Question

Write short note on joint forest management.

Answer 1

After a Bishnoi woman Amrita Devi in 1731 showed exemplary courage by hugging a tree and daring king's people to cut her first before cutting the tree and the Chipko Movement launched in 1973 by Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunder Lal Bahuguna against large-scale falling of trees by timber contractors in the Uttarakhand hills, Government realised the participation of local communities in forest conservation. This led to the introduction of Joint Forest Management (JFM) in 1980s for protecting and managing forests. In return, the local communities can obtain forest products like fruits, gum, rubber, medicine, etc., to earn their livelihood and forests can be conserved in sustainable ways.