12

Chapter 2

Review of Literature

This chapter deals with the review of available literature on phytosociological aspects

of plant population dynamics, studies on the nature and extent of the dependence of

local communities on forest resources and the role played by them in conservation of

forests and wildlife in tropics, rural livelihood models, various participatory

approaches including their impact and gender and equity issues in forestry systems.

The literature has been reviewed under the following broad aspects:

Phytosociology

Dependence of local communities on forests

Involvement of local communities in forest and wildlife conservation:

modalities and impact

Rural livelihood models

Gender and equity issues

Participatory approaches

Sampling methods

In phytosociology, the works of various authors have been quoted on various

issues. While reviewing the other aspects, various tools/approaches/findings of

various authors have been narrated. It was not possible to conduct review of literature

by quoting and comparing the findings/observations of various authors on different

13

issues as the issues involved were extremely diverse and complex and not much work

was found to have been done on each one to enable comparison between them.

However, wherever feasible, the same has been provided.

2.1 Phytosociology

Phytosociological concepts for studying plant associations are much older than the

word ‘ecology’ coined by Ernest Haeckel in 1866. Oosting (1956) mentioned

phytosociology as one of the major aspects of vegetation study in a community. In

general, phytosociology is defined as the study of composition, development,

geographical distribution and environmental relationships of plant communities

(Muellar-Dombois and Ellenberg 1974). The number of species and their relative

abundance give an idea about design and functioning of the communities. Total

important values occupied by the most important species are a function of the amount

of disturbance and are inverse function of species richness (Campbell, 1994). The

concept of importance value index has been developed in order to express the

dominance and ecological success of any species in single value. The index utilizes

three parameters i.e. relative frequency, relative density and relative dominance.

Forest with a tree species whose dominance is 40 or more is called single dominant

forest (Cao and Zhang, 1997).

Various workers have classified trees, saplings and seedlings for regeneration

studies according to the objective of the study and type of vegetation. Ojo and Ola-

Adams (1996) considered three categories of tree species for diversity indices, i.e.

small trees of 5-20 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), medium trees- 20 cm to 40 cm

dbh and large trees of 40 cm diameter and above. Cao and Zhang (1997) have taken

into consideration either dbh ≥ 5 cm or height ≥ 2m as trees. According to

Poffenberger et al. (1992) and Parthasarthy and Karthikeyan (1997), trees are

individual plants of ≥ 30 cm girth at breast height (gbh).

The data for phytosociological studies can be obtained from different methods

of sampling depending upon the objectives of the study, topography and type of

vegetation. Quadrat method is one of the important sampling methods for the study of

vegetation (Curtis and Cottam, 1956; Misra, 1968 and Nautial et al., 1987).

Poffenberger et al. (1992) indicated that it is important to include a control plot. This

14

allows comparison of any management practice with plots which are both 1)

unprotected open access, and 2) undisturbed natural forests. The most common

method employed for vegetation analysis is quadrat technique. Point-centered quarter

method is also described for use in highly diverse areas with randomly distributed

species. It is far easier to estimate crucial parameters such as basal area per ha. using

equations through quadrat method than point-centered quarter or any other method.

Species diversity and vegetation structure in tropical forest ecosystems in

India has been studied by several researchers (Shah et al., 1978; Shah and Bhatt,

1980; Verma and Das, 1981; Banerjee and Lal, 1985; Sharma et al., 1986; George and

Varghese, 1993). Malhotra and Moorthy (1992) and Kunhikannan (1999) conducted

vegetation studies in Tadoba National Park, Maharashtra.

Many diversity indices exist, each with its own strength and weaknesses.

Therefore it is best to use combination of them (Samson and Knopf, 1996). No single

index encompasses all the characteristics of an ideal index including high

discriminant ability, low sensitivity to sample size and ease in calculation (Magurran,

1988). Ludwig et al. (1988) have indicated that a number of indicators have been

proposed to measure species richness that are independent of the sample size. They

are based on the relationship between S (total number of species) and the total number

of individuals observed n, which increase with the increase in the sample size. Two

historically well-known richness indices are Margalef’s index and Menhinick index’.

(Magurran, 1988) has also mentioned that Margalef’s index attempts to compensate

for sampling effects.

Clark (1995) has indicated that ‘indices like Shanon-Wiener’s index, which

has the attribute of being influenced by both the number of species present and how

evenly or unevenly the individuals are distributed among the constituent species, are

sample size independent. Thus most samples of different sizes can be directly

compared’. Studies on plant diversity have been conducted by various researchers

throughout the world. Monk (1967) and Risser and Rice (1971) have calculated

diversity indices ranging from 2 to 3 for temperate forests of the new world. While

studying the vegetation ecology of Tadoba National Park, Maharashtra, Kunhikannan

reported Shannon-Wiener index of 2.4 to 2.9 for woody species, 0.6 to 2.3 for shrubs

15

and 3.9 for herbs (Kunhikannan, 1999). He has also indicated that Simpson index for

trees varies from 0.085 to 0.147 and for shrubs from 0.135 to 0.806.

Sanjit and Bhatt (2005) reported that since species richness simply denotes the

number of species, it is an un-weighted measure of species number relations. In

species diversity, species are weighted by some measure of their abundance,

productivity or size. They feel that species richness is the best tool for conservation

biologists because it de-emphasizes the many common dominant species in a

community.

