Environ Dev Sustain (2010) 12:877–888

DOI 10.1007/s10668-010-9229-9

Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest

management

C. K. Sreedharan • Jagannadha Rao Matta

Received: 18 August 2008 / Accepted: 3 January 2010 / Published online: 16 January 2010
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Abstract In a major deviation from conventional joint forest management approaches

where the emphasis of management is on provision of forest products to the participating
villagers, the Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (TAP) focused on poverty alleviation as the
principal means to achieve sustainable forest management. This study assesses the effec-
tiveness of TAP’s strategy in improving the ecology and socio-economic conditions of forest
fringe villages using a diverse set of research methods. Results indicate that in a span of four to
seven years, there was significant increase in forest cover, biodiversity, and agricultural
productivity. The project villages have also shown considerable progress in various indicators
of socio-economic development. The authors, however, suggest continued poverty allevia-
tion and promotion of alternative livelihood opportunities to place the programme on a stable
ground. Meeting the development needs of local villagers through strong and durable insti-
tutional linkages is also suggested for the programme to sustain and succeed.

Keywords Participatory forest management
Poverty alleviation
Livelihood

Degraded forests

1 Introduction

Of late, several nations have embarked on decentralisation policies that emphasise local
community participation in natural resource governance for better resource stewardship
and management (Pretty 2003). The devolution of decision-making about natural resource

Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication
of this issue.

C. K. Sreedharan has retired from Tamil Nadu Forest Department on 30th November 2009.

C. K. Sreedharan
J. R. Matta (&)

Tamil Nadu Forest Department, 1- Jeenis Road, Chennai 600015, India
e-mail: jagannadharaom@gmail.com
C. K. Sreedharan
e-mail: tnforest@tn.nic.in

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878 C. K. Sreedharan, J. R. Matta

management to the local level creates room for the accommodation of local needs. In
addition, the empowerment of local resource users provides benefits by influencing out-
comes through the adoption of local ecological knowledge or best practices (Gadgil et al.
1993). Also, it is argued that when there is ownership or a similar attachment to the
resource, the local people will show a greater responsibility for its continued health
(Glasmeier and Farrigan 2005).
India’s Joint Forest Management (JFM) policy is one such decentralisation initiative
that is often hailed as a successful strategy in arresting forest degradation and promoting
socio-economic development of forest fringe villages (Khare et al. 2000). The JFM
strategy is built on the notion that local communities can help protect and regenerate
forests if they are suitably compensated with resultant forest products. In a typical JFM
approach, a local forest management body called Village Forest Committee (VFC) col-
laborates with the State Forest Department in protecting and developing government
forests in a predefined area. The community in turn gets forest products from these forests
for the services they rendered (GoI 1990).
In a major deviation from this traditional JFM approach where the emphasis of forest
management is on making forest products available to the participating villagers, the Tamil
Nadu Afforestation Project (TAP) focused on reducing dependence on forests by local
communities. Conceptualising poverty reduction as the crux of a viable participatory forest
management, the TAP also placed emphasis on providing alternative livelihood opportu-
nities, encouraging micro-finance institutions through self-help groups, and promoting
capacity building through systematic institutional development (Fig. 1).
This study endeavours to provide insights into the effectiveness of the TAP’s strategy of
ensuring sustainable forest management through poverty alleviation and community
development. An in-depth analysis of information on selected ecological and socio-eco-
nomic indicators provides the basis for drawing conclusions. Elaborating on the oppor-
tunities and challenges entailed in the TAP strategy, the paper also discusses the role of
developing appropriate institutional mechanisms to integrate conservation and develop-
ment efforts from practitioners’ perspective, to enable participatory forest management to
succeed.

Fig. 1 Location of Tamil Nadu

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Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest management 879

In the following section, the linkage between forest degradation and poverty in the
villages surrounding the forests is elaborated. Section 3 presents a brief outline of the
objectives and the strategy of the TAP approach. In Sect. 4, the methods and data collection
techniques used for the study are given. The research findings are discussed in Sect. 5.

