No.for 104/D-4/90/Vol-I, dated Itanagar the
3rd October 1997
Whereas the Government of Arunachal Pradesh is concerned about
the continued degradation of Unclassed Forests around the villages and other inhabited
areas due to excessive biotic pressure especially grazing and removal of firewood and
timber, jhuming, etc.
And whereas the Department of Environment and Forests has
decided to take up a massive programme for regeneration and protection of the above
Unclassed Forest areas jointly with the local villagers/inhabitants under a Joint Forest
Management (JFM) scheme for converting them into productive forests.
And whereas active participation and involvement of local people
are vital for regeneration, maintenance and protection of the aforesaid forests and
plantations and successful implementation of the programme.
Now therefore, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh is pleased to
decide that Village Forest Management Committee (VFMCs) shall be constituted for this
purpose throughout the State of Arunachal Pradesh and beneficiaries acting as members of
such committees shall be allowed as a measure of incentive, 25% of the benefits subject to
observance of the conditions provided in this resolution.
The composition, duties and function, the usufructuary benefits
and restrictive measures pertaining to such committees shall be as follows:
1. Composition
The management of the selected forest areas will vest with
the VFMCs. A VFMC shall be constituted for each of the Joint Forest Management (JFM) area
and shall have the following composition.
i) One adult member from each family of all the villages located
within or adjacent to the selected JFM area. At least 30% of the total registered members
shall have to be women.
Each VFMC shall be registered as a society or association under
Society's Registration Act, after duly framing its bye-laws governing its duties,
responsibilities, powers and jurisdiction.
ii) The VFMCs, in addition to the registered members, shall have
ex-officio members as follows.
a) Vice-president(s) of the Zilla Parishad(s) of the District.
b) Vice-President(s) of the Anchal Samities falling within the
identified areas.
c) Range Officer concerned
d) One representative from local non-governmental organisation
(NGO) if any, in the areas to be nominated by the Divisional Officer concerned.
None of the ex-officio members including NGO representative
would be entitled to any of the benefits under this scheme.
iii) Each Village Forest Management Committee shall have one
Executive Committee (EC) with the following composition:
a) Chairman to be elected by the registered members at the first
general body meeting of the VFMC to be convened by the Range Officer concerned. Ex-officio
members shall not be entitled to vote.
b) 8 (eight) Members from amongst the registered members of the
VFMC shall be elected on the first meeting of the General Body.
c) 3 (three) ex-officio members comprising
i) Vice-president of the Zila Parishad
ii) One representative of NGO
iii) The Range Officer concerned (Member Secretary)
No Range Officer shall continue as Member Secretary for a term
not exceeding 3 (three) years.
d) The Chairman and the Member Secretary of the executive
committee shall also function as the Chairman & Member Secretary of the VFMCs
concerned.
2. Duties of VFMCs
i) The Village Forest Management Committee shall maintain a
register showing necessary particulars of the registered members as well as the
beneficiaries, as for example, name, father's name, address, age, number of family
members, name of nominees, etc. The nomination form duly approved by the Executive
Committee should be pasted in the register. Such registers are also to be maintained in
the Range Officer of the Forest Department and a copy of the aforesaid register shall also
be kept in the office of the Divisional forest Officer concerned for record.
ii) The VFMC shall maintain a minutes book wherein the
proceedings of the meeting(s) of the Executive Committee held from time to time, as well
as the proceedings of the annual general meeting(s) of the Village Forest Management
Committee(s) will be recorded under the signature of the Chairman of the Committee and
such minutes duly attested shall be sent to the concerned Range Office for record.
iii) The VFMC shall hold an annual general meeting once in every
year, where activities of the VFMC as well as the details of distribution of usufructuary
benefits are to be discussed, besides electing representatives of the beneficiaries to the
Executive committee(s).
3. Functions and Responsibilities of VFMCs
a) i) To ensure protection of forests/plantations through
members of the committee(s).
ii) To protect the said forests/plantations with the members of
the committee.
iii) To inform forest personnel about any person or persons
attempting trespass, and wilfully or maliciously damaging the said forests/plantations and
commit theft thereon.
iv) To prevent such trespass, encroachments, grazing, forest
fire, theft and poaching of wild animals.
v) To regulate jhumming, grazing and collection of non-timber
forest products (NTFP).
vi) To assist the forest personnel in apprehension of such
person or persons committing any of the offences mentioned above.
b) i) To ensure smooth and timely execution of all forestry
works taken up in the area under protection by the committees.
ii) To involve every member of the committee in the matter of
protection of forests/plantations as well as any other duty assigned to the committee.
c) i) To ensure smooth harvesting of forest produce by the
forest department.
ii) To assist the concerned forest official in proper
distribution of the earmarked portion of the net sale proceeds among the members of the
committee as per list maintained by the Executive Committee.
iii) To ensure that usufructuary rights allowed by the
Government is not in any way misused by any of the members and forests/plantations are
kept free from any encroachment whatsoever.
d) i) To prevent any activity in contravention of the provisions
of the Assam Forest Regulation or any other Acts and rules made thereunder.