2.2 Dependence of Local Communities on Forests

According to a survey carried out in mid-eighties, over two third of the protected

areas had human settlement and resource use inside them (Kothari et al., 1989). In

India, 64% of the rural population and 100 million tribals (Lynch, 1992) depend on

the forests for the sustenance. In the domestic sector in rural India, non-commercial

fuels (fuelwood, crop residues and animal wastes) meet 80-92% of the total energy

needs which the share of fuelwood ranges from 20-78% (TERI, 1998). Forests

contribute about 32% of the fuelwood requirements of the country. Against a

sustainable level of 31 million cow-units a year that might graze in forests, the actual

number is close to 100 million cow-units, more than three times the desirable limits of

carrying capacity (TERI, 1998).

Increasing dependence on forest resources may sometimes have negative

impact on livelihoods. Matenga (2002) while studying the conservation development

programmes in the protected areas in Zambia found that instead of improving the

livelihoods of the local communities, these programmes have in fact accentuated their

economic marginalization as they have ignored the development of agriculture, the

main livelihood strategy for the majority of the people in these regions.

Karanja (2003), while reporting the impact of tourism in Masai Mara National

Reserve, Kenya, reports that it provides an economic rationale for protected areas and

has a potential to generate significant benefits for conservation, local communities

and national governments. However tourism is not cost-free and uncontrolled and ill-

managed tourism can have significant negative impacts on wildlife and the

environment in the protected areas.

16

Hasler (2004) has reported that over ten years of social and ecological

monitoring and evaluation, planning effort, policy change, legislative reform, donor

support and pilot design have taken place for community based wildlife management

(CBWM) projects in Southern Africa. In the attempt to achieve those social

conditions under which CBWM can work (legislative and policy reform, capacity

building, institutional development, direct local economic benefits and enhanced

ecological value of local resources), planners, academicians and practitioners have

encouraged co-management regimes rather than community based management

regimes. The findings of this study suggest that powerful players may co-opt the

process for their own, sometimes perverse purposes and instead of the hoped for

'political ecologies of scale” occurring, where all levels of society benefit from the

promotion of 'win/win' good management practices at local level, 'a political impasse

of scale' may emerge.

The provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 directly or indirectly affect the

life of 3 to 4 million indigenous and other communities living within 600 protected

areas spread across the country (Wani and Kothari, 2007). The 2005 report of Tiger

Task Force “Joining the Dots” acknowledges that the protection of tigers and forests

is inseparable from the fortunes of people inhibiting the forest areas.

2.3 Involvement of Local Communities in Forest and Wildlife

Conservation: Modalities and Impact

Colchester (1994) indicates that conservation agencies need to be made more

accountable to the indigenous people if they are to become more socially sensitive

and to cede power to local communities. He advocates that the indigenous people face

four major problems inherent in classical conservation approach. Mainstream

conservationists have put the preservation of nature above the interests of human

being. Secondly, their view of nature has been shaped by a cultural notion of

wilderness sharply at odds with the cosmovision of most indigenous people. Thirdly,

conservationists have sought authority for their regulation of human interactions with

nature in the power of the state. Lastly, conservationists’ perception of indigenous

people is tinged with the same prejudice that confronts indigenous people everywhere.

The result, as we have seen is that indigenous people have suffered a four-fold

17

marginalization due to conservationist imposition. The challenge is to find a means of

making conservation organizations accountable to what is for them the unfamiliar

constituency, indigenous people, so that they are obliged to treat, indigenous people’s

concerns with the seriousness they deserve.

Shekhar Singh (1997) mentions that ecodevelopment is a strategy that

attempts to conserve ecologically valuable areas, especially protected areas in a

manner that ensures that the negative impact of such a conservation effort on people

living in and around these PAs is minimized, empowers the local communities to have

an increasing say in the management of the protected area, creates among the local

populations a sense of ownership towards the PA and strengthens PA management

capabilities. He further indicates that ecodevelopment is unlikely to succeed if it is not

supplemented by effective management of the PA. Very often there is a need to orient

the local population in principles of wildlife management relevant to the specific PA.

Kothari (1998) has reported that India’s conservation policy and programmes

are moving increasingly towards more participatory processes. The conservation

movement should be made broad based. Some compromises may appear necessary

(by both urban conservationists and local communities) to make these new alignments

and strategies possible: some wildlife habitat may be lost; some communities may

have to give up cherished traditions. But in the long run, a range of options in which

co-management and community based conservation figure prominently, offer a much

surer vision of conservation than we have built over the last few decades.

Lele (1998) has studied the issue of jointness of the joint forest management

programme in India. He mentions that official wildlife conservation policy has

managed to reverse, to some extent, declines in wildlife populations. However, it has

until recently retained the exclusivist and alienating tendencies. The government has

responded during the last two decades with programs of joint forest management in

degraded forest areas and ecodevelopment in and around protected areas. These two

main programs have a mixed record: in some cases they have helped local people to

gain sustainable livelihoods, but both suffer from a lack of actual power-sharing with

these people, and from the same exclusionary focus that characterized conventional

policies. Several NGOs, community representatives, and some officials are

advocating joint management strategies for wildlife reserves, but this has yet to gain

18

formal acceptance. Recent legal measures, especially the devolution of powers to

village-level institutions, have boosted such advocacy. Communities need a strong

stake in conserving the local ecosystems and species. This is more often than not

likely to be economic or livelihood-based, but it could also be social recognition,

political empowerment, and cultural sustenance. Tenurial security over natural

resources essential for survival and basic livelihoods is most important. This means

that in most cases there is a need to integrate conservation values and imperatives

with livelihood requirements. This is by no means easy, and may call for some give-

and-take, but in the long run such integration is critical for both conservation and for

social justice.