2 Forest degradation and poverty nexus

The World Development Report (1990) defines poverty as the inability to attain a minimal
standard of living. The broader view of poverty has been characterised as ‘‘pronounced
deprivation in well-being’’ (World Development Report 2000) and includes inadequate
access to drinking water facilities, prevalence of adult illiteracy, fuel and fodder shortage,
and drudgery experienced by women. The world’s poorest people depend fundamentally
on the wealth of natural environment and on resources such as soil, trees, and water. Forest
is the most natural land use resorted to by the poor for subsistence and income in many
ways. The list of forest products poor depend on include fodder, fuelwood, fruits, small
timber, bamboos and medicaments and drugs (Peters et al. 1989). For millions of tribals,
particularly women, collecting, transporting and selling these products form their subsis-
tence strategy (Datta 2001). Thus, forests act as poor people’s means to meet contingencies
and reduce their vulnerability to risks (Chambers et al. 1991). The association between
high forest dependence and poverty, however, indicates that other employment opportu-
nities that offer higher returns are not available to the poor (Angelsen and Wunder 2003).
An estimated 41% of India’s forest cover has been degraded to some degree in the past
and average forest productivity is about one-third of the potential (FSI 2003). Rapid
deterioration of forests thus deeply undermines the poor people’s daily struggle to maintain
living standards. The adverse effects of natural resources degradation reflect in reduced
productivity, which ends up in enhanced poverty and misery. Environmental degradation
further compounds these factors and forces those who are already poor and vulnerable into
a downward spiral of increasing poverty. This ultimately forms a vicious cycle where
poverty and forest degradation chase each other as depicted in Fig. 2.
It is in this context the forest planners need to look beyond ‘trees’ and into the inter-
dependence of various facets of the vicious ‘poverty and resource degradation’ cycle.
Realising this nexus between forest degradation and poverty escalation, it was decided in

Destruction of Ecology

Loss of natural
resources Women's misery

Drought POVERTY ESCALATION Migration of men

CYCLE

Indebtedness
Collapse of
household self
sufficiency

Poverty

Fig. 2 Poverty escalation cycle

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880 C. K. Sreedharan, J. R. Matta

TAP in the planning stage itself to address poverty as a means to achieve sustainable forest
management. Specifically, two factors have led to this emphasis on poverty alleviation in
TAP. First and most importantly, managing public forests for ‘‘national interests’’ in the
past resulted in massive resource transfers of natural assets from forest fringe villages to
urban centres (Poffenberger 2008). This pattern has resulted in severe resource depletion,
acute poverty and socio-economic inequities in forest fringe villages, which led to a host of
communal problems such as terrorism and naxalism. Hence, the implementation of a JFM
strategy required that first this malady should be addressed through some direct poverty
alleviation and socio-economic developmental measures.
The second factor is the extreme degraded nature of the forests that were put under
JFM in Tamil Nadu. In highly productive areas with relatively low population, the needs
and interests of villagers can be fairly met through the forest products obtained from JFM
when adequate returns to investment can be achieved as has been envisaged in the JFM
policy. Operation of such a self-paying incentive mechanism could also be reasonably
simple and sustainable. Involvement of local people and sustaining their interest in
management are more complicated when the benefits are not high, immediate, or widely
distributed (Kerr 2002). The TAP has committed full share of forest products such as
non-timber forest produce (NTFP) that can be sustainably harvested from the regener-
ating forests to VFCs. However, in view of the extreme degraded nature of the forests, no
tangible forest products could be harvested in an economically viable manner from JFM
forests in the short run. Hence, alternative incentives were needed to secure the interests
of villagers in JFM. The experiences of eco-development projects in India (Pandey and
Wells 1997) and elsewhere (Brown et al. 2002; Safa 2004) suggest that provision of
development incentives to local people to ensure their interest in forestry, while the forest
is regenerating, is a viable option.

3 Tamil Nadu afforestation project (TAP): objectives and strategy

The Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (TAP) was initiated in the State in 1997 with
financial assistance from Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to afforest
severely degraded forests with a theme of ‘‘save the forests to save the water.’’ It was
initially introduced in 1,000 villages abutting the above forests with the twin objectives of
improving the productivity of these forests and the socio-economic conditions of the sur-
rounding villages.
While JFM was the broad mechanism adopted to achieve these objectives, efforts were
made to improve the degraded forests in a systematic manner. The measures taken towards
this include prioritising the forests on the basis of their degradation, identifying appropriate
species and silvicultural treatments, and implementing the programme on a micro-water-
shed basis. Necessary soil and moisture conservation measures were also included as a
comprehensive package to improve forest regeneration and surface and ground water
levels. During Phase-I of TAP1 (1997–1998 to 2004–2005 or 8 years), about $95 million
was invested in afforestation and watershed development activities to restore 0.48 million
ha of degraded forests.

