COMMUNITY-BASED FOREST MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: The Issue of Tenurial Significance

The policies corresponding to the Community-based forest management systems inIndia have not yielded significant results. One preeminent cause for this is the lackof an appropriate tenurial arrangement in favour of the forest managingcommunities. The National and State Governments have responded to theprolonged demands for community rights over forests by way of various policyformulations. However, tenure on forestland still remains the most contentiousissue in the field of forest management in India.An attempt has been made in this paper to analyze the context within which foresttenure is being sought for. In order to do that it is important to examine the local,policy and external environments in their historical as well as current contexts. Thecommunity concerns for the state of forest resources and their efforts atconservation, poverty conditions requiring a better tenure, access and livelihoodbenefits in favour of the community and condition of the resource are importantelements for understanding the local environment and assigning forest tenure. [C:\Users\Microsoft\Documents\Calibre Library]