PROBLEMS WITH SOCIAL FORESTRY
1. Social forestry was conceived as people centered program. A program to empower poor people for the fuel wood, fodder and other timber needs. But it actually became a government program and the program of the forest department.
2. People’s participation was the major causality and it was realized later on that people’s participation cannot be achieved through bureaucratic structure.
3. There had been a neglect of land use policy especially for the forest lands, revenue lands and community lands and the price for this had been paid by the poor.
4. Different administrative jurisdictions of land have led to property and custodial approaches to land use policies, irrespective of their best use and contribution to social welfare.
5. There is a lack of appropriate policy regarding access of land for afforestation purposes. Deformed act and laws hindered rather than motivate people, resulted in vested interest controlling social forestry program. Instead of fuel wood and fodder, social forestry has largely provided raw materials to paper, pulp and building industry by passing rural poor.
6. The structure of marketing arrangements and pricing of minor fodder produce has been totally ignored in comparison of production efforts under social forestry program. The forest cooperatives which have once played a significant role have now been disappeared.
7. The employment programs under anti-poverty schemes have specific target provision to cover forest development work which could be easily linked to social forestry program. Such linkage is missing due to lack of coordination among government departments.
8.Social forestry programs did not involve the women who had to collect the fuel for the family everyday. It has also not involved the tribals who are deeply interested in promotion and protection of forests.
SOCIAL FORESTRY
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL AND AGRO FORESTRY