1
The discussion in this paper is confined to Phase-I of TAP, which was implemented from 1997 to 2005.
Phase II of TAP was launched to cover 800 additional villages with a budget of $126 million (Rs. 567.42
crore) spread over 8 years from 2005–2006.

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Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest management 881

On the socio-economic front, to protect and maintain the restored forests, VFCs were
constituted. During the above project period, 1,367 VFCs were formed with 465,588
villagers as members. The VFC was given authority over regulating access to forests,
resolving intra-village conflicts, and in ensuring equitable distribution of benefits. In order
to provide the VFCs necessary legal status and certainty in their functioning, they were
registered as societies under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. All the
forest produce such as fuel, fodder, green manure, and non-timber forest products (NTFP)
that could be harvested from the restored forests on a sustainable yield basis went to VFC
free of cost. The proceeds of any surplus produce sold is equally distributed among VFC
members after remitting 25% of it to a specially constituted fund called ‘‘Village Devel-
opment Fund’’ (VDF) (GoTN 1997).
In view of the long gestation period involved in harvesting any substantial forest
products out of forests under the JFM, the project provided Rs. 300,000, Rs. 200,000, and
Rs. 100,0002 in the first, second, and third years, respectively, as seed money to the VDF.
About 70% of the VDF is meant for providing alternative employment to individuals or
small groups who are dependent on forests. The balance 30% is spent on general devel-
opment activities that benefit the whole village. These included laying village roads and
providing drinking water facilities. Such activities were undertaken to build necessary
rapport between the forest department and villagers. About $18.6 million was spent on
both these development activities.
Capitalising on the community-driven development approach, wherein the community
members identify their own needs, design and plan interventions, and implement and
monitor them in small, homogenous groups, self-help groups (SHGs) were established by
the TAP. The main objective of these efforts is to wean away forest dependents from
destructive forest use practices and to rehabilitate them with viable livelihood opportu-
nities. The money available for supporting individuals or SHGs is constituted as a revol-
ving fund and is invested in developing local enterprises. A sum of about $12 million was
invested in this micro-credit financing mechanism during the project period. In both the
individual and SHG support activities, building skills and capacities of rural poor and
women were given top priority. They were given a prime place in micro-finance enterprise
development, asset building, and skill improvement through special trainings and institu-
tional linkages. At the end of the project period, there were 3,891 SHGs with 60,000
women members trained in various income generating activities.
As mentioned earlier, many TAP villages are located in interior areas and a major
demand of these villagers was better government services and infrastructure. They range
from simple needs such as getting ration cards to laying roads. In order to meet these
demands, the forest department obtained special government orders to involve district level
officials in JFM. A state-level committee was also constituted to monitor and guide the
implementation of this inter-sectoral integration policy for JFM. Pursuant to this measure,
about 22 government departments dovetailed about $ 9 million towards infrastructure and
community development in the project villages during Phase-I.
Thus, in TAP, poverty reduction was conceptualised as a multi-dimensional phenom-
enon involving changes in livelihoods, resources, knowledge, and rights. The participatory
forest management strategy was implemented on a grand-scale with the premise that the
focus on poverty alleviation, capacity building, and empowerment of local people will lead
to overall ecological and economic development.

