Studies of different patterns of Ecological changes in natural forest are essential for decision making at different levels i.e. Village, District, National levels. Due to extensive diversity found in India, localized studies of vegetation status are necessary to understand the dynamics and respond to highly varied environmental context for the success of Joint Forest Management (JFM).

The philosophy, concept and implementation of monitoring of JFM programme should be laid on the foundation of participatory method of socio-ecological process supported by a strong will, capacity and practical mechanism of Forest Department bureaucratic culture. This needs clear-cut policy and a transparent forum such as working group at different levels. Since the JFM programme essentially constitutes community as one of the partners, how could the partner be kept away from the monitoring process? How can the forest resources assessment be confidential? How can the institutional process of the community be a ‘fact of isolated’ action? If that be so, the process of monitoring and assessment be developed as a joint institutional mechanism which would not only be a ‘data base file’ but some sort of encouraging forum to share the essence of success and failure of JFM programme. This would build mutual trust between people and they would share the responsibility to develop a course of action for forest conservation. This would also instill ‘self-esteem’ both in FC (Forest Community) and FD (Forest Department), bilateral matching institutions, (Roy, 1992) which one would be proud of.

Concept statement:
One can use these simpler measures to estimate more complex parameters like standing biomass, and productivity of any ecosystem. However, we will select only those parameters which will help the community to generate some information in order to move their role from a protector to a manager of their forest. Therefore, the key objectives of this study are to -

1. Involve people to identify local scientific parameters of measurement such as -
   1. Girth at Breast height (GBH)/Diameter at the Breast Height (DBH)
   2. Height of a tree
   3. Species richness
   4. Canopy cover
2. Prepare indigenous baseline
3. Identify local forest management options.
4. Develop Participatory Forest Management strategy for tangible results.
5. Standardize very parameters.

The concept and practice of vegetation monitoring enable the villagers to determine what would be the judicious amount of harvesting of forest products so that sustainability is ensured. The process equips villagers with information based on physical verification to evaluate the present status of forests (degraded, moderate or good), to keep account of and maintain and improve natural forest under protection (ha), to measure the extent and quality of plantation under protection (ha) to improve the same, to assess the quantity and nature of regeneration of forests (poor, medium, good), to reckon with and develop an inventory of names of the common species available in the forest and to assess changes in water table (increasing or decreasing). These technological innovations enable or empower people to participate as true managers of the resources rather than as mere protectors.

IBRAD facilitates joint involvement of local-level institutions and Forest Department to

(i)         Assess the vegetation status of the protected and regenerated natural forest and plantation.
(ii)        Assess how the knowledge on vegetation status influences local institutions and economic activities.

How people are implementing findings to improve functioning of institutions, forest condition and income level.

The process thus is called “Participatory Vegetation Monitoring”.

Participatory monitoring measures progress. It is the systemic recording and periodic analysis of information that have been gathered and recorded by insiders with the help of outsiders (FAO 1990. The community’s toolbox, community forestry manual 2).

Participatory Vegetation Monitoring has been proved to be one of the most important and efficient tools for the community by which they can blend their traditional knowledge with modern knowledge in order to manage forest resources in effective ways

Participatory Bio Diversity Assessment - Experiences show that there are rarely any example in India where villagers have developed their own local level methodology, implement it on their own without any external financial support, keep the records of change and use them for bio-diversity conservation.

IBRAD is facilitating the process of participatory biodiversity assessment to assess the biodiversity condition of the area by the people themselves so that they can keep records, analyse the data and use it for prediction and better management of the natural and biological resources.  

Vegetation Monitoring is proved to be a one of the most important and efficient tool for the community where they can blend their traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods in order to manage their
forest resources (Roy, Mahapatra, Yadav, 2000).

