© Kamla-Raj 2007 J. Hum. Ecol., 21(1): 37-42 (2007) Role of Community Institutions in Joint Forest Management Damayanti Mukhopadhyay, H. R. Tewari and S.B. Roy * Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur 721 302, West Bengal, India E-mail: dm_at_kgp@yahoo.com * Indian Institute of Bio-Social Research and Development (IBRAD), 3A Hindustan Road, Gariahat, Kolkata 700 019, West Bengal, India E-mail: ibrad@giascl01.vsnl.net.in KEYWORDS Community Participation. Institutional Arrangements. Group Functioning ABSTRACT Forest is one of the most important resources for the very survival of human beings, especially those who are living in and around the forest. However, one of the major reasons for its depletion is unsustainable exploitation often by the same very people whose survival depends on the forests. Several attempts have been made in different countries to save this invaluable resource. Joint Forest Management (JFM) in India is one of such attempts which is characterised by active participation of the community institutions together with the Department of Forests. In this paper an attempt is made to discover the underlying institutional factors that enable or inhibit functioning of the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) and their effectiveness. Primary data were collected from 200 members of 63 JFMCs from four territorial forest divisions of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. Apart from JFMC members, 19 forest department officials and staff were also interviewed to know about the performance of the JFMCs. Collected data were coded, assigned scores and analysis was done with the help of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS10.0) for windows. Results suggest that locally evolved institutional arrangements are major factors that contribute to JFMC functioning which is represented by gradations. Moreover, among various parameters of institutions, control mechanism plays the most significant role in influencing the functioning of JFMCs. Therefore, to assess the performance of JFMCs in a shortest possible time, review of control mechanism only will represent a fairly accurate picture. INTRODUCTION Forests are abode of numerous species of both plants and animals, which constitute biodiversity through a web of life. It supports various life forms including human beings who dwell in settlements in and around forests. However, they are under severe degradation and depletion the world over (Earth Summit Report, 1992). Joint Forest Management (JFM) in India is an attempt to reverse the process of forest degradation on one hand, and to meet people’s need on the other. It is an explorative initiative to bring together the Forest Department (FD) and the resource users - the forest community people (FC) through formation of Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC). JFM is a unique approach which blends both scientific management techniques and age old indigenous practices to conserve forest on sustainable basis. Adoption of JFM programme by the state governments and its relative success compared to earlier management options of forest resources have attracted national government and international donor agencies in promotion and development of the programme. It encourages one to look into the internal social and institutional dynamics of JFMCs and identify factors that enable or inhibit their functioning which ultimately determine their performances. The present paper attempts to study the institutional arrangements (IA) and its impact on the functioning of JFMCs, and contribution of individual parameters of IA on the functioning of JFMCs MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, where JFMCs have been functioning for more than a decade. Keeping in mind the tenet of the JFM programme, data were collected from both JFMC members and the FD representatives. In total, 200 members were interviewed from 63 JFMCs from four territorial forest divisions of Paschim Medinipur district. Apart from JFMC members, FD officials and staff were also interviewed to know about the performance of the JFMCs. Altogether 19 FD representatives were interviewed, including Divisional Forest Officers, Range officers and Beat officers. Collected data were coded, assigned scores and analysis was done with the help of statistical