2
Rs. 45 = $1 approximately.

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4 Data collection methods

In order to assess the effectiveness of the TAP approach in a holistic manner, changes that
have occurred in three components after the introduction of the TAP were studied. These
are (1) changes in forest cover, agriculture, and biodiversity in JFM area, (2) changes in
selected indicators of socio-economic development, and (3) villagers’ perceptions on
various aspects of the TAP and its performance.
For assessing the changes in forest cover and agriculture, geographical information
system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques were used in three TAP sites namely TN
Pudukudi, Jothinagar, and Kannamoochi representing Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, and a
transition zone, respectively. Images of earlier years were compared to recent years to
measure the differences in the sizes and extent of forest cover. The impact of TAP on
agriculture was also assessed following the same procedure to determine changes in areas
under agriculture and fallow lands before and after the initiation of TAP. As a third
measure of ecological component, changes in biodiversity were assessed. For this, Shan-
non–Wiener indices for trees, shrubs, herbs, and climbers were calculated as a proxy for
biodiversity before and after the initiation of TAP in Jothinagar TAP area (Balaji 2004).
For assessing changes in socio-economic conditions, 44 TAP villages out of the total
1,367 programme villages representing all bio-climate regions of Tamil Nadu were ran-
domly selected. In these villages, the data on socio-economic indicators collected during
benchmark survey were compared with that of the repeat survey conducted in 2007.
Benchmark surveys were conducted in all TAP villages at the time of initiation of TAP
(2001–2003). Specific variables on which data collected include measure of social progress
(literacy); occupational structure; economic progress (proportion of households below
poverty line, proportion of households living in thatched houses, and proportion of landless
households); dependence on forest (grazing, fuel wood, and other needs); pressure on
forests (number of goats and quantity of fuel wood collected), and types of energy sources
used. Data on changes in wet and dryland agriculture and water table from the study villages
were also collected to corroborate the data obtained on related aspects through GIS analysis.
For the third component, villagers’ perceptions of the TAP, data were obtained through
face-to-face interviews of 1,320 randomly selected VFC members from the above study
villages (in each village, 30 respondents were selected). During these individual interviews,
parameters on which data were collected include gender, age, education, size of landholding,
annual income, caste, occupation, type of dwelling, nature and extent of forest dependence,
and contribution to the project in cash and kind. Data were also collected on participant’s
perception on condition of the forest compared to pre-TAP, awareness on various aspects of
TAP, preferred land use option for areas under TAP, extent of training underwent, partici-
pation in TAP activities, and benefits obtained. At the end of the survey, participants were also
asked to do an overall rating on the performance of TAP and provide suggestions for
improvement. The data on these parameters were tabulated and analysed using SPSS.

5 Research findings and discussion

The results indicate positive impact of TAP in all the three areas of the study. There was
significant increase in the area under forest cover and the area under irrigated farming,
while the area under fallow lands indicated a modest decrease after the initiation of TAP.
Similarly, there was improvement in the project villages after the introduction of TAP in
the selected socio-economic indicators of progress. More importantly, a majority of the

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Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest management 883

villagers perceived the project interventions as beneficial to them. These are discussed in
detail later.

6 TAP’s impact on forest cover, agriculture, and water availability

About 350 ha. of degraded forest was treated in each of the three selected sites (TN
Pudukudi, Kannamoochi, and Jothinagar) under TAP with intensive soil and moisture
conservation measures and afforestation. Analysis of the results indicates that there is
positive change in all the three sites, represented by a significant decrease in the area under
scrub and increase in open forest and dense forest covers. In TN Pudukudi, the dense forest
cover increased by 29% (between 1999 and 2007), in Kannamoochi by 23% (between 1998
and 2005), and in Jothinagar by 96% (between 1999 and 2002). The Jothinagar was highly
degraded compared to the other two sites at the time of initiation of TAP. In Andhra
Pradesh also, Mukherji (2000) reported significant increase in forest cover after the ini-
tiation of JFM. Improved forest cover provides several environmental benefits such as
watershed protection. Changes in vegetation also affect wildlife habitat, fire occurrence,
aesthetic and historical values and ambient air quality. These changes, in turn, influence
management and policy.
Results related to changes in agriculture indicate a 12, 107, and 15% increase in the area
under agriculture in TN Pudukudi, Kannamoochi, and Jothinagar sites, respectively, clearly
signifying a positive impact on agriculture due to TAP. There was also a reduction in the
area under fallow lands in TN Pudukudi and Kannamoochi (-7 and -17%, respectively).
These results were further corroborated with the actual field-level data on agriculture
collected from the study villages for which baseline survey and repeat surveys were con-
ducted. The results indicate an average increase of 11% of the area under agriculture in these
villages over a five-year period. The area under irrigated agriculture increased by 19%,
while the area under dry land agriculture showed a marginal decrease (-2%). Similarly,
records of 272 open wells and bore wells monitored in the agricultural fields around TAP
areas in the study villages indicated an average increase of about 1.39 m. in the water table.
These results confirm the observations made in the previous studies on the impacts of TAP
(Neelakantan 2000; Sivanappan 2002; Swaminathan and Vidhyavathi 2002).
Similarly, the Shannon–Wiener indices for trees, shrubs, climbers, and herbs showed
significant improvement in TAP areas compared to non-TAP areas. The composite index
for trees, climbers, shrubs, and herbs for the treated site was 0.9315 compared to 0.902 for
the untreated area.

