1. Introduction

      Involvement of rural communities living close to forests in protection and management of forest resources is enshrined in the National Forest Policy 1988.Translation of policy found expression in the resolution of Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests issued in June 1990.It envisaged that in lieu of the participation, the local communities will be entitled to sharing of usufructs in a manner specified by the concerned State Forest Departments. This led to the initiation of Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme. Importance of the programme is evident from the fact that the Government of India has constituted a "JFM Network" with the Inspector General of Forests, Government of India as the Chairman. The objectives of the network are (i) to act as a regular mechanism of consultation between various agencies engaged in JFM work in the country and (ii)To obtain constant feedback from various stakeholders on the JFM programme for proper policy formulation and suitable direction to States.

     Madhya Pradesh is a pioneering state in implementing this programme. The Government of M.P. issued the first resolution in this regard in 1991. Learning from experiences, the State Government revised JFM resolution in 1995,2000 and 2001.Steps are also being taken to integrate the local institutions by involving the Gram Sabha in the formation and functioning of JFM Committees.

2. Nature of Committees

     The Government Resolution makes provision for three kinds of committees i.e. Forest Protection Committees (FPC) for protection of well-stocked forests, Village Forest Committees (VFC) for rehabilitating the degraded forest areas and Eco-development Committees (EDC) in and around Protected Areas (PAs) with a view to ensure biodiversity conservation in National Parks and Sanctuaries. The Committees are to be constituted with in a radius of 5 km from the periphery of forest.   

    So far  14,073 JFM Committees have been constituted, of which 9,035 are VFCs, 4,201 are FPCs and 785are EDCs (Table showing district-wise details is attached). A total of about 60,000 sq. km of forest area is under JFM, which is about 63% of the total forest area of the State. More than 17 lakh families are involved in the programmed.

3. Management of JFM areas

      For the management of JFM areas, Micro-plans are prepared. The views and aspirations of the villagers are incorporated in the preparation of these plans. Works related to forest management are conducted according to the micro-plan. The State Government has approved a JFM manual, which includes detailed instructions on constitution of committees, preparation of micro plan and account keeping.

4. Training

    There are three modules of training for the members of JFM Committees. They are Orientation module, Micro-planning module and Accounts module. Training at 50 eco-centres in the State is being imparted. Annually around 1000 training courses are organised.

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

   Monitoring and evaluation of the programme is being done quarterly. Monitoring reports reflects registration of new committees, meetings of the committees, money spent, loan amount advanced/ recovered. To ensure transparency in the working of the committees, monthly accounts are to be displayed at public places eg Panchayat Bhawan/community hall etc.

6. Salient features of the programme

(a) Constitution of Committee

• All the eligible voters of the village shall be the members of the general body of the committee.

• Either the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson of the committee will necessarily be a woman.

• A minimum of 33% members of the Executive Committee will be women, in which one representative from each women Self Help Group, if working in the village, will be included.

• A minimum of 2 members (1 male and 1 female) from landless families, if available, will be included.

• The Executive Committee shall also include members from Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and Backward Classes in proportion to their population in the Gram Sabha of the village , as far as possible.

• In charge Forest Guard/Forester of the area will be ex-officio Secretary of the Committee.

• A member of the Committee will be  appointed as Joint Secretary who, after two years, would take over the role of the Secretary.. 

(b) Rights of Committee

• All families of a committee would be entitled to royalty free Nistar..

• All types of forest committees are entitled to cent percent share of the produce obtained from the thinning of timber coupes and cleaning of degraded bamboo forest executed according to the provisions of the Microplan / Working plan.

• The Forest Protection Committee is entitled to 10% of the value of forest produce from final felling of timber coupes and 20% of the bamboo coupes, after deduction of the harvesting cost.

• The share of the Eco-Development Committee in the forest produce would be equivalent to the share of the adjoining FPCs.

• The Village Forest Committee is entitled to 100% of the value of forest produce from the final felling of the planted area / forest produce from rehabilitation of degraded forest, after deduction of the harvesting cost.