The members of Executive Committee (EC) shall have power to
apprehend any forest offender and hand them over to the authorities concerned for taking
punitive action.
They shall have power to seize illegal timber and any other
forest produce.
The Executive Committee shall have power to levy fines for
unauthorised/illegal activities on any of the members of the VFMC.
e) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The VFMCs through their ECs shall execute MOUs with the
concerned DFOs for active participation in the task of protection, regeneration and
management of forest areas and for implementation of the programmes as per the joint
management plans. The format of MOU is at Annexure-I.
4. Responsibilities of the Department of Environment and
Forests
i) The Department of Environment and Forests shall be
responsible for the constitution of the VFMCs and for overseeing the formation of the
General Body(s) and Executive Committee(s).
ii) It shall ensure that the Management Plans are prepared for
each of the JFM areas before such activities are taken up for timber
operation/regeneration.
iii) The Divisional Forest Officer concerned shall prepare a
Management Plan for each of the management units identified under this Scheme after a
critical analysis of the management issues and the needs of the local people.
The Management Plan shall aim at sustainable development of the
selected forest areas and shall have prescriptions for production of timber, fuelwood,
fodder, regulation of grazing, method of regeneration, method of rehabilitation of
degraded forest areas, the quantities and modalities for removal of forest produce.
The Management Plan shall cover a period of 5 (five) years.
iv) The draft Management Plan will be considered by the
Executive Committee (EC) and after discussion in the G.B. of VFMC, it shall be submitted
to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests for approval.
v) The implementation of the Management Plan will be taken up
with the help of funds available under relevant State Plan Schemes including the
regeneration of the harvested areas and degraded forests under State Plan/Central Sector
Scheme.
vi) The prescriptions of the Management Plan shall be strictly
enforced to guard against overfelling and to ensure that the harvested areas are
regenerated within a given time frame.
vii) The Executive Committee (EC) and the DFO concerned shall
maintain a close control over all operations in the identified areas.
viii) The Department shall ensure proper sharing of the usufruct
and revenues accruing from the management of the JFM areas and guard against any misuse of
the benefits and privileges under this scheme.
ix) The Divisional Forest Officer concerned shall set up an
Extension cell in his office under the charge of a responsible officer (ACF/Range Officer)
for furthering the objectives of this Scheme in the areas under their jurisdiction and
eliciting the cooperation of the local people in implementing the JFM Scheme.
x) The Department shall make necessary arrangements for
providing training to the members of the VFMCs and ECs enabling them to discharge their
duties and responsibilities effectively.
xi) The Department will arrange for the disposal of the timber
and NTFPs harvested from the areas under Management Plan prescriptions through the
Arunachal Pradesh Forest Corporation Ltd. (APFCL) so as to ensure maximum financial
returns to the CFNCs.
xii) The Department through its State Forest Research Institute
(SFRI) shall develop area-specific packages for afforestation and development of the
forest resources in the identified JFM areas.
xiii)The Department shall also promote either directly or
through the concerned agencies, the development of traditional jhumlands in the areas for
permanent cultivation, so that the "Jhumias" do not extend their jhumming
activities to new sites within the identified JFM areas.
5. Selection of Areas
i) The JFM Scheme shall be implemented in the Unclassed
forest around the respective villages and other habitat which are vulnerable to
encroachments and biotic interference.
ii) The Scheme shall not apply to private forests or forests
under private ownership.
iii) The selection of areas shall be done by the Department of
Environment and Forests in consultation with the local administration and consent of the
local people.
iv) The villagers will have to enter into an agreement with the
State Department of Environment and Forests giving their consent for implementing the JFM
Schemes in their areas and to abide by the terms and conditions specified thereunder.
v) The Management Unit shall be determined on the basis of the
extent of Unclassed forest area which can be delineated into composite block and over
which the nearby villagers have been traditionally exercising customary rights and
privileges.
vi) All the villages of the villages so identified shall
hereinafter be referred to as the '"beneficiaries".
vii) The protection regulation provisions of the Assam Forest
Regulation 1891 (VII of 1891) shall ipso facto apply to the selected areas so as to
provide the necessary regulatory and control mechanism and bring the areas under
scientific management.
6. Meetings
i) The General Body (GB) of the VFMC shall meet once
annually while the Executive Committee (EC) shall meet at leat once in three months, or
more frequently if the Member Secretary in consultation with the Chairman deems it
necessary to transact any urgent business.
ii) The quorum for the meeting of the General Body (GB) as well
as the Executive Committee (EC) shall be half of the registered members and elected
members respectively.
iii) The General Body (GB) and EC will maintain registers of
members, a register to record the minutes and decisions of each meeting and a cash
register to maintain records of income and expenditure.
iv) The EC may appoint part time or full time employees at such
consolidated wages as may be decided, to maintain the accounts and for other purposes.
v) The Member Secretary shall be overall responsible for the
proper maintenance of all records and accounts.
vi) The accounts shall be got audited annually after their
approval by the Executive Committee (EC) and the GB of the VFMC.
