Winrock International India (WII) is undertaking an action research project to improve understanding of the interaction between forests and people, to better target public investment and analyze regulations that affect the forest and forest-fringe dwellers in India. This will be achieved by developing and testing simple tools and techniques for:

• multi-scale forest-poverty mapping that helps locate the forest poor;
• assessing cumulative regulatory impact of participatory forestry on the forest and forest-fringe dwellers via a policy plot, and
• characterizing participatory forest research-policy-implementation linkages.

This action-research project will be implemented in three states - Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa.

A variety of information outputs and communication channels will be used to disseminate project outputs to PFM stakeholders at the state, national level, and international levels. A methodological manual on Policy Plot, a policy brief, an analytical report, a set of maps products, and posters will be prepared. These will be disseminated electronically and in print, via our website, state-level workshops, a running mailing list, and via email.