Key facts

  • The National Forest Policy, 1988 made ecological stability the main aim of forest policy and called for associating tribal people and forest-dependent...
  • The Government of India issued the Joint Forest Management circular on 1 June 1990 to involve village communities and voluntary agencies in regenerati...
  • The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognises community forest resource rights, inclu...

Key Points at a Glance

  1. 1

    The National Forest Policy, 1988 made ecological stability the main aim of forest policy and called for associating tribal people and forest-dependent communities in forest protection and development.

  2. 2

    The Government of India issued the Joint Forest Management circular on 1 June 1990 to involve village communities and voluntary agencies in regenerating degraded forest lands.

  3. 3

    Joint Forest Management works through local bodies such as Van Suraksha Samitis, Forest Protection Committees, Village Forest Committees and Eco-Development Committees, depending on the state and forest category.

  4. 4

    The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognises community forest resource rights, including the right to protect, regenerate, conserve or manage traditionally protected forest resources.

  5. 5

    Benefit-sharing under JFM commonly links community protection duties with access to fuelwood, fodder, grasses, non-timber forest produce and a share in final harvest benefits, subject to state rules.

  6. 6

    In Rajasthan, JFM is relevant for the Aravalli hills, desert fringe, village commons, Orans and degraded forest blocks where local participation helps grazing control, plantation care and fire prevention.

  7. 7

    Participatory forest management is not private ownership of reserved or protected forest; it is a regulated partnership between the Forest Department, gram-level institutions and forest users.

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Concept and origin of Joint Forest Management

Joint Forest Management, usually called JFM, is a participatory arrangement in which the Forest Department and local communities jointly protect, regenerate and manage forests. The core idea is simple: forests near villages cannot be protected by policing alone when local people depend on them for fuelwood, fodder, grazing, grasses, small timber and non-timber forest produce. JFM therefore links protection duties with regulated use and benefit-sharing. It is especially important for degraded forest lands, where community protection can reduce illicit cutting, overgrazing and fire damage while improving natural regeneration.

The policy base of JFM lies in the National Forest Policy, 1988. That policy shifted the emphasis from revenue extraction to environmental stability, ecological balance, soil and water conservation, and the needs of people living in and around forests. To give practical effect to this approach, the Government of India issued a circular on 1 June 1990 on involving village communities and voluntary agencies in regeneration of degraded forest lands. This circular is treated as the starting point of JFM in India.

Remember the sequence: 1988 policy gave the principle, and the 1990 circular gave the operational push for community participation.

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