Forest Governance at Micro Level and its Determinants: A Study in Purulia District of West Bengal

Abstract

The paper attempts to measure forest governance at the micro level in the drought prone district of Purulia, West Bengal and also to estimate the factors responsible for forest governance. The paper is based on primary data collected from 252 households in the Bagmundi range of Purulia forest division. A questionnaire method has been used for the collection of data. The paper has formulated governance index based on FAO indicators like rules of law, transparency, accountability, participation, inclusive and equitable, efficient and effective. In addition, the paper has used beta regression model to estimate the factors responsible for it. The result shows that forest governance index is 0.446 while rule of law, transparency, accountability, participation, inclusive and equitable, efficient and effective indices are 0.263, 0.368, 0.317, 0.643, 0.579 and 0.504 respectively. The forest governance index is influenced by the socio-economic variables like caste, sex, education, landholdings, forest income and occupation. The paper has an important policy implication for sustainable forest management.