dept. of Forest Management & Utilization
College of Forestry
Kerala Agricultural University

2. Past System of management
• Till 19th century, local communities used the forest lands as common
hunting and food gathering ground
• Ownership of the forest land was either communal or vested with vague
forms of sovereign rights
• The forest management was highly decentralized among communities
single or groups of households usually controlled forests except in cases of
hunting or food gathering areas
• Traditional forest management systems in most part of the country ended
when the Britishers in the mid 19th century declared forest lands as Govt.
lands

3. Contd.
• Changing relationship
• commercial exploitation and popularization of monoculture led to massive
deforestation
• Majority of India’s rural population living in the forest rich regions are poor
• Sustainable management and proper utilization of forest resources held
great potential to alleviate their poverty
• Govt. ownership and restrictions on the collection and use of forest
products have rendered these resources inaccessible to village
communities

4. Present scenario
 Decentralization and devolution are dominant themes in contemporary
discussion of forest policy and management
 In 2004, world-wide 370million ha. of forests were being conserved by
indigenous communities, with almost half of that are approx. 170 million
ha. In Asia( molnar et al 2004)
 India was a fore runner in developing policy for involving people’s
participation in forest management; Forest Policy of 1988
 MoEF, Govt. of India issued guidelines for the involvement of village
communities under PFM called Joint Forest Management

5. Contd.
“The holders of customary rights and
concessions in forest areas should be motivated
to identify themselves with the protection and
development of forests from which they derive
benefits ”
- Forest Policy1988

6. Contd.
• Shifted the emphasis of Forest Management
• 90% of India’s forests of about 64mha under state ownership
• A variety of participatory model exists in the country

7. Conventional Approach Participatory/ Joint
‘Fences and Fines’
Government control and regulation  (Partial) Transfer of rights &
 responsibilities to local communities
Idea:
Problems with:
Sense of ownership leading to incentives
Monitoring & enforcement
for self-regulation & sustainable use
Social justice
Corruption

8. Joint Forest Management
A Kerala Model

9. JFM
“The user and the owner manage the resource
and share the cost equally”

10. Contd.
• In India, failure of social forestry in meeting the objectives of easing
pressure on forests led to the formation of JFM
• Central government issued the first JFM guideline in ,1 June1990
• JFM cell and the JFM unit were created under MoEF
• In Kerala JFM was introduced in 1998 with a synonym of PFM(16-01-98)
• It has become mandatory as per the NFP to change the ‘bureaucratic FM’
system to ‘local need oriented management’

11. Contd.
• JFM in Kerala referred to as PFM
• VSS the organization of the forest dependent community
• Various forms of JFM institutions apart from VSS like AVSS, EDC, ULO and
HS are in operation by the state forest department at present
• TVSS (Theerasamrakshana vanasamrakshana samithy in collaboration with
fisheries dept.) and JFMC (JFMC of AHADS) are institutions where forest
dept. is involved in JFM

12. The PFM program in Kerala consists of three models: Fringe model, NTFP
model, separate model for Cardamom Hills Reserve
 Difference between Fringe and NTFP models is- former involves
population outside forests while the latter is applied to the tribal minorities
still living inside the forests.
Fringe Area
Settlement of non tribal people
Reserved Forest
NTFP Model
Settlement of tribal people
The area managed by VSS
Fringe Model
Scheme of Fringe and NTFP model

13. Organizational Structure of
JFM Institutions in Kerala

14. Forest Development Agency (FDA)
Confederation of JFM committees and their representatives from general
body, 33 FDA’s
Chairman – Conservator of Forests
CEO – Divisional Forest Officer

15. Contd.
Objectives:
• To arrest and reverse the trend of forest degradation by making the
community responsible for monitoring removals from the forest
• To provide sustainable employment opportunities to the tribals and
other weaker sections of the population
• To create durable community assets which would contribute to
overall village development
• To involve the forest dependent community in the execution of the
program
• For the better implementation of various schemes of the MoEF
• To liaison with other Govt. Dept. and agencies to develop and
implement eco- friendly village development program

16. Vana samrakshana Samithi (VSS)
• Basic organisation instrumental for the implementation of JFM in territorial forest
division of Kerala
• These samithies are registered under charitable societies act and recognized by
the forest department
• The maximum area to be transferred to a VSS is 300 Ha. of reserved forests
• At present there are 277 VSS constituted throughout the Kerala
• Maximum number of households in a VSS is 365
• Membership fee – Rs 5/-

17. Contd.
• Each VSS is in charge of the core fund, credibility fund for office work, and
operational fund for activities
• Each VSS can sell NTFP from the allocated reserve forest or fine forest
offenders, and can add the revenue to the core fund
• As per the guidelines of the JFM program, at least 33% of the total
executive members of the VSS must be women
• Procedure for the development of a VSS

19. Contd.
• The members of VSS are responsible for:
1. To work with forest dept. to prevent the forest
encroachment, forest fire, poaching etc.
2.implementatio of micro plan
3. Sensitize and educate people
4.Ensure protection of forest land outside the activity
area