Pabla and Mathur (1998) have reported that the strife between PAs and local

people is a reality and is a major bottleneck in conservation. Although we need to

reduce human density in and around PAs, it is possible for man and wildlife to co-

exist in other areas, with some trade-off. Any delay in winning the popular support for

conservation will bring the doom of many known, and many more unknown, forms of

life that much closer.

Ravindranath et al. (1998) conducted baseline studies to gain a preliminary

understanding of the existing institutional arrangements, vegetation status, current

firewood and NTFP extraction practices and income regeneration from protected and

managed forests under community and joint forest management systems. A total of 27

villages were studied which included 16 JFM and 11CFMs systems in 8 states

including Western Ghats in Karnataka. Assessment of institutional arrangement

regarding structure, functioning, regulations and effectiveness of management system

was carried out. Parameters such as vegetation regeneration, biodiversity, size

distribution of tree species and growing stock of protected forest were studied to

understand the impact of the various management systems on the vegetation status.

Degradation of forests and shortage of biomass was found to be the dominant

motivating factor for protection and management of forests in all the locations. All

socio-economic groups including the large and small farmers and the landless

depended on forests for firewood. It was noticed that longer the period of protection,

higher the species diversity and trees of larger DBH. Field studies showed that a

variety of NTFPs are extracted. A number of NTFPs were available but not extracted

19

in few locations as the Western Ghats. It was suggested that long-term monitoring

studies are required to assess the yields and impacts of NTFP extraction practices.

Given the large diversity of locations, with socio-economic and ecological variations,

the only feasible option is to enable village communities or village forest committee

members or village teachers and students to monitor the status of vegetation, develop

and adopt practices, and monitor their impacts and accordingly modify them which

could be termed as adaptive forest management.

Sudha et al. (1998) conducted a study in the community-managed forests of

Shimoga district in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka to investigate the

community-managed systems that have evolved in the past few decades. The existing

community management systems were wholly initiated by local communities in

response to degradation leading to biomass scarcity. Though there is no conscious

discrimination, there is no representation of the economically poorer sections or

socially backward households in the protection committee. Women are excluded from

the committees as well as meetings although women participate in protection and are

the major extractors of biomass. The control plots have fewer tree species as

compared to the protected forest and it is almost less than half the number found in

the protected forests. All communities have evolved very strict rules for extraction of

biomass. The communities realized that extraction rates in the pre-protection period

were non-sustainable and therefore stringent measures of protection are needed.

Karlsson (1999), while studying the ecodevelopment practices in Buxa Tiger

Reserve, West Bengal, has mentioned that during the early 1990s, experiments in

‘ecodevelopment’ were carried out in widespread critique of western industrial

society. Beside the main concern for the environment or for ‘ecological limits to

growth’, issues of increased local control and popular involvement in the development

process have also been central.

Kothari et al. (2000) have conducted regional review of community wildlife

management in South Asia. Impacts are gauged at four levels: ecological, economic &

livelihood, social/political and policy. It is suggested that there is ‘overwhelming

evidence’ to indicate positive ecological impacts due to CWM in the region and in

addition it has ‘helped to enhance the livelihood security of communities’. Enabling

policies and developmental inputs has supported this. In many CWM sites in India,

20

communities were found to have taken back virtual control over the surrounding

natural resources, and many indirect as well as direct benefits have been seen. The

study also indicates a large number of constraints and challenges to the development

of CWM including the difficulty of identifying key stakeholders, social differences

between and within communities, insecure tenure and unclear rights to resources,

weak mechanisms for ensuring ecological sustainability, a poor balance between costs

and benefits, inadequate or inappropriate institutions and a hostile political and

economic environment. It is suggested that many communities involved in CWM do

not seem to want ‘absolute ownership’, but more of a custodianship/trusteeship

arrangement, with controls and responsibility being wedded together. Access/rights to

benefits have to go hand in hand with responsibilities to ensure that conservation is

achieved. One issue that clearly emerges in many CWM initiatives is the need to build

capacity of communities to optimize and achieve their equal distribution.

The India Ecodevelopment Project (IEP), supported from the Global

Environmental Facility (GEF) and International Development Aid (IDA) funds of The

World Bank is a major initiative to promote the conservation of biological diversity

through the implementation of the ecodevelopment strategies around select Protected

Areas (PAs) in India (World Bank 1996). Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

was applied as an environmental appraisal tool for the evaluation of proposed

investment under IEP.

Rajvanshi (2001) has discussed the lessons learnt from the application of SEA

to IEP in Gir National Park and Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. SEA led to the

identification of the impact potential of some of the activities proposed under IEP.

Accordingly, appropriate strategies and feasible alternatives have been suggested for

reducing undesirable changes in the ecological, economic and social fabric of the two

PAs' environment. The SEA has been undoubtedly recognized as a powerful means to

steer the IEP along environmentally sustainable path.