35 Post JFM Baseline

32.50
Percent Increase

30
25
20 19.11 19.34
15
10.84 12.17
10
5 3.27
0
Biodiversity Area under Water table Area under Irrigated area Dense Forest
cultivation crops (GIS) cover

Fig. 3 TAP’s impact on forests, biodiversity, and agriculture

123
884 C. K. Sreedharan, J. R. Matta

The overall impact of TAP in terms of per cent improvement in selected indicators of
forest cover, agriculture, and biodiversity, compared to a scenario before TAP (baseline), is
shown in the graph (Fig. 3).

7 TAP’s impact on selected indicators of socio-economic progress

When the previous approaches aimed at mere forest protection rather than livelihood
generation, the outcomes have further constrained the local distribution of wealth and
economic opportunities for the poor. Noting this, the TAP approach made links between
participatory forestry and poverty alleviation more inherent. For people living in poverty
and whose livelihoods are directly affected by access to the forest, poverty reduction was
both a target of, and outgrowth from, this comprehensive strategy. The results indicate
TAP’s significant positive impact on various socio-economic indicators of participating
villagers. For example, at the time of benchmark survey, 66% of households were living
below the poverty line, while the same at the time of repeat survey came down to 34%,
almost a 50% reduction. Similarly, the proportion of households living in thatched houses
came down to 33% in repeat survey when compared to 44% noted at the initiation of TAP.
With the TAP’s focus on promoting alternative livelihoods, the proportion of respondents
engaged as agricultural labourers came down from 40 to 32%, which was compensated by
an increase in other sectors such as manufacturing, commercial, and service industries.
Similarly, a drastic reduction in the dependence on forests is a major impact of TAP.
While 23% of the households were dependent on forests for various needs at the initiation
of TAP, the repeat survey indicated almost no dependence on forests. The average number
of goats/household in the surveyed TAP villages also came down from 1.95 to 0.33. There
was also a reduction in per capita consumption of fuel wood (165 tonne/household to
149 tonne/household) with a corresponding increase in the use of other energy sources
such as gas (increased from 3 to 13%) after the initiation of TAP. The repeat survey also
indicated about 8% increase in literacy level. Sudha et al. (2004) give a comprehensive
account of the positive impacts of JFM on the socio-economic conditions of participating
villagers across various states in India. The impact of TAP on selected indicators of socio-
economic progress is presented in the graph (Fig. 4).

80 Pre-JFM Post-JFM
Percent of Households

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
In Service/ Dependent on In Agri As Agri Labour Living in Thached Living Below
Industry Forests Houses Poverty

Fig. 4 TAP’s impact on selected socio-economic indicators

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Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest management 885

