This project explored the following question: does the dependence of forest dwelling communities on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) vary in accordance with the availability of employment and income generating opportunities? It is well established that apart from the ecological functions of forests like preserving biodiversity and watersheds, forests also perform subsistence and development functions. Tribal communities often use fuel, fodder, fruits, medicinal plants, roots, and shoots to meet some of their subsistence needs. Even for those for whom forest may not be a primary source of livelihood, it contributes to their well being substantially. In case of landless households, in addition to wage labour, sale of NTFPs becomes an important source of income. The project tests the argument in the specific central Indian situation, given by natural resource economists that the use of non-timber forest products goes through well-defined stages – increase in extraction with exposure to outside world, and with increase in incomes from this resource, extraction stabilizes. The three communities studied from Wadsa forest division in Gadchiroli district, are in transition – from forest-based and unsettled agriculture to settled agriculture, and from settled agriculture to non-farm employment. The study concludes that for the community located farthest from the market, dependence on harvest of NTFPs is the highest in relation to its total income; and has the highest density and species richness levels as well.

Project funding: Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, IFRI research program, Indiana University, Bloomington, U.S.A. 

Project Output: Report no. 01-06, February 2006.  © SHODH

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