Forests, Governance and Livelihoods

The 1988 National Forest Policy aimed to provide a new set of priorities and a participatory approach to forest management in India. However, the forest landscape remains a highly contested terrain.

Firstly, focused wildlife conservation has led to the rapid expansion of Protected Areas (PAs), often resulting in the eviction of indigenous populations. Secondly, rapid industrialisation-led economic growth created enormous pressure to convert forests to mines, dams and highways. Thirdly, state efforts to involve communities in forest management for local use through Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes have been largely unsuccessful. The landmark Forest Rights Act passed in 2006 attempts to address these issues, but its implementation has been poor and incomplete. Meanwhile, forests have become the focus of climate change mitigation efforts because of their potential to sequester carbon.

The central question is: How can forest governance be restructured, and how can ecological and social science knowledge be deployed to strike a balance between local livelihood needs and biodiversity in a democratic manner? 

Our programme believes that forests and common lands benefit stakeholders at many scales – local, regional and global. We aim to engage in interdisciplinary research and policy outreach to enhance livelihoods, cultural well-being, forest sustainability, and to strengthen democratic and equitable forest governance.