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| The Forest Councils Of Kumaon |
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Reference |
| Arun Agrawal and Elinor Ostrom, "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Devolution of Forest and Protected Area Management". |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| Institutions called Lattha Panchayats that had influenced the use of many forests in the Kumaon Hills before 1910. Between 1911 and 1917, the British transferred more than 3,000 sq. miles of forests to the Imperial Forest Department (KFGC 1921) in greater Kumaon. The rage and protest of local commnity against this decision resulted in the reconsideration and changes in the policies. The government passed the Forest Council Rules of 1931. These rules permitted village residents to create forest councils and bring under their own control forest lands. Nearly 3,000 forest councils today formally manage and control about a quarter of the forests in the three districts of Kumaon: Nainital, Almora, and Pithoragarh. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Social boundaries: Not Reported Spatial boundaries: Three districts of Kumaon: Nainital, Almora, and Pithoragarh. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| Nearly 3,000 forest councils today formally manage and control about a quarter of the forests in the three districts of Kumaon: Nainital, Almora, andPithoragarh.Villagers vote to elect between 5 and 9 council members and the council leader. The council in many of the villages meets frequently, its members discuss, craft, and modify specific rules that will govern withdrawal of forest products, and creates monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms in an effort to enforce the rules it has crafted as well as the Forest Council Rules framed by the government. The council selects guards, fines rule breakers, manages finances, and maintains a record of its meetings, accounts, and local rule infractions |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Villagers cannot clear fell the forest, they cannot impose fines beyond a specified amount, they can raise revenues only through certain limited sources and they must take recourse to established legal procedures to resolve conflicts. Before the council can sell any of its timber or resin, it must seek approval from the relevant authorities in the forest department. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| 1) Between 1911 and 1917, the British transferred more than 3,000 sq. miles of forests to the Imperial Forest Department (KFGC 1921) in greater Kumaon. This goaded villagers into widespread protest. The incessant, often violent, protests forced the government to appoint the Kumaon Forest Grievances Committee to look into the local Adisaffection.2) Villagers must take recourse to established legal procedures to resolve conflicts. Where conflicts over interpretation and application of rules spill over into formal channels of dispute resolution underwritten by the Indian state (district and provincial level revenue/judicial authorities), serious losses become unavoidable. For example, if parties to a dispute take their quarrel to district or state courts, the case may drag on for decades without being resolved. |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| Lack of any sustained collective action on the part of villagers to protect their right to govern local forests. Over the past sixty years the relationship that has evolved between village uses and the forest and the revenue departments has been one in which villagers and their councils have increasingly come to depend on government departments for activities related to the management of their forests. |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Institutions called Lattha Panchayats that had influenced the use of many forests in the Kumaon Hills before 1910.11 Between 1911 and 1917, the British transferred more than 3,000 sq. miles of forests to the Imperial Forest Department (KFGC 1921) in greater Kumaon. This goaded villagers into widespread protest as strict restrictions were imposed on lopping and grazing rights, restricted use of non-timber forest products. The incessant, often violent, protests forced the government to appoint the Kumaon Forest Grievances Committee to look into the local Adisaffection. According to the suggestions given by committee government reclassified Reserved Forests that had been taken over by the Forest Department between 1911 and 1917 into Class I and Class II forests. Class I Reserved Forests were all transferred to the revenue department and, in time, could come to be controlled by villagers by following a specific procedure as described in the 1931 Forest Panchayat Rules. Class II Reserved Forests were retained under the control of the Forest Department. The government also passed the Forest Council Rules of 1931. These rules permitted village residents to create forest councils and bring under their own control forest lands |
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Purpose |
| To bring the forest land under the control of local community. |
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Country |
| India |
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Region |
| Nainital, Almora, and Pithoragarh districts (Kumaon region) |
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