Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
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INCENTIVES AND MOTIVATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST
MANAGEMENT
Diwakar Sinha
Assistant Conservator of Forests, Uttar Pradesh
Indranagar Forest Colony, Indranagar, Dehradun-248006 (UP), India
Tel: +91-135-764229 Fax: +91-135-620334,
Email: (1) eyesint@nde.vsnl.net.in & diwakar42@hotmail.com
Website: http://education.vsnl.com/eyes_international/index.html
Keywords: Incentives; Motivations; Sustainable Forest Management; Watershed Management; attitudinal change
Till the late seventies the forests in India were mainly considered as productive ones. They were looked upon as
a source for supply of fuel, fodder and building timber together with minor forest produces such as bamboo,
grasses, fibers, honey and the like. It was in late seventies that people started investigating the invisible role of
the forests in maintaining the ecological balance. With this, the environmental group gaining more
momentum than the productive group, the ideas regarding the forest management were given a different
thought. It was the then, the concept for sustainable management of forests crept in and words like optimum
utilization, sustainability, socio-economic development, community participation, incentives and motivations
became popular.
A review of the forestry sector reveals that though there were some self-motivated groups that looked after
their forests well, but it was confined only to few pocket of the country. To broaden the development base of
forestry sector, the National Forest Policy 1988 was formulated. This introduced the concept of participatory
forest management on usufruct sharing basis. The new approach included active participation of the village
communities, especially women, weaker sections and voluntary agencies in strengthening the hands of the
forest department for sustainable forest management and regeneration activities.
Pursuant to the policy, the Government of India issued a notification in June 1990 requesting the State
Governments to involve local communities in the management of forests. It was envisaged that the
communities, in lieu of their participation in protection and development of forest areas, would be entitled to
sharing of usufructs in a manner specified by the concerned State Forest Departments. This led to the
development of Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme. So far 22 States Governments have issued
resolutions in this regard. Nearly 36,130 Forest Protection Committees are managing a total of about 10.25
million ha. of forests. Together with this, National Watershed Development Projects for Rainfed Areas
(NWDPRA) was launched in 1990-91, which covered 25 States and 2 Union territories. The objective of the
project was restoration of ecological balance in rainfed areas and sustainable biomass production. Under this
World Bank assisted Watershed Development Projects, Agricultural Development Projects, Danida Aided
Projects, Swiss Development Corporation assisted Projects and European Commission assisted Doon Valley
Project are noteworthy.
In most of these projects, incentives and motivation have been provided to the villagers to bring about
attitudinal changes, by satisfying the basic needs, so that they may work collectively for the welfare of forests
and environment.
The present paper discusses and highlights various issues relating incentives and motivation for sustainable
management of forests in the villages taken up by the Doon Valley Integrated Watershed Management Project
which was launched in the year 1993 and covers an area of about 2508 sq.km covering nearly 303 villages of
Garhwal and Kumaon Regions. It is a joint venture of Government of Uttar Pradesh and European
Commission with focus on agriculture and social forestry related sectors. The major objectives of the project
are (1) Arrest and as far as possible, reverse the on going degradation of the Doon Valley Eco-system (2)
Improve the living conditions of the rural people (3) Ensure positive involvement of rural people in managing
this environment.
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