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South Asia Research, Vol. 26, No. 3, 269-289 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0262728006071708

Towards a Sustainable Joint Forest Management Programme: Evidence from Western Midnapore Division in West Bengal

Debnarayan Sarker

Centre for Economic Studies, Presidency College, Kolkata, India

Nimai Das

Centre for Economic Studies, Presidency College, Kolkata, India

This article demonstrates that the resistance movement of forest communities in western Midnapore division in West Bengal, which acted as a key precursor to the joint forest management (JFM) programmes in India through a June 1990 Ministry of Environment and Forests circular, was based to a large extent on the successful experience of JFM in Arabari Hills under this division. In this particular locality, the resistance movement of forest communities had been mobilized for a long time by poor forest communities fighting for their community rights to forest resources as a matter of immediate survival, opposing top-down approaches to forest management. A detailed study of the existing four Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) of this area confirms that these immediate survival needs, generating mainly sustenance and income from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for FPC members, are the key element for the long-term sustainability of a JFM system.

Key Words: Bengal • environment • forests • joint forest management • sustainable development


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