SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT

Yavatmal district has maximum forests but the tribal population living in the forest areas are deprived of their legitimate right to accessing natural resources. The main livelihood of the poor people in the region is agriculture which is largely dry land and rain-fed. A large section of these people, especially tribal, are largely dependent on forest resources and are small and marginal landholders. Yavatmal is rich in natural resources such as forests and minerals but they are either overexploited or misused showing no plans of sustainable use or involving local communities in their protection, conservation and management. After the enactment of Forest Rights Act 2006, Rules 2008, GSMT initiated the process to empower the tribal and forest dwelling community to manage their forest. Organisation has capacitated the tribal community to develop the Conservation and Management Plans of their Forest Areas. The local human resources in the form of Barefoot Technicians have been developed for the execution of the Conservation and Management Plans in a participatory way.