JFM Full Form

The official and popular term in India for collaborations in forest movement involving both state forest authorities and local communities is Joint Forest Management, or JFM. The Joint Forest Movement’s policies and goals are outlined in the Government of India’s Comprehensive National Forest Policy of 1988 and Joint Forest Management Guidelines of 1990. Although schemes vary by state and are called by different names in different Indian languages, a JFM agreement is normally entered into by a village committee known as the Forest Protection Committee (FPC) and the Forest Department. Villagers agree to help maintain forest resources by protecting them from fire, grazing, and unlawful harvesting in exchange for non-timber forest products and a part of the earnings from the sale of wood products.

Origin of Joint forest management

Joint forest management is a concept based on mutual confidence and jointly defined duties and responsibilities for forest protection and development. Throughout the 1980s, West Bengal pioneered Joint Forest Management in Asia and Africa. Arabari’s main hardwood is sal, a financially viable forest crop. Ajit Kumar Banerjee, a silviculturist and Divisional Forest Officer for the Forest Department, was conducting trials that were continually disrupted by grazing and unlawful harvesting by the local community. There were no attempts at the time to share forest resources between the government and the inhabitants, and the administration saw many of the locals as “thieves.” Against his coworkers’ advice, the forest official sought out representatives from eleven local villages and negotiated contract terms with an ad hoc Forest Protection Committee. The first initiative had 612 families managing 12.7 square kilometres of “degraded” woodlands. The locals received a quarter of the earnings from the forests. The experiment was a success, and in 1987 it was expanded to other areas of the state. At Arabari, the JFM is still in effect.

Current status of Joint forest management

Following initial success in West Bengal and Haryana, the JFM initiatives were given national significance in 1988 legislation and impetus in 1998 guidelines. As of 2000, 27 Indian states had various JFM systems in place, including over 63,000 FPCs in the cooperative management of over 1400,000 km2 of wooded land. In 2010, the area controlled by more than 112896 committees grew to 2460000 km2, with over 14500000 families benefiting from the JFM programme.

Joint Forest Management (JFM) and Forest Policies (FP)

Forest policy influenced people’s participation in forestry, according to JFM. Some forest policies have emerged, and different forest policies have provisions. People in the past lived in peace and had no difficulty obtaining the forest resources. The National Forest Policy of 1894 was created, emphasising the importance of forest conservation, environmental stability, and the basic requirements of those living near forests. In 1952, the strategy was changed to place a greater emphasis on social forestry and agroforestry. According to the policy, forest cover should account for 33% of total geographical area. In 1988, the national forest policy was updated to encourage community participation in forest protection and regeneration, as well as sustainable forest resource management.

Objectives of Joint forest management

i. Examine the history of forest management and use.

ii. To investigate the social and economic aspects of forest users, as well as their interrelationships.

iii. Examine the significance of relevant cultural aspects

iv. To assess the viewpoints of forest users and forestry personnel

Conclusion

JFM is a concept for forming partnerships between peripheral forest user groups and the Forest Department (FD) based on mutual trust and clearly defined duties and responsibilities for forest maintenance and development. ‘JFM is a forest management approach in which the government (represented by the Forest Department) and the village community engage into an agreement to jointly protect and manage forestlands adjacent to villages and to share responsibilities and benefits,’ according to another definition. Although schemes vary by state and are called by different names in different Indian languages, a JFM agreement is normally entered into by a village committee known as the Forest Protection Committee (FPC) and the Forest Department. Villagers agree to help maintain forest resources by protecting them from fire, grazing, and unlawful harvesting in exchange for non-timber forest products and a part of the earnings from the sale of wood products.