Environment, development and poverty: a report of the international workshop on India’s forest management and ecological revival

Abstract

India is vast, diverse and complex, in its environments and in environment-society relations. These relationships, and government policies which influence or control them, are the subject of very significant reforms currently occurring in India. At the most fundamental level, this report of a workshop funded by CIFOR, the Ford Foundation, SIDA and IDRC, asks 'Who is to protect, manage and regenerate India's forests, where and for what, and what resources or support does each agent need to fulfil the mandate efficiently and equitably?' Conventional forestry systems have been under scrutiny. 'Forestry' no longer means just industrial timber production by the government, on government-owned lands. Other priority objectives (e.g. ecological and social sustainability) and other participants (farmers, communities, NGOs and industries) have emerged, and new modes of organization are being explored and tested, such as Joint Forest Management (JFM). There are possible contradictions between these new goals and directions, and old rules, structures and personnel, and the question is asked 'Is it possible to achieve the opposite goal with virtually the same apparatus as in the 1950s, or are reforms and support (e.g. education, research, extension and investment funds) required? Particular issues addressed in this report are: India's forest management in an international context; Trends in Indian forestry; Estimating growth in demand for forest products and determining implications for policy; Forest productivity; Large vs. small scale producers; Forestry programs; Research constraints; Planting material; Investment in the forestry sector; Education and training; and Research implications of India's forest management and ecological revival. Recommendations from the conference are included, and lists of papers and participants are provided.