The expected output of Participatory Vegetation Monitoring

1. FD at division level accepts it as one of the means for institutional development and ecological sustainability (minutes of the meeting, participation of local foresters in the process of vegetation monitoring).
2. Number of FPCs involved.
3. Periodical monitoring of Vegetation Monitoring
   1. FPC form group (male and female, children)
   2. Collect data as per standard method and format and keep record.
   3. Analysis and interpretation and plan of actions.
   4. Analyse data on height, girth, regeneration, forest fire, forest offences etc.(record of analysis)
   5. Discuss among FPC members about the finding of the vegetation monitoring in FPC meetings (minutes of the meeting)
4. Participatory methods are developed
   1. Groups of villagers are trained (number of FPC involved, number of groups formed)
   2. Villagers keep record of removal of woody biomass as per format (name of villages, name of collector, weight of the item, name of item, date of collections, etc.
   3. Villagers accumulate data of total record on quarterly basis.
   4. Analyse implication of over-harvesting of any species and devise plan of action to limit harvest (record of new norms, record of collection of particular item)
5. Dissemination of knowledge / information
   1. Group leader and group members inform FPC members about major findings of vegetation monitoring (minutes of meeting indicate)
   2. Invite foresters to such meeting (signature of forester in minute book)
   3. Display updated information board for wider publicity of the work (display board at a prominent place in village)
6. Reduction in incidence of fire
   1. incidences reduced (community keep record of such incidences)
   2. disease are identified and measures are taken to eliminate disease (meetings, reduction in number of disease, death of trees prevented - community keeps record)

Case Study from Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk, Midnapore, West Bengal

Background

Kapasgaria is part of the Jamsole forest protection committee, which was registered in the year 1992. This FPC is a conglomerate of six villages, vested with the responsibility to manage 214 ha of forest. Bhagawatichowk is situated in the north west of Midnapore district (Roy, Mahapatra, Yadav, 2000).

Population

Kapasgaria has a heterogeneous population of 303 people, belonging to different castes of Sadgope, Shabar, Rajak and Bhumij. Thirty one percent of the population is illiterate. Bhagawatichowk has a population of 198 and is dominated by Bhumij community. The other castes include Mahji, Rajak, Kairi and Teli. Twenty five percent of the villagers are illiterate.

Occupation

The primary occupation of the villagers of Kapasgaria is agriculture, rice being their main crop. Other occupations of the villagers include wage labour, business, government service and sal leaf plate making. The main occupation in Bhagawatichowk is agricultural labour and the principal crop is rice grown under rainfed conditions. Their earnings are further enhanced by the sale of firewood and sal leaf plates.

Forest Type

The forest in Midnapore is predominantly dry-deciduous, dominated by sal (Shorea robusta). Other dominant tree species are Madhuca latifolia (Mahua). Schleichera oleosa (Kusum), Terminalia bellerica (Bahera), Pterocarpus marsupium (Piasal), Gmelina arborea (Gamar) and Buchanania lanzan (Piyal).

Kapasgaria protects 25 ha of degraded natural forest and 28 ha of plantation area. Bhagawatichowk village is surrounded by 53 ha of sal dominated forest and 30 ha of Eucalyptus plantation.

Kapasgaaria

The institutional framework : The forest is protected by the Kapasgaria Krisak Samity, a village body empowered by the Jamsole Forest Protection Committee in 1990. However Jamsole FPC was in existence even before its registration in 1992. The Krisak Samity has 63 members, of whom 11 are elected to the Executive Committee. There are no women members on this committee. Any member of the FPC may be elected to become an Executive Committee member. The president, who is the head of the Executive Committee, is responsible for the overall functioning of the Samity. He is assisted by a secretary and a messenger. The secretary is responsible for keeping accounts of the committee’s income and expenditure. Meetings of the Samity are issue specific and are convened whenever necessary.

Impact of Community Participation in Vegetation Monitoring

Currently the rate of extraction of woody biomass is lower than the potential harvest limit in both the village (Table 1), though the actual demand is higher. The community is careful not to permit higher extraction, as one of the modes of ensuring forest growth and addressing the need for firewood is to regulate extraction to ensure forest development. It is generally considered that potential harvest limit should not exceed 1/3 – ½ the current annual biomass increment.

The potential harvest limit of woody biomass from the protected forest is about 29-44 t/year in Kapasgaria and about 58-87 t/year in Bhagawatichowk. Harvest to this extent can meet 33-50% of demand in Bhagawatichowk and 22 – 32% of demand in Kapasgaria. The extracted woody biomass is approximately 8 t/year (about 6% of requirement) and 54 t/year (about 30% of requirement) respectively in Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk. This is below the potential extractable limit. The current rates of extraction of firewood is sustainable as they are only 18% of potential harvest limit in Kapasgaria and 61.2% in Bhagawatichowk. The households seem to be obtaining firewood from other sources as well to meet their needs.

