ABSTRACT
Indian forest policy has witnessed paradigmatic policy shifts over the last three decades. This chapter depicts a shift from centralisation – a legacy from the colonial era – towards more inclusive and democratic forest governance, which manifested in the National Forest Policy of 1988 and the Forest Rights Act of 2006. There are complex dynamics at play in Indian forest governance, such as the role of forests as livelihoods, economic interest and the politics of land-use change, social mobilisation, knowledge, international factors and the role of India’s forest bureaucracy. Subsequently, this chapter traces developments in India’s forest governance from the colonial period through the post-development phase after 1980 to the Forest Rights Act and its implementation. The complexity of the forest policy subsystem today is marked by entrenched actors networks who are resistant to change, as well as new networks of actors attempting to drive policy change forward. Emphasising the importance of forests as a resource, the chapter outlines the most relevant regulations governing forest use in India and highlights the interactions between agencies and actor networks governing forestry in India.
