Participatory Forest Management in Andhra Pradesh: A Review of Its Working

This paper traces the emergence of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) regime in Andhra Pradesh in the form of Joint Forest Management (JFM) and Community Forest Management (CFM). The paper is based on the existing literature on forest policies. It considers the role of contemporary developments in India in shaping the forest policies in Andhra Pradesh. It also examines the process and quality of implementation and the impact of the programme on local communities and resources in Andhra Pradesh. JFM is a different concept from many earlier attempts to promote forestry needs of the people, simply because it builds from the roles played by both local forest users and the professionals employed by the state to act as custodians. The combined effort of community and government is the ultimate solution under prevailing circumstances. Therefore, the government intervention is expected to address the equity and transparency aspects to strengthen the voice of the poor. In the same way, participation of the people will warrant a constant vigil against all odds to protect the forests. Hence, Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSSs) should be viewed as an entity for an overall development of the village resources and its people, and not merely an instrument of developing the degraded forests, more so with the new initiative of graduation from JFM to CFM focusing on alleviating rural poverty.