NTFP Flows

In Kapasgaria village, a participatory method for recording the daily flows of NTFPs to the local households was initiated after several meetings with the villagers to make them aware of the importance of NTFP monitoring. The main aim of this initiative was to explore methods to enable the villagers themselves to maintain records on NTFPs collected by households and the benefits derived from them.

Fifty percent of the households were selected, representing different ethnic and economic status groups among the households. The selected households were divided into five groups and a leader was appointed for each group. He was asked to record the data for all the households in his group and aggregate the data for each week. A team leader was selected to monitor the functioning of the process and update his notebook on a monthly interval, based on the record maintained by the five group leaders on behalf of the households. This monitoring process is still continuing and information on the NTFPs – the name of the NTFP, months in which collection was made and quantity collected – is being displayed on a board near the village.

NTFPs gathered in the village : Seven types of products, derived from various species, are used as NTFP. Branches of various species, bushes (Jhantijhuri) and dried leaves are used as firewood. Green sal leaves are used for plate making. Mushrooms and tubers of Dioscorea sp., fruits of Bankndri (Arstida sp.) and stems of Banpui (Basella alba) are used as vegetables. Pului (Phoenix aculis) leaf is sued for mat weaving. Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata), Satmul (Asparagus racemosus), Iswarmul (Tylophora indica), Anantamul (Hemidesmus indicus) are used as medicinal plants. Dhudhilata (Icniocarpus fruitiscens) stems are used for basket weaving. Kendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) leaf is used for rolling cigars. Other NTFPs for which estimates were not made are Bena, Siakul fruits (Zizyphus oenoplea), Bainchi (Flacourtia indica), Char (Buchanania lanzan) Ban Khejur, Piasal (Pterocarpus marsupium) leaves; fodder from Sal, Char and Sida (Lagerstroemia parviflora) branches; prickly shrubs like Manta (Randia dumentorum), Bainch and Siakul; and Datan (tooth brush) from Sal. An earlier study in Jambori range, Midnapore district, West Bengal showed that a total of 214 species were collected from the regenerating forests (Malhotra, et. al., 1991).

Households gathering NTFPs : Jhantijhuri, was collected by all households in both the villages. Stunted poles were not collected by Bhagawatichowk households. Collection of dry leaves was observed in all the households in Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk, irrespective of the land holding category. In Bhagawatichowk, collection of dry leaves was by 85% and 66% of small farmer and landless groups and it was 85% and 69% in Kapasgaria (Table 2). Dry leaves are mostly collected for parboiling rice. Large farmers in Kapasgaria collect more quantities of dry leaves per household than medium and small farmers for parboiling. Collection of sal leaves for plate making was not found among large farmers in both the villages. Other NTFP collection showed no variation in collection for different land holding categories. Vegetables collected mostly for different land holding categories. Vegetables collected mostly for subsistence was used by most households. Though Kendu leaves are revenue earning, it was collected only by few households, mainly by small farmers and landless labourers in both the villages. Stunted poles are not collected in Bhagawatichowk. Collection of mushrooms per household is same for all the households. The quantity collected per household is approximately 1 kg in Kapasgaria and 3 kg in Bhagawatichowk. The availability of mushrooms was about 124 kg per annum in Bhagawatichowk village compared to about 70 kg in Kapasgaria.

