Sustainable Community Forest Management Systems: A Study on Community Forest Management and Joint Forest Management Institutions from India

Our study covered 25 villages in India, comparing the functioning of forest protection groups founded under state initiatives, including institutions under the Joint Forest Management program and community forest management systems formed by communities on a voluntary basis. The study revealed that the length of time for which the forest has been protected has a lot of influence over biodiversity and regeneration of species. Further, voluntary forest protection groups have strong rules, complaints mechanisms, and respect for the rules. Therefore, despite higher population pressures per unit of forest land, voluntary forest protection groups have demonstrated stringency in resource use and sustainable harvesting mechanisms. This paper examines the impacts of different forms of forest management on protection mechanisms and forest regeneration. It also discusses the implications of the findings for policymaking.