Village 1 forest community, Almora district, India

The community forests discussed in this case study are called panchayat forests. They are managed by local institutions called van panchayats. The forests and van panchayats all lie in the middle Himalayan ranges in Almora district, India. Almora is one of the eight mountainous districts that together comprise the Uttarkhand in Uttar Pradesh. The analysis focuses on the effects of institutional rules on fodder and fuelwood use in community forests. Village 1 is one of six villages located in the Almora district.

(1) Boundary Rules: Success. Users fall into two categories: the residents of the village where the forest is located; the family of an individual who aided in creating the panchayat forest (p. 271).

(2) Appropriation Rules (Allocation Rules): Success. All users are provided with a rope that they must use to make a bundle of the grass they have cut. Users can cut grass from the forest only for a specified number of days in the year (p. 272).

(3) Monitoring: Success. They not only realized the importance of monitoring user behavior but also successfully devised mechanisms to ensure compliance by users ( p. 277). The panchayat took great pains to monitor (p. 275), and the guards were monitored by panchayat officials (p. 275).

(4) Sanctioning: Successful owing to the accurate information about rule breaking  (p. 282).

(5) Arbitration: Success. The panchayat officials assert their authority as arbiters (p. 282). The panchayat expends effort and funds in monitoring and enforcing their rules (p. 280).