8 Villagers’ perceptions of TAP

The survey results indicate that a majority (90%) of the respondents found the condition of
the forest ‘‘better’’ now compared to pre-TAP situation. Also, 99% of the respondents felt
that the degraded forests should not be left in that condition and opted for their
improvement. A majority of the villagers were also aware of the key principle of JFM that
both the Forest Department and villagers have to jointly manage the forests in their
vicinity. While 98% of them did not favour using the JFM forestland for agriculture,
opinions on growing fruit trees, local forest trees, and other fast growing species such as
eucalyptus widely varied. Similarly, while about 33% of the respondents exactly knew the
locations of water harvest activities, only 23% exactly knew the details of the afforestation,
indicating the need for more training and exposure on technical aspects of TAP.
On an average, a VFC operated $3600 under the VDF. However, many respondents in
the survey were not aware of how this fund is being used by the Executive Committee
members, which calls for greater transparency in its operation. A majority of the partici-
pants (72%) identified ‘‘good forest’’ as one of the benefits of TAP. This was followed by
the benefit ‘‘village development’’, which was identified by 58% of respondents. The
benefit ‘‘loan’’ was received by 56% of the respondents. Employment was made available
through large-scale afforestation and watershed development through activities such as
pitting, planting, digging trenches, and tending saplings. These activities provided
employment to a large number of people (about 64 million person days) at their doorstep
and at a better wage rate.
About 92% of the participants observed that the TAP had helped to improve several
community development facilities such as formation of roads healthcare and drinking
water through other government agencies. In the absence of significant forest products,
village development assistance proved to be a major attraction to the villagers. As detailed
in Sect. 2, the TAP villages historically lacked in several basic necessities compared to
other areas. The onset of TAP provided to be a major opportunity for local leaders to help
remedy the situation. Several villages came forward to take up the onerous task of forest
protection, anticipating some developmental assistance. In a previous study, about half of
the respondents said that obtaining more of the developmental benefits was their primary
recommendation for improving JFM (Matta and Alavalapati 2006). These instances
indicate the kind of enthusiasm and interest this component has generated among local
people in JFM.
Another significant outcome of TAP was the institutional development. The political
processes and the interactions among the villagers after the onset of JFM led to substantial
collective action thus enriching the social capital in the villages. Elections to the VFCs
became a prestigious issue. Formation of self-help groups, strengthening micro-credit and
income generation institutions, and capacity building led to considerable community
mobilisation and organisation. These developments also enabled TAP villages to develop
tie-ups with local organisations and institutions. The degree of participation in terms of the
number of meetings and other gatherings (such as for self-help groups) attended by the
respondents is relatively high across the state. Only 7% of the respondents did not par-
ticipate in any JFM activity. Thus, in TAP, community forestry was used as a response to
multiple problems that may or may not be centred on the forest resource but as an evo-
lutionary process linked to community development as a whole.
Overall, the TAP was rated as ‘‘Good’’ by about 80% of the participants, which is very
impressive for a government programme of this nature and dimension. This is also much
higher compared to the ratings received by JFM in other states of India in which 29% of the

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886 C. K. Sreedharan, J. R. Matta

JFMCs perceived its overall performance as good, 49% as moderate, and the remaining
22% perceived no change (Aggarwal et al. 2004; Ravindranath and Sudha 2004).

9 Conclusions

The detailed analysis of the impact of TAP made in the present study suggests that TAP’s
emphasis on poverty alleviation and institutional development has significantly helped in
achieving the primary objective of forest improvement. It could be further inferred that the
TAP movement has helped in gaining voice and access to forest and other resources by a
large fraction of the population that is fundamentally poor and downtrodden in rural
villages of Tamil Nadu. The TAP presented them an opportunity to come out of poverty
and drudgery through active promotion of livelihoods and resource productivity. In that
sense the TAP has set in motion a poverty alleviation cycle that could ultimately lead the
local communities to come out of the vicious cycle of resource degradation and poverty
escalation as depicted (Fig. 5).
The enhanced vegetation and moisture levels and associated improvement in agriculture
achieved through TAP brought overall improvement in the well-being of villages abutting
JFM forests. Such a development resulted in enhanced livelihood opportunities for local
villagers, particularly for the poor and downtrodden. Additional financial incentives cre-
ated for forest conservation further led to surplus income and saving among community
members and promoted household self-sufficiency. The community members’ awareness
and knowledge of issues related to forest protection and conservation and their concern for
environment were also enhanced because of their direct involvement in forest management
and close interaction with forest and other development departments.
The study also indicated that the forest fringe villagers’ most pressing demands are
basic amenities such as safe drinking water, improved roads, electricity, better access to
education and health, and assistance with income generating activities. Such rural devel-
opment programmes in the remote villages are, however, seldom a priority for the

JFM-TAP
Participatory Natural Concern
Resources Management for ecology

Revitalised
agriculture Change in
lifestyle

Employment POVERTY ALLEVIATION

generation CYCLE Savings

Income
generation More income
activities
Community
development
Household for
self sufficiency

Fig. 5 Poverty alleviation cycle

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Poverty alleviation as a pathway to sustainable forest management 887

development planners. Even if these activities are sanctioned, they are poorly coordinated
and executed (Matta and Kerr 2007). TAP model has demonstrated that integrating
community forestry with effective delivery of rural development services to forest fringe
villages is a viable strategy. However, to help identify the needs and services, and evaluate
the progress of this integrated planning, a state-level review of development programmes
in forest fringe villages led by either the Chief Minister or the Forest Minister of the State
is suggested.

Acknowledgments The study forms part of the first author’s PhD dissertation work. The authors gratefully
acknowledge the guidance and support of Dr. T. T. Ranganathan, Professor, Gandhigram Rural University in
the conduct of this study. The assistance rendered by the Forest Department staff in conducting the surveys
and interviews is also sincerely acknowledged.

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