Social forestry in India

The term social forestry was first used in 1976 by The National Commission on Agriculture, when the government of India aimed to reduce pressure on forests by planting trees on all unused and fallow lands.

[not verified in body] People felt the need for a social forestry scheme because India has a dominant rural population that depends largely on fuelwood and other biomass for their cooking and heating.

The social forestry scheme sought to enable the common people to raise plantations which would meet the growing demand for timber, fuelwood, fodder, etc., and thereby reduce pressure on traditional forest areas.

Through the social forestry scheme, the government has involved community participation, as part of a drive towards afforestation, and rehabilitating the degraded forest and common lands.

The pulp and paper industry is a major demand driver for certain species of tree such as Eucalyptus, Babul Acacia catechu, Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) and Casuarina equisetifolia.

Some communities manage these plantations sensibly and in a sustainable manner for continual benefit, while others sell the mature timber for a one-time capital divestment.

It is defined as a sustainable land-use system that maintains or increases the total yield by combining food crop together with forest tree and livestock ranching on the same unit of land, using management practices that consider the social and cultural characteristics of the local people and the economic and ecological condition of the area.