Case studies were undertaken under Evaluating Eden project of International

Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to provide a global perspective on

the impacts and achievements of community-based wildlife management (CWM) for

the regulated use of wildlife populations and ecosystems by local stakeholders (Roe

and Jack, 2001). The status of CWM was studied in eight regions: West Africa,

21

Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, Central

America and South America. To ensure long-term conservation of the Kilum-Ijim

forests in Cameroon, while improving local livelihoods in ways compatible with

maintaining the forest, the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project established a community-based

management system for the conservation and sustainable use of the forest. The Project

showed that the establishment of community forests is a journey in developing

capacity amongst government, traditional and community-based institutions to work

together towards more participatory forms of management, with a more equitable

distribution of rights and responsibilities.

In Southern Africa, a variety of factors have played a key role in shifting

conservation policy and practice away from state-controlled protectionism and

towards CWM. The model that has emerged entails allowing communities access to

natural resources from which they previously had been barred, sharing revenue from

the use of natural resources (through a variety of consumptive or non-consumptive

uses) with communities and making conservation pay for costs of wildlife

management as well as community development programmes.

Zimbabwe’s Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous

Resources (CAMPFIRE) has been a critically important learning experience. The

basic assumption of CAMPFIRE is that in arid or semi-arid areas, land use involving

cropping and/or cattle grazing may cause environmental problems, such as

deforestation and erosion, and economic difficulties, such as low yields and lack of

development. If these land-use strategies are combined with community management

of wildlife, greater environmental, economic and sustainable rewards ensue. The

greatest achievement of CAMPFIRE has been the broad scale of implementation of

the project. The CAMPFIRE movement indicates that the devolution of legal rights

and management functions to local (village) level is essential in order to foster the

sustainable management of wildlife by people affected by wildlife.

State-led conservation policies in South Asia, focusing on legal enforcement

and the declaration of supposedly human-free protected areas, have helped to a

limited extent to stem this rot, but have created further problems of alienation

amongst local populations. Though well under way, CWM in South Asia continues to

face serious hurdles. These include resistance from entrenched bureaucracies (such

22

that even in the famous Joint Forest Management programme in India, true sharing of

powers is rare), reduced capacity in communities to manage natural resources,

inequities in decision-making and benefit-sharing at all levels, destructive economic

and developmental policies, and difficulties in creating livelihood security for

communities.

The paper by Murali et al. (2002a) introduces a range of methods used for data

gathering and the results of their analysis in the evaluation of JFM initiatives in India.

They collected 200 evaluation reports from different states, of which 99 reported on

methods used, and issues addressed in socio-economic, institutional, ecological and

gender and training aspects. There were 33 reports addressing the socio-economic

issues while only 15 reports addressed ecological issues. There were only 4 reports

that addressed training needs, while 12 related to gender issues. There were no reports

that focused on monitoring of JFM. The paper indicated that it was not clear how

many took the mid-term evaluation seriously and what review process was adopted to

improve their future implementation process.

Murali et al. (2002b) assessed the ecological impact of JFM in India using

studies undertaken at national, state and forest division levels. It was found that there

are very few studies that have specifically addressed the ecological aspects under

JFM. How much of JFM area has developed into good forests is not known. The

study found that biomass growth rate was comparatively higher in JFM forests as

compared to national average. The study noted that effectiveness of support

programmes is not clearly known in terms of its functioning and biomass saved.

In a study conducted by Murthy et al. (2002), five villages undertaking joint

forest management (JFM) were chosen in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka for

assessing regeneration in plantations and nearby natural forests of the village. Stem

density was low in all the disturbed forests. The species number was low in disturbed

forests of three villages and high in two villages. Plantations showed lower diversity

values compared to the adjacent natural forests. Regeneration in all less disturbed

forests was better compared to the disturbed counterparts. Assessment of village

forests using ranks indicates that parameters such as per capita availability, cut stems

in the forests may determine the success of JFM. Four villages show low species

diversity in disturbed forests compared to the less-disturbed forests. The species that

23

are regenerating are mostly of deciduous type, which may require open canopy. They

concluded that species of evergreen type may fail to regenerate in plantations though

the natural forest is close to plantations, indicating high specificity of regeneration

niche.

Ravindranath et al. (2002) reported that no national level evaluation of JFM

has taken place. The regional evaluation studies are handicapped by absence of

baseline or benchmark information on vegetation status, economic benefit flows and

institutional capacity prior to JFM initiation. Most of the studies do not even seem to

overcome this limitation by selecting control villages or control vegetation plots and

conducting comparative studies. In many locations, micro-plans were jointly prepared

bur not used during implementation and routine afforestation techniques were

adopted. The capacity building programmes did not involve the village communities

in any significant scale and they were not sustained. In most states the representation

of women was restricted to the quota stipulated in the JFM orders. In a few locations

such as in Western Ghats of Karnataka, there are all women VFCs. Majority of the

studies suggest that women do not participate in the meetings and even when they

attend the meetings, male members dominate the decision-making. Women do not

have access to information and are not adequately trained or empowered. Studies have

suggested that VFCs/FPCs have performed better where NGOs have played an active

role.

Woodman (2002) addresses the processes by which ecodevelopment concepts

are transmitted from planning to implementation and the factors that intervene in this

process, focusing on the India Ecodevelopment Project (IEP) in Pench Tiger Reserve,

Central India. Villagers relate to the SFDs as entities that have power over their lives

and simultaneously have negotiated relations with individual agents within the SFDs.

