Distributional Aspect of Forest Income: A Study on JFM and non-JFM Forest Dependent Households

This study suggests that there is a narrower scope to expand inequality with the increase in forest sources of income to total income relative to non-forest income irrespective of the type of villages and types of FPCs. The addition of forest income in the JFM households after JFM reduces measured income inequality by about twelve percent, all else equal. But no such perceptible decrease has been found after JFM situation for non-JFM households. Categorically, forest income plays the dominant role in reducing measured income inequality for poor households who are relatively asset poor and that also live below poverty line. But this study also lends credence to the fact that the non-involvement in the JFM programme by the non-JFM households might bring about a major environmental shirking, because illegal timber income constitutes the major part of all sources of income for non-JFM households even after JFM situation.