Tools for reaching forest dependent poor in three states in India
Modelling research-policy linkages, locating the poor and assessing cumulative regulation
impact on the forest dependent poor in India

List of activities

Literature review and policy/regulation overview:
Short narratives on the political, socio-economic, ecological, legal and institutional environment under which PFM is operating will be prepared. A broad time line of major PFM related policy developments would also be developed and key regulations impacting forest poor collected and analysed.

Spatial data development:
Digital maps with administrative boundaries for the state and districts will be obtained. These maps will be combined with databases for poverty and other indicators at multiple scales. Digital Maps of the spread of JFM will also be prepared for the study areas. Spatial data will be distributed via GIS freeware to facilitate wide spread use.

The spatial distribution of key indicators: thematic maps preparation and analysis.
Forest cover, tribal population, poverty, literacy and other indicators will be assessed at different resolutions based on available estimates. Similarly data on the spread of and investment in JFM will also be collected at the finest resolution available and correlated with forest cover, tribal population and other thematic layers.

Policy Plots:
One panchayat, forest beat or part thereof will be chosen at a sub district level to locate a policy plot. Semi-structured interviews and simple cost-benefit analysis will be used to assess the cumulative impact of key market conditions and multiple regulations on the use of public and private forest lands by both forest dependent poor and non-poor.

Research impact analysis
A flow-chart of the research policy-implementation-feedback cycle will be developed. Instances of research influencing policy and implementation would be identified and studied to understand the reasons for policy uptake.

Tools for reaching forest dependent poor in three states in India