Deforestation in reserved forests: whom to blame?

Forest has been the source of livelihood to the people and an important source of revenue in Assam notwithstanding the fact that its share in GSDP of the state has been declining steadily over the years. Though a major part of the total forest cover is under state property right regime, Assam has lost a considerable size of its forest cover in the recent years. The large scale unabated encroachment in the reserved forests by the new settlers, people displaced by floods and ethnic clashes in the state and immigrants, the excessive dependence of the people on the forests, illegal timber extraction, conflict between the people in the vicinity of the forest and state agency have paved the way for degradation of forest cover. This book investigates the question of deforestation in the reserved forests of Assam in the light of current forest policies in vogue besides measuring dependence as well as perceptions of the people towards forests using inputs from the field study. The book should be of interest to forest policy planners, students of forest economics and especially those interested in the protection, conservation and management of forests of the state in general.