Such relations, on both levels, have historically deep roots and are difficult and slow

to change yet impact greatly on the implementation of the project. Rather than

ignoring such factors and relationships, projects would benefit from analysis of these

ghosts which shape the understudied processes underlying implementation. In this

case study, the antecedent conditions for the Project were not conducive because of a

lack of experience of such projects and a lack of trust between the parties. The

groundwork needed for the required participatory mechanisms and relationship

24

changes was still in its infancy as the Project drew to a close. Transmission of the

project ideas, ethos and methodology was severely limited, partially due to a lack of

effective mechanisms for concept transmission and partially due to elements of both

villagers and SFDs still being shackled by hegemonic power relations and resistance

to change. He concluded by inferring that in practice, rather than ‘ghosts’ interfering

in the project, it is more useful to perceive the project as a blip in the ongoing

negotiation of relations between foresters and people, which may or may not act as a

catalyst for more sustained changes and the development of locally appropriate

solutions.

Kothari (2003) has suggested that to secure effective and active participation

of the communities, programs must be able to restore the local institutions that are

important for the environmental entitlements of various societal sections. It is

important to acknowledge that resource priorities and requirements differ among the

various sections within a community. The main partners in conservation, the local

communities and the field staff need to be empowered through training and capacity-

building programs. Flexibility in terms of time and fund allocation is needed at the

planning stage itself.

Sinha (2003) has reported that community based forest management in India

has emerged mainly in three forms-indigenous community forest management, crafted

community forest management and joint forest management. These three types vary

in composition, institutional rules, functioning of managing committee, modes of

resolving the conflicts, and leadership pattern. The study indicates that social identity

and participation were significantly higher in indigenous community forest

management than the joint forest management. Homogeneous community units under

participatory leadership had more social identity and people's participation. Members

of indigenous and crafted community forest management had higher satisfaction with

its institutional rules, managing committee's functioning, and leadership pattern than

joint forest management.

Ravindranath and Sudha (2004) have reported that the vegetation status under

JFM has improved considerably in the country compared to pre-JFM days, although

the impact on biodiversity has not been pronounced. JFM has fostered a better

relationship between the community and the Forest Department in all the states, with

25

about 95% of the JFMCs in the study area reporting an improved relationship.

Enhancement in the leadership qualities in the community was noticed in selected

states. The empowerment of women was perceived largely in tribal dominated areas,

although not to the desirable extent at the state level. Women were active in those

JFMCs that had functioning and effective SHGs. There has been a reduction in the

illegal extraction of timber and fuel wood due to the protection measures adopted by

the community.

2.4 Rural Livelihood Models

Ecodocumentation workshop held at Wildlife Institute of India (WII, 1998) suggested

that in order to overcome the threats to biodiversity conservation in general and to

PAs in particular that are not necessarily coming from the livelihood dependencies of

communities (like change of land use in PA surrounds and other activities that are

detrimental to PA conservation etc.), one needs to move towards larger landscape

level planning that integrates PAs into regional development plans. The participants

felt that ecodevelopment should learn from initiatives outside PAs, including Joint

Forest Management, community initiated forest protection, traditional sustainable

resource use practices, etc. Livelihood strategies based on off-farm income generation

options have shown lesser success than the ones that are based on land and water

resources. It is also felt that a majority of the livelihood strategies tried so far have

been too preoccupied with alternative to the forest based resources use rather than

bringing such resource under participatory management based on well defined

regulations and principles of sustainability. This was supported by the fact that NTFP

based enterprises developed under collaborative partnership have shown encouraging

results. For alleviating pressure from the protected areas, the productivity of land and

water resources needs to be enhanced, whether these are forests, private land,

panchayat lands or wastelands. Mutually beneficial linkages between economic and

ecological concerns need to be built in.

Department for International Development, UK (1999) deals exhaustively

with rural livelihood issues in its sustainable livelihoods framework. It mentions that a

livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of

living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses

26

and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both in present and in

the future, while not undermining the natural resource base. The sustainable

livelihoods framework presents the main factors that affect people’s livelihoods, and

typical relationships between these. The framework provides a checklist of important

issues and sketches out the way these link to each other; draws attention to core

influences and processes and emphasizes the multiple interactions between the

various factors which affect livelihoods.

The livelihood framework identifies five core asset categories of capital upon

which livelihoods are built. The categories are human capital, social capital, natural

capital, physical capital and financial capital. Human capital represents the skills,

knowledge, ability to labour and good health that together enable people to pursue

different livelihood strategies and achieve their livelihood objectives. Social capital

means the social resources upon which people draw in pursuit of their livelihood

objectives. Most attempts to build social capital focus on strengthening local

institutions. Natural capital is the term used for the natural resource stocks from which

resource flows and services (e.g. nutrient cycling, erosion protection) useful for

livelihoods are derived. Physical capital comprises the basic infrastructure and

producer goods needed to support livelihoods. Financial capital denotes the financial

resources that people use to achieve their livelihood objectives. The issue of

institutional sustainability is of particularly importance in the area of micro-finance.

The livelihoods approach seeks to promote choice, opportunity and diversity.

The sustainable livelihoods approach seeks to develop an understanding of the factors

that lie behind people’s choice of livelihood strategy and then to reinforce the positive

aspects (factors which promote choice and flexibility) and mitigate the constraints or

negative influences.

