Abstract
A study was conducted in Kullu district in the province of Himachal Pradesh in Indian Western Himalaya, to investigate the perceptions of Indian foresters about aspects of forest management relevant for effective Joint Forest Management (JFM). A lack of uniform understanding was found amongst forestry staff about almost all the studied issues pertaining to JFM. A need is identified to emphasise social aspects in the training of the foresters (including in-service training), along with the existing silvi-technical aspects. For JFM success, measures need to be devised to reduce the political interference in JFM, reduce hierarchical rigidity, and increase interaction between field staff and the administrative hierarchy. Strategies should be devised to make JFM participants as well as forestry staff equally responsible to honour their commitments with respect to JFM.
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Notes
The terms ‘foresters’ and ‘forestry staff’ are used synonymously and include those personnel of the Forest Department who have undertaken specialised forestry training in various forestry schools and colleges in India. For the present study, foresters encompassed forest guards, deputy rangers, range forest officers and divisional forest officers.
While the data are essentially from the population of foresters in Kullu, the respondents can be considered as a sample in that Kullu is representative of other districts in the province. In this context, the use of a statistical inference technique is valid.
Rastogi (1995) also argued that differences in expectations of two hierarchies create the feeling of not being understood and mar the initiative or innovation on the part of staff.[0]
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Association of Commonwealth Universities of the United Kingdom for providing a Commonwealth Fellowship to support this study, and also the University of Aberdeen for providing necessary infrastructural facilities for conducting this study. The British Council also deserves special thanks for the administration of the Fellowship. Anonymous reviewer and the editor-in-chief of the journal also deserve special mention for their constructive and valuable suggestions.
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Sood, K.K., Gupta, H.K. Implications of Indian Foresters’ Perspectives of Joint Forest Management. Small-scale Forestry 6, 291–308 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-007-9021-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-007-9021-3