Ecological condition and management status of Community Forests in Indian western Himalaya

Pathak, Ravi; Thakur, Shinny; Negi, Vikram S.; Rawal, Ranbeer S.; Bahukhandi, Amit; Durgapal, Kamini; Barola, Anjali; Tewari, D. N.; Bhatt, Indra D.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105636

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Recent policy changes diminishing local autonomy regarding land and resource management have alarmed both local forest stewards and scholars (Mukherjee, 2014;Negi et al, 2012;Pathak et al, 2021). However, the regular absence of Forest Department authorities suggests neglected co-management responsibilities, rather than an encroaching state.…”

Section: Changing Forest Governance: Community Capacity and The Role ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Stevens,

Satterfield

2024

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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India's high mountain, van panchayat forests are a long-standing example of community-led forest governance. These provide vital support for mountain communities’ wellbeing, yet little is known about how environmental and social change is currently perceived or addressed, despite many claims that characterize van panchayats to be in crisis due to policy interventions by state forest actors and erosion of local management institutions. This research investigates how changes in forest dependence, governance, and health drive forest management decisions. Using open-ended interviews with 41 forest stewards and knowledge holders in a high mountain valley in Uttarakhand, our analysis describes managers’ perceptions of environmental and social changes and their implications for management choices. We found that van panchayats are currently navigating stewardship pathways in response to: (a) population shifts and changes to historically forest-dependent livelihoods; (b) a shift in governance regimes across van panchayats, affected by both regulatory changes and local institutional capacity; (c) the effects of global environmental change as it intersects with local influences on mountain ecosystems. Forest stewards’ perceptions of the drivers, trends, significance, and appropriate management responses to these changes varied widely. An overall decline in rightsholders’ dependence on forest resources was commonly reported, as was improved forest health in van panchayats in relation to other forest types. However, van panchayat managers disagreed on whether declining dependence positively or negatively affects forest health, whether the state is absent or actively wresting control from communities, and if successful forest restoration efforts will continue. A lack of shared understanding of these issues complicates forest stewards’ efforts to cooperate towards mutually desired ends, exacerbated by a co-management policy which isolates forest councils’ efforts from neighbouring forests. Accordingly, we encourage policy changes to enhance collaborative decision-making and to address implications of diverse perceptions, priorities and practices of care in mountain forests.

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Section: Changing Forest Governance: Community Capacity and The Role ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Stevens,

Satterfield

2024

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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“…The study does not, however, explain or evaluate the state of biodiversity or its conservation within these varying forest structures. A large amount of research explores the governance of forests in the Himalayas, focusing more on outcomes related to equity, justice, and fairness rather than on biodiversity outcomes (63). Oldekop and colleagues' (64) study of social and ecological outcomes across thousands of hectares of Nepalese forests provides a welcome, robust exception.…”

Section: Lack Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance and Conservation Effectiveness in Protected Areas and Indigenous and Locally Managed Areas

Zhang,

West,

Thakholi

et al. 2023

Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour.

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Increased conservation action to protect more habitat and species is fueling a vigorous debate about the relative effectiveness of different sorts of protected areas. Here we review the literature that compares the effectiveness of protected areas managed by states and areas managed by Indigenous peoples and/or local communities. We argue that these can be hard comparisons to make. Robust comparative case studies are rare, and the epistemic communities producing them are fractured by language, discipline, and geography. Furthermore the distinction between these different forms of protection on the ground can be blurred. We also have to be careful about the value of this sort of comparison as the consequences of different forms of conservation for people and nonhuman nature are messy and diverse. Measures of effectiveness, moreover, focus on specific dimensions of conservation performance, which can omit other important dimensions. With these caveats, we report on findings observed by multiple study groups focusing on different regions and issues whose reports have been compiled into this article. There is a tendency in the data for community-based or co-managed governance arrangements to produce beneficial outcomes for people and nature. These arrangements are often accompanied by struggles between rural groups and powerful states. Findings are highly context specific and global generalizations have limited value.

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Community-Managed Forests and Their Effectiveness in SDG Implications in the Western Himalayan Region

Bhatt,

Jugran

2024

Warming Mountains

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Ecological condition and management status of Community Forests in Indian western Himalaya

Cited by 13 publications

References 69 publications

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Governance and Conservation Effectiveness in Protected Areas and Indigenous and Locally Managed Areas

Community-Managed Forests and Their Effectiveness in SDG Implications in the Western Himalayan Region

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