While the resource dependency of local communities can be met by

rationalizing the resource utilization, improving biomass use efficiency and promoting

use of substitutes, the economic dependency can be reduced by providing alternate

livelihood options. Learning from the past experience of implementation of

ecodevelopment schemes from biodiversity conservation in various PAs suggests that

we have enough scope for meeting the resource demands of the local people using the

available appropriate technology and suitable extension methods. However, more

27

information and suitable expertise are required to involve and design sustainable

livelihood for them (WII, 2002).

Durst et al. (2005) have reported that the management of Periyar Tiger

Reserve created various alternative livelihood options aimed at taking pressure off the

reserve and promoting forest conservation. A group of convicted smugglers was

transformed into stewards of conservation. This almost magical transformation was

brought about by ecodevelopment committees that were formed to establish and

support eco-tourism related enterprises and forest protection businesses.

Wani and Kothari (2007) studied the impact of India’s conservation policies

on the livelihoods of communities living in the PAs. The cause of their poverty and

the extent to which it was possible through conservation policy initiatives to secure

livelihoods was studied. The study showed that the poverty has been perpetuated due

to exclusionary conservation model, inadequate or non-settlement of rights,

inadequate rehabilitation, inadequate developmental activities and non-participation

of affected people in planning and decision-making process.

Pandey (2008) has documented the efforts made at Great Himalayan National

Park (GHNP) to address the imbalances in resource creation, distribution and

allocation of accountability of all the stakeholders. The recent efforts to conserve the

biodiversity at GHNP aim at innovative strategies and action plans involving

participatory approaches with emphasis on equitable and sustainable use of natural

resources by the local people. The management plan of GHNP is based on the

livelihood approach which prioritizes working with local communities to reduce their

dependence on the PA’s natural resources. Efforts were made at settlement of rights

of local people and creation of income-generating activities in adjacent villages to

compensate for the lost income from collection of medicinal plants and other forest

produce within the Park.

2.5 Gender and Equity Issues

O’Sullivan (1991) suggested rapid social assessment (RSA) to clearly identify women

target groups and to predict the potential need or demand of different sub-populations

for a proposed project, given their level of development and absorptive capacity. The

RSA approach consists of five steps: identification of the target sub-populations,

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rating the level of development of each sub-population, assessing the target

populations need or demand for the project, assessing their absorptive capacity and

assessing their relationships. The results of RSA may then be used to reassess the

appropriateness of project goals and purposes from the perspective of women, and to

undertake participatory project design (PPD) phase to maximize participants and

positive impact on women.

Poffenberger et al. (1996) have mentioned that in India, women are often the

primary forest-user group and without their formal involvement in management,

agreements over sustainable use, access controls and strategic development will be

incomplete and probably, not optimally effective. Legislation has failed to establish

full gender equality in law, much less in practice. The economic, class and caste

variations in the position of Indian women as a subgroup need better documentation

and analysis as do women’s daily needs and role vis-à-vis forest use.

Flintan (2003) has reported that differences and inequalities exist between men

and women in all sections of society and communities in Asia. Culture, ethnicity,

caste and religion play a dominant part in cultivating such differences. In majority of

cases, inequalities result in a bias against women. Women, particularly poor rural

women, play a dominant role in natural resource collection, and are often highly

dependent upon it for fulfilling household needs and livelihood security. Despite this,

women still have very little involvement in decision-making processes including those

that have been set up for natural resource management. There is a lack of organized

platform for women to express their needs and views, and from which to address

gender issues.

In a study related to joint forest management in India conducted by

Ravindranath and Sudha (2004), it was found that the empowerment of women was

perceived largely in tribal dominated areas, though not to the desirable extent at the

state level. Women were active in JFMC’s, which had functioning and effective self-

help groups. To enhance women’s participation, it has been suggested that local

women representatives of NGO’s and SHG’s should equip women management

committee members with leadership qualities. Dedicated meetings to address

problems faced by women must be held.

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Pandey (2008) has narrated his experiences at GHNP in empowering women.

Acknowledging that village forest development committees are mostly male

dominated, realizing that poverty is the main opponent of conservation and

recognizing that the women are the poorest of the poor, efforts were made to organize

womenfolk into small Woman Savings and Credit Groups (WSCGs). These group

members save their own money (one rupee a day) and earn credit within the WSCG to

invest in natural resource-based enterprise development. Their capacity building was

done through select women group organizers. The group size was kept small (about

10-15) and of homogeneous nature. WSCGs have now organized themselves into a

registered body called SAHARA (Society for Scientific Advancement of Hill and

Rural Areas). The Park provides most of the wage-oriented work to the women

groups on priority basis.

2.6 Participatory Approaches

While suggesting guidelines for reviewing ecodevelopment investments in Great

Himalayan National Park, Pabla (1996) mentions that ecodevelopment investments

would generally of two types-those which contribute towards mitigation of pressures

on natural resources directly and those related to infrastructure development which

may or may not have an indirect impact on the consumption of bio-resources.

Experience shows that while the first category of investments is the main agenda of

forest departments, people generally are keener on the second category. Every micro-

plan would be a mix of the two kinds of investments having domination of

conservation-oriented activities. If the investment is for community development,

people should share the cost in cash or kind and if the investment is for individual

income, the beneficiary should share either the cost or pay part of the income into a

social fund. Any investments proposed under ecodevelopment must be capable of

generating resources for their sustainability. The Government or any other helping

agency must withdraw after the programme takes off.

