Behind Rhetoric and Discourse of Community Forestry: in the case of the Van (Forest) Panchayats of Uttarakhand, Central Himalayas, India.

Abstract

The discourse of community forestry shows a debate between a positive rhetoric and a contesting literature. To contribute to this debate, this study aims to assess the contesting literature in practice. To do so, this study conducts fieldwork and interviews with users and practitioners in the case of Uttarakhand, India. The study shows how a popular discourse may result in a superficial top-down creation of community entities and suggests a limited reality of community forestry policies. Further, it illustrates the limitation of an independent and homogenous rhetoric by assessing the influence of non-governmental organisations and social heterogeneous features.