JFM%20in%20Tripura

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JFM in Tripura

• A Macro Level Analysis

B.K. Tiwari
Coordinator
Centre for Environmental Studies North-Eastern
Hill University, Shillong - 793014
November, 2002
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Tripura

• Geog. Area 10,486 sq. km.
• Divided into 4 Districts.
• Climate is Tropical (warm and humid)
• Vegetation is mainly Moist Tropical type.
• Population 1,91,168 out of which 33.3 belong to
  SC/ST.

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JFM in Tripura

• Social Forestry was started in 1970 but to no
  great success.
• JFM was implemented on June 20th, 1991 in a
  phased manner in 9 Forest Divisions.
• By 1996-97 all 4 districts were brought under
  JFM.
• JFM resolution was revised on 16th January, 2002.
• Presently 194 JFMCs are in existence in 855
  villages.
• NGOs and voluntary agencies are also involved in
  JFM as facilitators.

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Objectives of JFM

• Active participation and involvement of local
  communities in development and protection of
  forests on the basis of sharing of usufructs.
• Maintenance of ecological balance and
  conservation of the environment.
• Increase the productivity of forest products

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Methods

• Training (Bangalore and Agartala Workshops).
• Selection of Districts done on the basis of

• Occurrence of a majority of the JFMCs
• Where JFM had a head start

• JFMCs selected in consultation with the FD on the
  basis of

• The concentration of JFMCs in the division.
•  Including as many JFMCs as possible representing
  older as well as newly established ones.
• Including the diverse vegetation types and
  communities viz., scheduled caste, scheduled
  tribe, backward and minority. 
• Covering JFMCs evenly dispersed in the
  divisions.
• Including JFMCs from Protected Areas such as
  wild life sanctuaries.
• Considering social stability in the area and
  physical accessibility of the JFMCs. 

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Methods

• Data collection

• Two agencies were identified (Dishari and VHAT)
• Training programmes were conducted for grassroots
  level workers in data collection
• Sources of data was through discussions with the
  Secretary and President of the VFCs and by
  consulting the records
• Manpower was provided by NGOs via the district
  coordinators and field assistants
• Data was collected during March to August 2002
  using questionnaires provided by IISc, Bangalore

