Gorumara National Park

15 Nov 2024 15:38:25 pm

Tags : Gorumara National Park

Topic: Protected Areas

Why in the news?

Three joint forest management committees (JFMCs), which comprise residents of villages located on the fringes of the Gorumara National Park, have donated a portion of their earnings to the state forest department to hire three SUVs so that additional teams can be formed to mitigate man-animal conflicts in their areas.
Man-animal conflicts are currently controlled by teams composed of personnel of wildlife squads and guards of the forest department’s ranges and beats.

Source: The Telegraph

About Gorumara National Park

It is a national park in northern West Bengal, India.
Located in the Dooars region of the Himalayan foothills, it is a medium-sized park with grasslands and forests.
It was established in 1992.
It is primarily known for its population of Indian rhinoceros.
It is located in the Eastern Himalayas\' submontane Terai belt.
It is located on the flood plains of the Murti River and Raidak River. The major river of the park is the Jaldhaka river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river system.
- In this regard, Gorumara is a significant watershed area between the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems.
The park is very close to Jaldapara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Reserve.

Joint Forest Management:

It is a community-based approach to forest conservation and management in India.
In a shift from traditional state-centric forest management in the country, this initiative envisages active participation of the local communities in the protection and sustainable use of forest resources.
It was initiated in the context of the National Forest Policy of 1988 wherein state forest departments support local forest dwelling and forest fringe communities to protect and manage forests and share the costs and benefits from the forests with them.
It gives a definite share with respect to final and intermittent products from the regenerated forest areas.
- These shares are much more than what was available to these members under their traditional entitlement under the original forests on revenue settlement.
Village-level Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) lie at the core of the implementation of this initiative.

Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs):

They represent democratic institutions at the village level.
The Forest Departments and the Village Communities are partners in the village-level Committees.
The General Body of the Committee consists of all willing adult members of villages and is chaired by the President who is elected by consensus on majority vote.
They are also known by different names in different States, such as Forest Protection Community (FPC), Village Forest Committee (VFC), Van Sanrakshan Samiti (VSS) etc.
They take up various activities related to conservation, protection, afforestation of different models, nursery raising, soil and moisture conservation work, awareness generation, management entry point activities, forest protection, livelihood improvement and development of forests.