Unlocking the Scientific and Unscientific Debate in Community Forestry

Abstract

"The knowledge of local forest protecting communities has largely remained unnoticed by the forest department and forest laws in India. The efforts of such communities in managing forests have rarely been acknowledged. Forest management arrangements as prescribed by the forest acts and laws till date is restricted to management of forest as providers of forest produce; both timber and non-timber. Contrary to this, for communities depending on it, forests are more than a resource, it defines their identity and heritage. These communities with a long-standing history of their relationship with forests have developed institutional arrangements, rules and regulations to manage their resource. This paper makes an effort to investigate the extensive indigenous knowledge of people in this regard and favours the tenet that practices followed by communities have scientific validity and can be proved at par with scientific forest management practices as prescribed by the forest department. In enlisting such people's knowledge, this paper aims to create space in the existing policies and laws for forest protecting communities."