• Compilation and Analysis

• The data was brought to the Centre where it was
  compiled and analyzed

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South Tripura District
Total no. of JFMCs 113 No. of JFMCs studied
60 No. of Forest divisions 4 No. of Forest
Ranges 14 Geographical area 3581 sq. km.
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West Tripura District
Total no. of JFMCs 49 No. of JFMCs studied
20 No. of Forest divisions 2 No. of Forest
Ranges 13 Geographical area 3033 sq. km.
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Results
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Literacy rate
India Men 75.96 Women 54.28 Overall 65.38
Study Area Men 39.6 Women 28.6 Children
58.8 Overall 42.1
Tripura Men 81.47 Women 65.41 Overall 73.66
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Functioning of JFMCs
Functions
GB meetings According to or less than
Guidelines. In only a few JFMCs they were held
more than Guidelines. Reasons Assigned Generally
no meetings were called or there were no issues
to be discussed.
MC Meetings MC meetings were either not held or
held lesser than Guidelines in almost all the
JFMCs. Reasons Assigned Generally no meetings
were called or there were no issues to be
discussed.
Decision Making Process in MC meetings Almost
always through Consensus with a few JFMCs having
limited discussion and empowerment of persons.
Selection of MC Members Invariably through
Consensus except in Teliamura where 10 of the
JFMCs select MC members through election.
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Functioning of JFMCs
Stakeholders participation GB Meetings Usually
regular in more than 60, occasional in 30 and
poor in 10 of the JFMCs studied.
MC meetings Regular in 50, occasional in 40
and poor in 10 of the JFMCs studied.
Decision Making Process Mostly Active in 75
100 of the JFMCs. However the women were
Passive in 17(Trishna W.L.) to 86(Sadar) of
the JFMCs.
Microplan Preparation The stakeholders
participation ranged from partial to full.
Protection
Protection methods Most Natural forests and
plantations were protected through social fencing.
Cases of Offences Unauthorized felling and
illegal fuel wood collection. This has been
reported by 15 to 100 JFMCs across the
divisions.
Extent of action taken The action most commonly
taken against the offenders was warning and in
some of the JFMCs the offenders were also fined
and imprisoned.
Fire Management Creation of fire line was the
prevalent method of Fire management.
Grazing in JFM Area Grazing has been banned in
most of the JFMCs except a few where select
livestock are allowed to graze.
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Functioning of JFMCs
Impact of JFM
Change in number of trees Increased primarily
due to the plantations.
Change in Number of Species Increased in a
majority of the JFMCs. Species that increased
were Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea, Acacia
species, Azadirachta indica, Gmelina arborea,
Terminalia arjuna, and Cassia nodusa. The major
species decreased were Dipterocarpus turbinatus,
Schima wallichii, Albizia procera and Ficus spp.
Changes in Status of Canopy Cover Canopy cover
has increased mostly in the Plantations and
Natural forests with ANR. In other cases it has
either remained unchanged or has decreased.
NTFP Harvesting The harvesting was more in case
of Natural forests than in Plantations.
Availability of NTFPs Availability increased in
Natural forests under protection while it
decreased in Plantations.
Change in NTFP usage pattern Usage has
increased in Plantations and decreased in Natural
forests. The NTFP is utilized either for
household use only or for both household use and
sale.
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Functioning of JFMCs
Impact of JFM
NTFP extraction and Processing Generally there
was no change recorded in most of the JFMCs
studied except in a few isolated cases where a
decrease or increase was recorded.
Grass production Generally Increased in most of
the JFMCs.
Fuelwood and Tree pole extraction There was a
general trend of decreasing fuelwood and tree
pole extraction in a vast majority of the JFMCs
studied.
Mode of fuelwood collection In Natural forests
it was through the cutting of branches while in
Plantations it was through the collection of dead
wood.
Supervision of fuelwood collection Generally
there was no supervision and in those JFMCs being
supervised, the MC members themselves functioned
as supervisors.
Access to fuelwood collection GB members
predominantly have access to the fuelwood.
Mode of fuelwood transportation Invariably
through Head-loads only with cartloads and other
means a rarity.
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Functioning of JFMCs
Impact of JFM
Fuelwood usage pattern Mainly for household use
only and in other cases for both household use
and sale..
Fuelwood availability, quantity collected and
hours spent Availability and quantity have
generally decreased and thus the time spent has
increased.
Extent of VDF accumulation Only Trishna W.L.
division had no VDF allocated so far. In other
cases the fund is always above Rs. 10,000.
Source of VDF Various sources.
VDF utilization Utilized for various purposes
Employment and Out-Migration Local labour used
for raising plantations therefore reducing
Out-Migration.
Capacity building programmes These have been
held in a majority of the JFMCs studied and the
participation of the stakeholders has been
excellent.
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Community Perspectives

• Positive Impacts

Benefits

• Empowerment of women
• Spread effect
• Improvement of relations with FD
• Employment and Income generation

• Employment generation
• Increase in NTFP availability
• Increase in fuelwood availability

Success

• Moderate in most JFMCs
• Cannot say in a few
• Primarily due to JFM being in initial stages

Limited Impacts

• Leadership and
• Community development

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Responses of secretaries

• GB Meetings

Should be held quarterly according to most
secretaries Increased participation of FD
officials, employment opportunities, and
awareness of communities can increase
participation of members. Increased awareness,
and active involvement of women organizations can
improve participation of women in GB meetings

• MC Meetings

Increased supervision by higher FD officials, and
regular election of MC members can ensure holding
MC meetings as per stipulation Election of two to
three women as members, and increasing awareness
among them can lead to better participation of
women.

