In India, joint forest management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example of involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha passed the first resolution for joint forest management. JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.

The clear lesson from the dynamics of both environmental destruction and reconstruction in India is that local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management. But there is still a long way to go before local communities are at the centre stage in decision-making. Accept only those economic or developmental activities, that are people-centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.