Poffenberger et al. (1996) has indicated that community resource initiatives

are not dependent upon, nor designed to absorb, large amount of capital for

employment schemes or technical inputs. Rather its success is based on reducing

conflicts, opening communications, and counting on voluntary community protection

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to enhance low or no-cost secondary forest succession. It may be more prudent for

donors and government to finance small-scale training, extension and research

projects, thereby allowing both themselves and state agencies to learn more about

strategies that support community forest management groups.

The assumption that there can be meaningful local participation and decision

making, when the project is driven by enormous level of funding, at the international

and national level, is invalid. The approach is not economically viable, in that it

demands enormous resources for small areas, although most of the problems cover

enormous areas (Anonymous, 1997b).

Badola (1999) has reported that the Forest Department, hierarchical and

almost non-participatory in its decision-making processes, has difficulty practicing

what it has only recently begun to preach. Ecodevelopment has expanded the duties of

forestry staff, but staff capabilities have remained unchanged. Because of the remote

areas and difficult conditions, wildlife management does not attract the best staff, and

field staff may have difficulty in maintaining their commitment.

Badola (2000), while reporting the lessons learnt in ecodevelopment, reported

that the local communities and the field staff need to be empowered through training

and capacity building programmes. Local people need to receive tangible benefits

even in the short run. To secure effective and active participation of the communities,

programmes must be able to restore the local institutions that are important for the

environmental entitlements of various societal sections. Conservation and

development issues are not only technical or economic in nature but also political. To

achieve all this requires a firm political will.

Saberwal et al. (2001) have mentioned that exclusionary conservation is

simply too rigid and too simplistic to deal with the diversity of situations in India.

Conservation must be adopted on case to case basis, with the flexibility available to

land managers to experiment with a variety of model, including joint management,

limited harvesting of forest products, the provision for better incentives and a greater

share of tourism revenue.

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2.7 Sampling Methods

Various researchers have tried to standardize the size of layers used for the

study of different types of vegetation. The minimum size may vary according to the

objectives of the study and type of vegetation. Nautial et al., (1987) suggested the

quadrat size for deciduous forests as 400-900 sq. m. for trees, 9-25 sq. m. for shrubs

and 0.25-1 sq. m. for herbs and regeneration while studying the vegetation of south

Raipur, Chattisgarh.

It is pertinent to mention that there is no standard methodology prescribed for

sample size or sampling intensity and Ravindranath et al. (2000) have indicated that

in view of limitation of time and resources, different quadrat sizes and replicates have

been taken. Mishra et al. (2004) have reported that ‘while studying the effect of

anthropogenic disturbance on plant diversity and community structure of sacred grove

in Meghalaya, three patches representing undisturbed (15 ha), moderately disturbed

(15 ha) and highly disturbed (10 ha) forest stands were demarcated. About 1% area of

each (0.15 ha each of the undisturbed and moderately disturbed, and 0.1 ha of highly

disturbed stand) was sampled by laying quadrats randomly. Species richness (number

of species per 100 m2 was then ascertained in the three types of areas’. Anitha et al.

(2009) have reported that the study forest area in Western Ghats was divided into 17

plots of high disturbance category and 23 plots of low disturbance category based on

cluster analysis and species richness, density, average basal area and Shannon index

were calculated and compared. Ewell and Nichols (1985), while reporting prescribed

fire monitoring in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, USA, have mentioned

that ‘before the fire, at least four plots are set up on the area to be burnt and one

control plot is set up outside the burn area’. Louis A. Toth (2007) reported that while

studying torpedo grass control methods in Florida, treatment 1 had three replicate

plots, treatments 3 and 4 had five replicates, treatments 2 and 5 had two replicates,

and only one plot remained as a control. Parthasarathy et al. (2004) have studied the

patterns of liana diversity in 5 selected sites in tropical evergreen forests of peninsular

India. One hectare area sample plots were laid at 4 out of these 5 sites. The number of

sample plots was 4 at first site, 3 at second site, 2 at third site and 8 at fourth site. The

fifth site comprised of one single sample plot of 30 ha for which mean per hectare was

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calculated. Species richness, species density and species diversity was calculated and

compared for each plot and also across study sites.

For joint forest management systems, Poffenberger et al. (1992) have

advocated a quadrat size of 50 m x 20 m for trees and 5 m x 5 m for shrubs and

seedlings for vegetation studies. They included woody plants with less than 30 cm

GBH as shrubs and seedlings and suggested two shrubs and seedlings quadrats in

each tree quadrats. They have indicated that keeping in view the limitations on

investigator’s time and resources, 5 to 8 tree quadrats and 10 to 16 shrubs and

seedlings quadrats may be taken for vegetation studies.

A review of 100 Monitoring and Evaluation studies on JFM in India at

national, state and JFMC level indicates that no standard Monitoring and Evaluation

strategies were developed or executed and the issues addressed in the evaluation

studies were mostly institutional and there were no reports addressing ecological,

silvicultural and economic issues (Ravindranath, and Sudha, 2004 pp 282). Hardly

any systematic studies have been conducted in our country to study the impact of

ecodevelopment.

The study employs a perception analysis to assess the socio-economic impacts

of ecodevelopment in the study villages over a period of time as perceived by the

stakeholders. Perception analysis is an important tool to know the past and current

positions related to particular factors (Pandey, 2005). Perception analysis has been

extensively used in studies assessing the impact of JFM on rural livelihoods. The

survey technique involves developing a questionnaire, field testing and using it during

household surveys (Ravindranath and Sudha, 2004 pp 289).