• Protection of natural forest

Illegal felling can be controlled by increasing
employment opportunities. Natural forests should
be included under JFM and assigned to individual
families for protection and regeneration.
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Responses of Presidents

• GB meetings

All presidents are aware, that GB meetings should
be convened at least once a year Response of
presidents regarding periodicity of GB meetings
varied from half yearly, quarterly to
monthly. Active role of women organizations, and
including cultural programmes could increase
womens participation. Proper notification to
members, and conducting awareness campaigns and
seminars could increase participation of village
community. All presidents feel that JFMC
secretary should convene GB meetings.
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Achievements

• Most of the forests in the JFMCs areas,
  especially the degraded ones have been brought
  under the JFM programmes.
• Signing of MoU and microplan preparations have
  been completed by quite a number of JFMCs.
• SC/STs, OBCs and women have come forward and
  started participating in various activities.
• The socially disadvantaged groups are actively
  involved in decision-making process.
• Most of the JFMCs are engaged in the protection
  of natural forest as well as raising of
  plantations.
• The major species being planted are the
  economically important ones eg. Tectona grandis,
  Shorea robusta Gmelina arborea, Azadirachta
  indica etc.
• The number of trees, number of species and canopy
  cover has increased in quite a few of the JFMCs.
• A ban on grazing has been imposed in many of the
  JFMCs.
• The amount of NTFP collection is small and mostly
  limited to natural forests.

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Achievements

• The frequency of fuelwood collection from
  plantations as well as natural forests has
  decreased considerably.
• A considerable number of JFMCs have accumulated
  VDF, source of which is Govt. loan and grant from
  forest department in most cases.
• JFM has had a significant impact on employment.
  The employment opportunities have increased and
  Out-migration has decreased.
• Income generation has increased in most of the
  JFMCs.
• JFM has enabled the community to have better
  relations with the forest department.
• The forest department is working to bring more
  areas under JFM.
• In some JFMCs the community feels that JFM has
  been a tremendous success.
• In several JFMCs people are hopeful that JFM will
  help them improve their living conditions and
  also rejuvenate their forests.

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Goals for the future

• More households in JFMCs area need to be enrolled
  as members.
• There is a scope for further improvement in
  participation of women.
• More JFMCs needed to follow stipulation with
  regard to composition of Management Committee.
• The Guidelines concerning the holding of GB and
  MC Meetings should be adhered to in more JFMCs.
• In many JFMCs the natural forests and the
  plantations to some extent, need to be better
  protected with the help of communities.
• Unauthorized felling, illegal fuelwood collection
  and encroachment are prevalent in a considerable
  number of JFMCs. Mechanism for taking action
  against offenders are in place but needs to be
  further enhanced.

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Goals for the future

• Fire incidences have been reported from a number
  of JFMCs. Controlling the Jhuming operations and
  taking up fire management measures may help
  reduce such incidences.
• Grazing also needs to be banned in some JFMCs,
  and more fodder plots need to be established.
• The process of microplan preparation also needs
  to be hastened in a number of JFMCs.
• Biogas, improved stoves and other devices like
  LPG, solar photovoltaic etc. need to be installed
  in more JFMCs.
• Capacity building programmes have also been found
  limited to a few JFMCs. More JFMCs need to be
  brought under the same.
• In most of the JFMCs the community perceives that
  JFM has been moderately successful.
• Efforts should be made to involve NGOs and VAs at
  the level of JFMCs.
• Capacity building of grass root level forest
  officials can help improve the JFM programme

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Acknowledgements

• We thank

• Department of Forests, Government of Tripura
• Dishari, Belonia, South Tripura
• Voluntary Health Association of Tripura, Agartala
• The Presidents and Secretaries of the JFMCs
• The people of Tripura

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THANK YOU