However, the British Rule in India introduced several legislations in the 19th century curtailing the rights of local people from using forest resources.
While some of the legislation was enacted in a bid to enact restrictions on forest usage for the purpose of sustenance, it was also motivated partly because such legislation provided a legal basis for the British Raj to acquire valuable forest resources like timber for crucial initiatives like the Indian Railways.
Such abrupt curtailment of rights caused protests in forest-dwelling communities in India, especially in the heavily forested Kumaon region, and in what is present day Uttarakhand.
[3] The JFPM calls for the existence of an elected village level organisation (VLO) which would actively administer and maintain the communal forest.
However, a new body is usually elected for administrative purposes, usually referred to as the Forest Protection Committee (FPC), but known as the Van Panchayat in the Kumaon region.
[8] Funding for such communal forest management and staff training usually comes from the Government of India, but often comes from external non-governmental agencies.
Notably, the World Bank has put forward several large loans for the purposes of accomplishing such projects, including a statewide co-operative drive in Andhra Pradesh in 2002.