Open Journal of Forestry, 2019, 9, 226-240 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojf ISSN Online: 2163-0437 ISSN Print: 2163-0429 DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2019.93012 Jul. 23, 2019 226 Open Journal of Forestry Forests Policies and Programmes in India: Implications for Climate Change Adaptation Indu K. Murthy 1,2 , Poornima Kumar 1,3 1 Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India 2 Department of Ecology and Environment, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India 3 Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, Bangalore, India Abstract Climate change is a major global environmental and developmental challenge and climate proofing of vulnerable sectors, programmes, natural systems and communities by integrating adaptation and mitigation options into planning process are increasingly becoming an integral part of development. The basic premises on which this could happen are the national and sectoral policies that govern any programmes and actions implemented on ground. This study reviews existing policies, plans and programmes and their implications for climate change. Based on the analyses, key areas of research, policy initiatives and institutional and capacity development needs have been identified, to fa- cilitate climate change adaptation. The forest policies formulated so far in In- dia have been broadly aimed at conservation, reduction of pressure on forests and provisioning of biomass to the large forest dependent population for their fuel and fodder needs apart from generating revenue through produc- tion and sale of timber. However, these have not been formulated with cli- mate change as a consideration and therefore may become less effective as climate change and its impacts become increasingly evident. The study clearly identifies that the current policies and programmes have elements/features and activities that directly or indirectly contribute positively towards adapta- tion, although the primary implications are towards biodiversity and to some extent ecosystem functioning. It finally highlights the need for incorporating climate change concerns in forest sector development programmes and also to address the issue of climate change. Keywords Forest Sector, Climate Change, Adaptation, Forest Policies, Programmes, How to cite this paper: Murthy, I. K., & Kumar, P. (2019). Forests Policies and Programmes in India: Implications for Climate Change Adaptation. Open Journal of Forestry, 9, 226-240. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojf.2019.93012 Received: May 17, 2019 Accepted: July 20, 2019 Published: July 23, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access