• From the year 2003-04, 100 % of the net profit accruing from the sale of timber and bamboo would be distributed among all the Committees of the district. For computation of profit district will be taken as a unit. The FPCs of the district in whose areas main felling coupes have been harvested would be entitled to 20 % of the net profit. Of the remaining 80 % 1/5 amount would be provided for awareness, extension, training, housing facility to the forest personnel of the committee etc. The remaining amount would be distributed among all the committees of the district (vide G.O. dated 8.4.2003).

• During patrolling of forests the members of the committee would be treated as Public Servant under different Acts similar to Foresters.

     (c) Duties of Committee

• The Committee shall protect forests from fire, illegal grazing, illicit felling, illegal transportation, illegal mining, encroachments and poaching and render all such co-operation to the Forest Department. 

• The Committee will inform the Forest Department about person(s)indulging in illegal activities causing damage to forests and wildlife.

• The Committee would ensure safety of wild animals straying from forests by informing the nearest forest officer.

• The Committee, in consultation with the Forest Department, will prepare a Micro-plan and annual work plan. The Committee will execute the approved work plan. If the committee does not perform the work satisfactorily or is not interested in carrying out the works then, in such case, the department will carry out the work.

• The members of the Committee, on getting information of a forest offence in the area under the committee or other forest area, shall immediately report the same to the concerned Beat Guard/Game Guard and would assist in apprehending the forest offenders.  They will also help in enquiry of the offence.

• The Chairperson of the Committee will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the district level forest officer or an officer authorized by him/her.

• The Committee would maintain account of funds received from various sources and the expenditure would be audited by an agency appointed by the Forest Officer.

• During patrolling of forests, the members of the Committee would be treated as public servants similar to forest staff under different Acts. In the event of injury or death during prevention of forest offences, compensation would be provided as incase of forest staff.

• If the committee takes cognizance of a forest offence within its area and helps in apprehending the forest offender, an amount equivalent to 50% of the compounding amount or compensation/fine as decided by the Court and recovered from the offender would be deposited in the committee’s account.

    District-wise details of the  JFMCs

    Forest Development Authority

Monitoring Implementation of Forest Development Activities   The CCF JFM is designated as Nodal Officer to send the proposals for Forest Development Agency to NAEB, GoI and obtain sanctions for the work. Subsequently, utilization certificates are obtained from the Chief Executive Officers in the State and forwarded to the Govt. of India.
	Recovering Bamboo forests
Forest Development Authority Four Centrally Sponsored Schemes were merged to form National Afforestation Program, for promoting forest cover on degraded forests and adjoining lands including National Parks and Sanctuaries. This program is implemented through the Forest Development Authority established as a confederation of selected JFM committees. The FDAs are working on participatory project management approach with an aim to holistic development of the ecosystem, which includes the forest and inhabitations under the forest committees. The operational parts of FDA include components like awareness, micro planning, entry point activities, soil and water conservation, plantation, monitoring and evaluation, and social fencing ensuring active participation of forest committees. Madhya Pradesh has constituted 25 FDAs with 856Joint Forest Management Committees and an amount of Rs. 27.53 crores is released by Government of India so far. Further proposals to constitute FDA in more Territorial divisions are in the process.
	Meeting the stakeholders of FDA
Development of Forest Villages The forest villages were established in the past to facilitate the availability of labor for carrying out works round the year inside forests. The forest department has the administrative management of these villages. There are 921 forest villages in the State. The development plan of these villages are drawn and accordingly, based on the priority, the community assets are created every year under this scheme. The assets are mainly water harvesting structures, which provide sources of irrigation to the agriculture land. This enables the villagers to take up second crop which enhances their income and stops their out migration in search of work. Other priority works undertaken are provision of drinking water, construction of buildings for school, community centers, and tribal hostels.
	Well for drinking water
	Hand pump for drinking water

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