Joint forest management

Also called: JFM · Topic: Natural Vegetation and Forests of India · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Forest and Wildlife Resources"

Meaning

Joint forest management (JFM) is a programme in which the forest department and village communities manage forests together. The department still owns the land. Villagers protect the forest, mostly degraded forest land (forest that has been damaged and thinned out), and in return they get non-timber forest produce and a share of timber.

It matters because JFM moved India from keeping people out of forests to making them partners in protecting forests. It began with Odisha's resolution in 1988, and national guidelines followed on 1 June 1990.

Explanation

Why JFM came about (policy background)

• Old approach: exclusion
• Colonial reserved forests and the National Forest Policy 1952 focused on national needs and revenue.

• Local people were treated as intruders, and their access to forests was restricted.

• New approach: participation

• The National Forest Policy 1988 said local people's needs come first.

• It asked for people to take part in managing forests. JFM is the main way this idea was put into practice.

• Basic logic: people who depend on a forest want it to survive. They become its first guards if they get a share of its benefits.

How JFM works

• Step 1: form a committee. The village sets up a Village Forest Protection Committee, also called a JFM Committee (JFMC).
• Step 2: protect the forest. The committee guards forest land managed by the forest department, mostly degraded land, against:
• grazing by cattle,
• fire,

• illegal felling (cutting trees without permission).

• Step 3: share the benefits. In return, members get:

• Non-timber forest produce (NTFP), also called minor forest produce (MFP): forest products other than timber, such as grass, fuelwood and leaves.

• A share of timber from "successful protection".

• Result: degraded forests recover, and villagers get income and daily needs from the same forest.

Legal status and limits

• Ownership stays with the department. The village is a partner, not an owner.
• No law behind it. JFM committees exist only under an executive order (a government resolution, not a law passed by a legislature). The department can change the terms.
• People are not at the centre. Decisions are still mostly made by the forest department, so benefit-sharing can be uncertain.
• The next step is the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006. It gives the gram sabha (the village assembly of all adult voters) legal rights, including the right to protect and manage its community forest resource.

The exam frame: exclusion → participation → rights

Stage	Instrument	People's position
Exclusion	Colonial reserved forests; Forest Policy 1952	Treated as intruders
Participation	Forest Policy 1988; JFM (Odisha 1988, national guidelines 1990)	Partners who share benefits, under department control
Rights	FRA 2006	Rights-holders; the gram sabha has legal authority

Where it occurs

• Where it operates: across India, through state government resolutions passed after the national guidelines. JFM is an Indian programme.
• Who runs it: each state forest department, together with village JFM committees. The Union environment ministry issued the national guidelines on 1 June 1990.
• First state: Odisha, with the first state resolution in 1988.
• Spread (as on 17 August 2010):
• 1,05,323 JFM Committees across India [2].

• About 2.30 crore ha (22.96 million ha) of forest under JFM [2].

• Leading states (as on 17 August 2010):

Rank	State	Committees	Area under JFM
1	Madhya Pradesh	15,228	about 66.9 lakh ha
2	Maharashtra	12,653	about 26.7 lakh ha
3	Odisha	11,521	about 10.7 lakh ha

These figures are from [2].

Don't confuse with

• Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006: JFM rests on an executive order, and the department keeps control. FRA is a law that gives the gram sabha legal rights to protect and manage its community forest resource.
• Chipko movement: Chipko was a people's protest from below, starting in Chamoli in 1973, against commercial felling. JFM is a government programme from above, starting in 1988–90, that invites people to share in forest management.
• Sacred groves and community sanctuaries (e.g. Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri, Alwar): communities protect these on their own, under their own rules, often for faith or custom. Under JFM, the forest department manages the forest with the community and shares benefits with it.
• National Forest Policy 1952 vs 1988: the 1952 policy focused on national needs and revenue. The 1988 policy put local people's needs first, and this is the policy root of JFM.

Prelims Hooks

• First JFM resolution: Odisha, 1988. National JFM guidelines: 1 June 1990, issued by the Union environment ministry.
• JFM's policy root is the National Forest Policy 1988, not the 1952 policy.
• Trap: under JFM, the forest department keeps ownership of the land. Villagers get NTFP and a share of timber, not ownership.
• JFM committees work under an executive order. Legal rights for the gram sabha come only from FRA 2006.
• Madhya Pradesh had the most JFM committees, 15,228, as on 17 August 2010. Maharashtra and Odisha came next [2].
• Nationally there were about 1.05 lakh committees covering about 22.96 million ha as on 17 August 2010 [2].

Mains Points

• Shift in forest governance (GS-III / GS-I):
• India moved from exclusion (colonial reserves, 1952 policy) to participation (1988 policy, JFM) and then to rights (FRA 2006).

• Each step widened the community's role, but control has moved only partly away from the forest department.

• JFM: scale and limits:

• Scale: about 1.05 lakh committees covered about 23 million ha in 2010 [2], with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha leading [2].

• Limits: committees depend on an executive order, the department sets and can change the terms, benefit-sharing is uncertain, and communities are not at the centre of decision-making.

• Way forward:

• Link JFM committees with the gram sabha's legal rights under FRA 2006.
• Add value to minor forest produce so that tribal people become growers, not just collectors. A collector only takes what grows wild. A grower plants and tends the species, so both income and forest last longer.
• Use tribal traditional knowledge of plants, seasons and animals alongside scientific forestry.

Related concepts

• Tribal communities and forests
• Chipko movement

Read more

• People and forests: tribal livelihoods, Chipko and joint forest management