20. Adivasi Vana Samrakshana Samithi (AVSS)
• AVSS are constituted entirely of forest
dependent tribal communities
• have the right to collect, process and
market NTFP in addition to the duties and
rights bestowed up on the Fringe VSS
• The most important distinction with
Fringe VSS is that the area allotted is
considerably larger covering all tracts
frequented for NTFP collection
• At present there are 63 AVSS constituted
in the state

21. Eco Development Committees (EDC)
• EDC is a JFM institution created in
protected areas of the state
• Major activities are eco tourism and
serving as guides for visitors apart from
the activities undertaken by the VSS and
AVSS
• Any forest dependent person can be a
member
• 193 EDC’s operating in the protected
areas of the state

22. Unit Level Organizations (ULO)
• Unit level organizations are basic JFM implementers in Cardamom Hill Reserve
Area (CHR)
• The cardamom tract in the High Ranges of Idukki District has a century old history in
cardamom cultivation
• The Cardamom rules 1935 prescribed the rights and privileges, the duties and
responsibilities of leaseholders towards cardamom cultivation and forest protection
• Over the years these rules have been violated and forest cover has extensively
degenerated
• At present there is complex tenure system existing , with land under revenue, trees with
forest Dept. and crops owned by farmers
• The cardamom farmers have formed ULO’s for checking deforestation and encouraging
afforestation, 33 ULO’s

23. Haritha Samithies (HS)
• Kerala Govt. started Participatory Habitat Management (PHM) to undertake
environmental protection and conservation outside forest areas through
people’s participation
• Designed for areas outside reserved / vested forests facing ecological
degradation
• Micro level organizations under PHM are:
– Grama Haritha Samithy : operating at village level
– Panchayat Haritha samithy : Operating at grama panchayath level
– Block Haritha Samithy : Operating at block panchayat level
– District co-ordination committee : Operating at district level

24. Haritha Theeram (Green Coast)
• ‘Haritha Theeram’ is a program aiming at
afforestation of coastal areas
• This program is operationalized through
TSVS
• These institutions are created along the
coastal line Kerala
• protection of natural ecosystem by
establishing a bio shield along the coast
• These institutions were created under the
Tsunami Rehabilitation program (TRH) of
Kerala Govt. as a joint program of forest
dept. and fisheries dept.

25. JFMC
• JFM organizations operating from the operational areas of
AHADS in Attappady
• Formed under the guidelines of Fringe VSS
• JFMC in AHADS is a sub group of User Associations formed on
a watershed basis by AHADS throughout the area
• All JFMC’s are registered as fringe VSS by AHADS
• 54 JFMC’s

26. Ooru Vikasana Samithi (OVS) (Hamlet Development Committee)
166 committees
13 members Executive committee(minimum- 6 Women)
These are exclusive tribal committees. Hamlet development committees are formed
in 166 out of 187 Hamlets of Attappady
Thaikula Sangam (TKS)
111 Groups
12 Members Executive Committee
These groups of tribal women have emerged as a result of their empowerment as a
social corrective force

27. Income Generation Activity Group (IGA)
219 Groups
Groups with 12 to 15 members
These groups are meant to take up sustainable income generation activities through
promotion of micro credit among members in the project area.
Association for Revitalization of Tribal Medicine in Attappady
(ARTMA)
AHADS has organized the leading tribal healers of Attappady to form this association
and provided them space to function

28. JFM Envisages Movement
From To
Centralized management Decentralized management
Production motives Sustainability
Large working plans Micro-plans
Unilateral decision making Participatory decision making
Controlling people Facilitating people
Department People’s institution
Achieving single, pre-set objective Fulfilling multiple, need based
objectives
Timber production Multiple products combined with bio-
diversity
Plantation as first option Low input management and
regeneration

29. Reference
Chundamannil, M., 1993 history of forest management in Kerala, Kerala forest
research institute, Peechi, Kerala. 67p
Maheshwar, D; Masuda, M and Mishra, J Implementation of participatory forest
management in Kerala. Graduate school of life science and environmental
sciences, University of Taskuba
Molnar, A.Molnazr, Scherr,S.J. and Khare, A. 2004 who conserves the world’s forests?
Community Driven Strategies to Protect Forests and Respects Rights. Forest
Trends.(http://www.foresttrends.org/documents/
who%20conserves_final_rev.pdf accesses on 15/10/2007)
Santhoshkumar, A.V 2008. Joint forest management in Kerala- an analysis of
institutions, impact and constraints. Phd thesis, Forest Research Institute
University, Dehra Dun, Uttaranchal
KFD (Kerala Forest Department). 2010 KFD home page (on line). Available
http://www.keralaforest.org (18 Nov. 2010)
Gupta K.H. 2006 Joint Forest Management Policy, Participation & Practices in IndiaI
International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun

30. geocof@gmail.com