Snapshots of International Community Forestry Networks: Country ...

Learning from International Community Forestry Networks: India Report
though the Asia Forest Network (AFN) was begun on the basis of a grant by Ford Foundation in New
Delhi.
Currently, DFID does not have a specific forestry programme in India, and has not funded any CF networks
in India. Though DFID-India has had forest sector projects previously (e.g. in Karnataka and Himachal
Pradesh), it is moving away from a sectoral approach, towards a holistic approach aimed at poverty
eradication. Forestry issues may be covered under this approach, though there is no specific focus on
forestry. For example, DFID’s Livelihoods programme in M.P. (beginning December 2002) is supposed to
cover six tribal districts, where it is likely that forestry issues will be addressed as part of the overall aim of
enhancing livelihoods. However, there is a possibility that DFID will fund the Madhya Pradesh Forestry
Project Phase 2, which focuses entirely on JFM, jointly with the World Bank. There are no specific links
between DFID-India and international networks. DFID attends as many meetings as possible, held by the
MoEF’s JFM network (described below).
1.4 An Overview of National Community Forestry Networks in India
There have been three notable attempts at creating a national level CF network: the JFM National Network
hosted by the SPWD; the Foresters’ Network hosted by WWF-India; and another JFM National Network
hosted by the JFM Cell of the MoEF. All three have been actively supported by the Ford Foundation. The
first two have gone into a period of decline. Currently, it is the MoEF’s network that is the most active at
national level. There was no formal link found between any international or national network. Links were
based more on contacts through key individuals.
JFM National Network (SPWD-JFM)
Origins: Since 1989 an informal network of Ford Foundation grantees, made up of NGOs and forest
officers, had been exchanging ideas and experiences on JFM. As the number of states which adopted JFM
increased, a National Support Group (NSG) for JFM, comprising of some professionals and support staff,
was created at SPWD in 1992 with the backing of Ford. Its overall goal was to popularise JFM across the
country, promote interaction between JFM stakeholders and thus strengthen their capacity to implement
JFM, and to gain feedback from stakeholders for policy input and advocacy.
Functioning: Through the NSG, SPWD co-ordinated the national network and facilitated regular annual
meetings of the network up to the late 1990s. In 1993 the growing complexity of JFM-related issues led to
3 research sub-networks being formed to look in greater detail at certain issues: the Institutional Research
Network (IRN), Training Research Network (TRN) and Ecological Economics Research Network (EERN).
In 1994 a sub-group was formed within the IRN to address gender and equity issues, named the Gender and
Equity (G&E) sub-group. This group eventually became a more independent research and advocacy unit
that attempted to integrate gender and equity concerns across all three sub-networks. Each sub-network was
led by a volunteer co-ordinating institution or individual. The IRN was run by the Indian Institute of Forest
Management (IIFM), Bhopal. Its mandate was “to identify sustainable institutional arrangements involving
FPCs and the FD.” 22 The TRN was run by the Institute of Bio-Social Research and Development (IBRAD),
Calcutta, with the objective of “compiling information on different organisations involved in training on
JFM, target groups to which training is given, problems faced, constraints, achievements, resource persons
and training material.” 23 The EERN was co-ordinated by the Centre for Ecological Science (CES) at the
Indian Institute of Sciences (IIS), Bangalore. By 1998 it had carried out studies in collaboration with 11
institutions in 8 states. Its mandate was to study “existing institutional arrangements and their efficacy, the
impact of forest protection and management practices on vegetation, current fuel wood and NTFP
extraction and income generation…, and the extent of community participation in forest management.” 24
22 Joint Forest Management Update 1998. SPWD. New Delhi.
23 ibid.
24 ibid.
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