Changes in availability of NTFPs : Traditionally, in both the study villages, the communities were extracting most of the NTFPs from the forest adjacent to their villages. Interaction with the elderly people of the villages revealed that the forests were luxuriant and rich in flora and fauna prior to 1970. There was a good reservoir of NTFPs like firewood; sal (Shorea robusta) seeds, fruits and leaves; Mahua (Bassia latifolia) flowers, fruits, and seeds; fruits like Char, Kend, Bhuru (Gardenia gummifera), Bainchi, Siakul, and Khejur; vegetables like Banpui, Kurol (Amaranthus sp.), Sag, Kundri, and potatoes; mushrooms;

Bakhar (Elephantaphus scaber) balls, silk cocoon; bana, kurkut ants (Formida sp.), fruits of haritaki (Terminalia chebula), Dhatri (Woodfordia fruiticosa) and Amlaki (Emblica officianalis); dhuna; honey; medicinal plants like kalmegh, satmul, anantamul, etc.; prickly bushes and hunted animals such as gurur (Turix suscitator), pecha (Athena brama), ghughu (Sreptopelia decaocto), dahuk (Amaurornix phoenicurus), bak (Bubulcus ibis). Hunters claimed that earlier they could get enough game like rabbit, katberali, neul and katas throughout the day but nowadays there is hardly any catch.

The recorded collection of sal leaves for plate making in Bhagawatichowk was about 3 times more than in Kapasgaria (32,400 plates). The different in collection of sal leaves for plate making may primarily stem from two reasons: the area under protection in Kapasgaria is less while in Bhagawatichowk the forest is sal dominated. Higher collection in Bhagawatichowk could also be due to difference in economic status and ethnic composition.

Degradation of the forest led to a shortage of NTFPs. After the formation of FPCs, there has been a gradual increase in the availability of a number of NTFPs like sal leaf for plate making, vegetables, mushrooms, dhuna, bena, tubers, medicinal plants and kendu leaves. But there has been no considerable increase of fauna such as kurkut ants, silk cocoon and flora such as mahua flowers, fruits and seeds, kendu and honey in both the villages. Loss of forest cover during 1970-84 led to the scarcity of NTFPs. Therefore, communities had to travel to distant forest areas of neighbouring villages. Since the formation of FPC in both the villages, communities restricted NTFP collection, particularly firewood, to their own protected forest. Change in vegetation pattern in both the forest areas has also affected the use of various NTFPs. Tubers from the forest which were considered as a staple food for the tribal communities, particularly during lean periods of the year, is less preferred by the people. This is probably due to a change in socio-economic status of the communities. Another reason for changed preference may be due to availability of other alternatives or substitutes as food. Smoking chuta (local cigar with tobacco rolled in sal leaf) from sal and biri (local cigar with tobacco rolled in kendu leaf) from kendu leaf has also decreased compared to the past. This may be due to the fact that processed cigarettes are readily available in the market at affordable prices.

Table 1 :      Woody biomass production and harvestable limit in the forests of Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk.

 

Table 2 :     NTFPs collected and quantities gathered by households in different land holding groups.

 

LF : large farmer (above 1.61 ha cultivated land); MF : marginal farmer (0.80 – 1.6 ha cultivated land) SF : small farmer (below 0.8 cultivated land); LL : land less labour (no cultivated land)

1 Data in parenthesis represent the quantity of NTFP collected by the respective category.
2 Data in parenthesis represent the number of household in each land holding category.

Scarcity of firewood in the form of branches and twigs have compelled people to switch over to dry leaves from the forest floor as a substitute unlike in the past, when firewood was available in plenty.

Value of NTFPs gathered from the protected forests : The valuation of the NTFPs was made on the basis of the prevailing market rates (Table 3). People in Kapasgaria village receive relatively lower returns from forests because of lower per capita availability of forest. Per capita forest in Kapasgaria is 0.41 ha while in Bhagawatichowk it is 1.26 ha. In Kapasgaria households receive Rs. 464 per annum and in Bhagawatichowk they get Rs. 1446 per annum from forest produce. In both the villages, NTFPs do not contribute much to the household income. Despite differences in protection history, income derived per ha is equal (Table 3). The villagers market dry twigs, sal leaf plate and mushrooms in the nearby town of Kharagpur. Middlemen also visit the villages during the season and purchase these products from the villagers. Villagers collect kendu leaves for bidi making for household use, but do not market it. Sal seeds are collected and marketed by LAMPS (Large-scale Adivasi Multi-Purpose Society). FPC members are given wages for collection.

Table 3 :   Value of NTFPs from the protected forests of Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk per annum

 

All the NTFPs in Bhagawatichowk are collected from protected forest. In Kapasgaria, major NTPFs such as fallen twigs, brunches, dry leaves and sal leaves are collected from the protected forest; the rest of the NTFPs are collected from neighbouring forest areas.

