Special Paper: Voluntary and 'Official' Forest Protection Committees in Bihar: Solutions to India's Deforestation?

Particularly since India's Independence, concern about forest decline and opposition by forest-dependent populations to a perceived neglect and exploitation of local forests by the Forest Department has resulted, in certain areas, in the establishment of community-based forest protection committees. In Bihar, attempts to overcome the antagonistic Forest Department relations that prevailed during much of the 1980s, plus a recognition of the need to involve local people more in forest management and protection, have resulted in the establishment of the Bihar joint forest management programme. This aims to follow the example set by autonomous forest protection committees by setting up 'village protection and management committees' in degraded Protected forest areas. This paper, which stems from my doctoral fieldwork in the Jharkhand region of Bihar, will examine the issue of forest protection in light of three main issues. A first issue concerns the extent to which a strong historical sense of place and (particularly tribal) identity can be effective in mobilising an interest in and concern for local resource management and protection. A second issue concerns the degree to which traditional, charismatic village leaders are important in overcoming intra-village tensions over resource use and promoting successful forms of community action. A third issue concerns the extent to which the above two factors are likely to be important in the success of 'official' forest protection and management committees.