Forestry is the second largest land-use in India after agriculture, and an estimated 275 million people in rural areas depend on forests for at least part of their livelihoods. This study by the World Bank, focusing mainly on community-based forestry outside protected areas, indicates that forests offer vast potential for poverty reduction and rural economic growth in India while also supporting critical national conservation goals. In doing so, the volume: Debates the continued evolution of Joint Forest Management (JFM) in India by presenting research conducted within India and relevant examples from other regions; Identifies key questions and constrains surrounding the continued evolution of community forestry in India; Suggests new models for community-based forest management with realistic solutions aimed at increasing forest-based livelihood and reducing poverty in forest communities and strengthening forest conservation; and Prescribes an integrated and inclusive approach that engages with the legal and policy framework, institutions, resource assessment as also planning and marketing systems, that will improve local livelihoods in a community-based forestry model. Based largely on background papers developed from detailed analyses of JFM in Assam, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh (states having high poverty levels and large numbers of rural people using forests for livelihoods), the study also uses extensive literature from other states, national studies, national statistics, and research on community forestry in other countries to complement the state reviews and develop a broad, national report. This study will be essential for scholars and researchers in the fields of forest management, development studies, economics, and business and finance. It will prove to be immensely useful to policy-makers, planners, government agencies, NGOs, journalists, and general readers interested in India’s forest economy.
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