There are various evaluation studies conducted by Planning Commission and

other agencies which have selected study areas/ villages on the basis of highest

expenditure, highest targets or highest number of schemes implemented. Some of the

studies are referred below:

Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of Planning Commission, in its

Evaluation Report on Western Ghats Development Programme-1982, mentioned that

a criterion for selection of sample followed was that first 10 districts where

comparatively larger number of Schemes had been in operation were selected for the

study. 2 talukas were then selected from each chosen district on the basis of the

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maximum number of schemes in operation. Within the selected talukas, lists of the

work sites/projects were prepared separately for each selected sectoral scheme in

descending order of the expenditure incurred on each work site/project. Those

projects accounting for the highest expenditure to their credit were selected from each

of the schemes (Planning Commission- PEO Study No. 121).

Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of Planning Commission, in its

‘Evaluation Report on High Yielding Varieties Programme in India (1970-75) - Part-

II – 1976’, mentioned that a criterion for selection of sample followed was that in

each selected district, blocks with the highest and the second-highest targets were

chosen for the study (Planning Commission- PEO Study No. 91).

PEO of Planning Commission, in its ‘Field Reporting on the Working of

Social Welfare Schemes – 1970’, selected one block from each district with the

maximum number of Social Welfare Schemes in operation (Planning Commission-

PEO Study No. 81).

Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of Planning Commission, in its

‘Study of Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (1971-74) – 1979’, indicated that the

broad criteria adopted for selection were the expenditure incurred and employment

generated (Planning Commission-PEO Study No.104).

PEO in its ‘Evaluation Report on Social Forestry Programme, 1987’

mentioned that one of the objectives of the programme was to study the economic and

ecological impact on the local population, particularly the rural poor. The study was

conducted at five levels namely (a) Forest Division, (b) Range, (c) Village, (d)

Beneficiaries and (e) Nursery. The criterion for selection at all levels was the absolute

number of seedlings distributed through all sources. 32 Forest Divisions were selected

on the basis of highest achievement in terms of seedlings distributed during the

reference year. Similarly, 63 Nurseries were selected for the study on the basis of

maximum number of seedlings distributed by them (Planning Commission-PEO

Study No.140).

In 1982, the Programme Evaluation Organisation of the Planning Commission

of India undertook an ‘Evaluation Study of the Working of the Antyodaya Programme

in Rajasthan’. Two villages were selected from each block on the basis of the

maximum number of benefit schemes provided and the accessibility of villages. From

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each village, a minimum of 5 beneficiaries were selected (Planning Commission PEO

Study No. 125).

Pandey (2005) has reported that ‘to study and design livelihoods monitoring

tools, it was useful to select the villages where a diversity of JFM activities have been

carried out.

Rayapa Reddy (1986) indicated in his thesis entitled ‘A study on selected

personal socio-psychological characteristics and organizational factors influencing the

productivity of village extension officers in T & V system of Andhra Pradesh’ that

one district each from four regions of AP was selected based on the criteria of highest

area covered under T & V system.

The number of respondents selected for the study in terms of absolute numbers

as well as percentage is found to vary in various studies. Though the number will

depend on the objectives of the study, availability of the respondents, time availability

etc, a sample size of 10% of the beneficiaries is generally considered adequate for this

kind of study. Researchers like Rishi et al. (2007) and Jagannadha et al. (2006) have

taken a sample size of 10% of the participating households. In some studies, the

sample size taken is much smaller. While conducting the socio-economic analysis of

agroforestry in seven districts of Vidarbha, Ingle et al. (1992) have taken 50 farmers

from 36 villages growing Eucalyptus and 35 farmers from 14 villages growing Teak.

Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of Planning Commission, in its

‘Evaluation Report on Integrated Tribal Development Projects’, one of the objectives

of which was to assess the impact of selected programmes on the socio-economic

conditions of the scheduled tribes, selected a minimum of 10 and maximum of 15

tribal households from each selected village (Planning Commission- PEO Study No.

136).

PEO of Planning Commission, in its ‘Evaluation Report on Resettlement

Programme for Landless Agricultural Labourers - Case Studies of Selected Colonies,

1968’, has reported that for the selection of settler respondents in each selected

colony, the sampling fraction was so fixed as to select about 25 to 30 respondents and

where there were 2 colonies or more, the said fraction was fixed to provide an overall

sample of 50 to 60 families (Planning Commission- PEO Study No. 67).

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Bhandari and Grant (2007) conducted a study on user satisfaction and

sustainability of drinking water schemes (DWS) in rural communities of Nepal. The

study was conducted in two geographical categories of rural water supply systems:

village and rural market centre. A sample size of 88 respondents (11%) was selected

from a total of 771 market-centre benefited households in 6 market centres. The

sample size varied from 7 households in one centre to 25 households in another centre

with a total sample size of 11% in the rural market centres. In the 6 selected rural

villages, the sample size varied from 14 to 28 households with a total of 117

households being selected out of 1327 benefited households (9%). The grand total of

the sample households for the study in the two categories was 105 (10%) out of 2098

benefited households. This sampling size gave a level of confidence of 95%.

Fisher and Yates (1953) have provided random number tables for the purpose

of randomization of data sub-set to ensure that all the possible alternatives have an

equal chance of occurring.