7. Benefits/Usufruct Sharing
i) The members of the VFMCs will be entitled to use all
non-timber forest produce (NTF), dead and fallen wood, small timber, fodder, etc. for
their bona fide domestic consumption free of cost, without causing any damage to the
forest areas. These benefits will be available to the VFMC members only when they
undertake to discharge their protection and management responsibilities and functions as
envisaged under the scheme.
ii) The revenues accruing from the timber operations, both at
the time of silvicultural thinning and main fellings, will be shared between the VFMCs and
the Department in the following manner.
Fifty per cent of the gross revenues shall be credited to the
Government account as revenue while from the remaining 50%, 25% will be distributed
equally among all the members of the VFMC concerned and the balance 25% will be deposited
in the Development Fund which will be operated by the EC for developmental activities as
may be approved by it and endorsed by the GB. The other revenues such as from levy of
fines, etc., will also be credited to the Development Fund.
iii) In case substantially degraded Unclassed forests are
selected as JFM areas in some places, the VFMCs should be assured some immediate benefits
until the identified forests reach a productive stage. This can be ensured by providing
wage employment to as many VFMC members as possible during the implementation of forest
regeneration and development effort. Assistance can also be taken through District
Administration under the ongoing rural development schemes to benefit the VFMC members.
8. Financial Implications
There will be no direct financial implication for the
Department in the implementation of this scheme. No additional staff will be required to
be engaged by the Department for implementing this scheme in the identified areas.
However, if the DFO concerned can deploy his staff to further the objectives of this
scheme he shall be free to do so. In any case as provided for in the scheme the EC may
appoint part time or full time employees as may be necessary for various purposes in
implementing the scheme. Ongoing State Plan and Central Sector Schemes shall be made use
of the in the afforestation of degraded JFM lands and for aided natural regeneration (ANR)
of harvested areas. Advantage will also be taken of the new Cs Scheme initiated by the
Ministry of Environment and Forests for the joint management of forest lands with the
association of scheduled tribes and rural poor. The Department will also strive to obtain
financial assistance through externally aided projects and bilateral and multilateral
funding agencies for furthering the objectives of this programme. The VFMC Development
Fund will also be utilised in furthering the aims and objectives of the scheme as may be
considered from time to time by the EC.
9. Termination of Membership, Dissolution of the Committee,
etc.
i) The Divisional Forest Officer concerned shall have the
power to disqualify and remove from the membership of the VFMC, GB and EC any member who
is found guilty of any forest offence by a competent Government official or authority
concerned. he shall also be empowered to dissolve any VFMC, GB, Ec if it is found
necessary to do so in the interest of proper management of the forest of the area.
ii) If a VFMC fails to function properly, or if there are
instances of financial irregularities, misappropriation or violation of any relevant rules
and regulations, the DFO concerned can supersede the VFMC without paying any compensation
for any work that might have been done prior to such supersession. In such an event the
management of the JFM area shall vest wholly with the Department.
iii) If there is any matter which fails to get resolved by the
GB/EC, it shall be referred to the DFO concerned for a decision. Appeal against any such
decision of the DFO shall lie with the Conservator of Forests concerned. An appeal against
the decision of the C.F. shall lie with the Government whose direction/decision shall be
binding on the VFMC.
The Government may add to or delete from any of the provisions
of this scheme as may be considered necessary depending upon the experience gained in the
implementation of this scheme.
The order shall come into force with immediate effect.
This issues with the approval of the State Government of
Arunachal Pradesh vide CAB/M(2)/96 dated 7-11-96.
Annexure - I
Format for Memorandum of Understanding
We the members of the Executive Committee of the Village
Forest Management Committee of _________________ village do hereby undertake individually
and collectively to perform the duties and shoulder the responsibilities and detailed in
the Resolution No.___________________ dated ____________ of the Environment and Forest
Department, Government of Arunachal Pradesh for proper protection and regeneration of
degraded forest area as per the schedule given hereunder.
Schedule
1. Name of the Village Forest Management Committee
2. District/Forest Division
3. Subdivision/Forest Range
4. Police Station
5. Village
6. Name of the Forest Block
7. Legal status of the forest land
8. Area (ha.) of the forest land
9. Boundaries of the area
North ________________________ East ______________
South _________________________ West ______________
We, understand that the usufructuary benefits detailed in the
aforesaid Resolution shall be allowed only upon satisfactory observance of the duties,
responsibilities and functions by Executive Committee and by the members of the Village
Forest Management Committee as per the aforesaid Resolution.
A copy of the aforesaid resolution is annexed herewith duly
signed by us on every page in proof/evidence of our having read/understood the same in
letter and spirit. It is hereby agreed that this Memorandum of Understanding will come
into effect from ____________________.
Signature of the members of
the Executive Committee Signature of the Witness
Name & Address Signature Name & Address Signature
with date with date
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
Signature of the local Forest Officer
Signature with date
S.No. Designation Name
1. DFO
2. ACF
3. Forest Range Officer
4. Forester
5. Forest Guard