Lessons Learnt

i.      Commitment of the villagers need to be secured : The case study of the three villages has shown that in Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk, the FPCs have succeeded in enforcing the extraction regulations and has protected the forest. Thus for the FPC to be functional, apart from appropriate regulations governing the establishment and operation of FPC, the unity in village community and local leadership is essential. It may be necessary to create awareness and train the villagers about the importance of having an effective, function FPC. The Forest Department may have to play a more active role in case of inter or intra-community conflicts.

ii.   Vegetation management strategy promotes biodiversity : Differences in management systems adopted in Kapasgaria and Bhagawatichowk has affected the growth of several tree species. In Kapasgaria, ban on the collection of seven timber-yielding tree species during the initial years of protection resulted in homogeneous growth of sal and other species. In Bhagawatichowk, restriction on extraction of only sal species resulted in a monocultural sal forest.

Uncontrolled used of other tree species has affected the species diversity in the higher DBH class in Bhagawatichowk. However, sal has good regeneration in both the villages and the recruitment is effective. In a study in the Nayagram Range of West Midnapore, a regenerated sal forest in Khanamuri had as many as 52 plant species and Dokra of Keshorererekha beat had 56 plant species (Das et al, 1994). We can therefore conclude that a good vegetation management strategy, particularly protection and extraction practices, could promote biodiversity.

iii.  Protection leads to significant regeneration : In spite of continuous removal of woody biomass in the form of firewood from the regenerating forest, the total woody biomass is comparable to that of plantations from where no firewood is extracted. Further, the biomass growth rates are comparable to that of fast growing tree species. This indicates that protection of regenerating forests has the potential to provide more biomass and products for several other end uses unlike monoculture plantations. Besides, the investment in protected forest per ha is less than one tenth required for raising social forestry plantations.

Create awareness about economic benefits that can accrue from NTFP collection : The financial value of earning per annum from NTFPs collected is equal to nearly 10 day’s wages in Kapasgaria and 30 days’ wages in Bhagawatichowk (assuming a rate of Rs. 50 / day). However, if firewood is excluded, it is equivalent to 6 days of wage earning in Kapasgaria and 5 days in Bhagawatichowk. Diversity of NTFPs in both villages is comparable. Protection leads to improved NTFP diversity and may result in better economic incentives. A longer history of protection, coupled with better management could lead to higher NTFP diversity, quantity and quality leading to better economic incentives, though in the present study, income derived per unit area is the same in spite of difference in protection period.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the Ford Foundation for supporting this research programme and publication. Thanks are due to the West Bengal Forest Department and the members of the Forest Protection Committee for their cooperation during field work. As far as the methodology of measurement and statistical analysis of data are concerned, the credit goes to Dr. N. H. Ravindranath, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the coordinator, EERN in particular and EERN network in general. Mr. Indranil Bhattacharya deserves heart felt thanks for preparing this manuscript.

References

FAO 1990. The community’s toolbox, community forestry manual 2.

Malhotra K. C., Debal, D., Dutta, N., Vasulu, T. S., Yadav, G., Adhikari, M. (1991). Role of Non – Timber Forest Produce in Village Economy : A household Survey in Jamboni Range, Midnapore district, West Bengal. Indian Institute of Bio-Social Research and Development, Calcutta.

Mark Poffenberger Betcy McGean, NH, Ravindranath and Madhab Gadgil, Field Methods Manual Volume-1.

Roy, S. B. (1992). Bilateral Matching Institutions : An Illustration in Forest Conservation, Published in the Journal of Indian Anthropological Society of India, 27:253-262

Roy S. B., Tapan Mahapatra and Ganesh Yadav. (2000). Forest Protection And Management By Communities In Midnapore District, West Bengal. Published in the book “Joint Forest Management and Community Forestry in India – An Ecological and Institutional Assessment” Edited by N. H. Ravindranath, K. S. Murali and K. C. Malhotra. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.

Roy S. B., D. Mukhopadhyay and S. Das. (2001). Strengthening Institutions in Joint Forest Management : Systemic Approach to Forest Conservation, Journal of Social Science, New Delhi.