Status of a Forest Dependence and Degradation: Trade Off Between Short Term Gains and Long Term Benefits with a Case Study Support in India

Abstract

"It is a fact that poor people specially in tribal dominated area have a great deal of forest dependence. The institution of joint forest management was devised to have a better coordinative effort between the forest dwellers and forest department for protection of the forest resources. It was expected that poor villagers would be socio-economically better motivated to protect the forest resources on which their livelihood greatly depends. However empirical study in Ranibundh and Jhilimili beat in Bankura district, ( West Bengal , India) revealed that due to operation of a number of factors like lack of co-ordination between forest dept and forest protection committee (FPC), absence of mutual trust among FPC members, widespread illiteracy, unemployment, risk of eviction and loss of customary right to access the forest resources, there seems to be lack of protective effort on the part of forest dwellers leading to species depletion and degradation of the forest. Apart from this, lack of alternative income sources, poor access to credit, rising population size, insufficient local employment opportunities as well as high dependence on forest as a safety net during difficult economic times lead to unsustainable management of the resource. Sometimes there emerges a trade off between short run economic pursuits and long term effect which is captured by an optimal control model. In this backdrop the aspect of insecured property right, forest dependence, dynamics of socio-economic features, relative availability of alternative job and income and trade off between short and long term interest of the community are taken into account in an integrated analysis of the status of forest resources in a highly CPR dependent region exposed to the risk of degradation."