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PEOPLE'S RESPONSE TO FOREST DEGRADATION
Local community in Orissa manages 1,200 patches of forest, covering a
total area of 186,900 hectares, though the efforts of 1,180 "User
Group Organizations" (UGO). In the 360- hectare Binjgiri Protected
forest, for instance, environmental protection has been the driving force
for improved forest management practices. Surrounded by rural villages,
the forest was almost completely denuded by the late 1960s, streams dried
up, pond sedimentation increased, and fuel wood grew acutely scarce. Following
the initiative of a former resident of Kesharpur, a movement to protect
the Binjgiri Hill was initiated. The villagers of Kesharpur soon realized
that the regenerated forests would be endangered if the villages surrounding
the Binjgiri were not evolved in this protection. This led to the creation
of the "Brikshya O' Jeevan Bandhu Parishad" (BJBP; "Friends
of trees and living beings"), a grassroot organization that provided
essential leadership for community involvement in forest conservation.
Such initiatives taken by the grassroot organisations such as panchayats
can help a lot to improve the environment of the rural areas. Thus, the
Panchayat bodies should encourage social forestry and more funds should
be made available at the disposal of local groups in Panchayats.
Salient features of people's participation 
- There are between 4,000 and 8,000 functioning community Forest Protection
Communities (FPCs) in Orissa
- Forest management groups control anywhere from 25 to 500 hectares
- Including unregistered groups, it is likely that there are between
4,000 and 8,000 functioning community FPCs in Orissa
- Most forest management groups control anywhere from 25 to 500 hectares
- There are about 2,619 registered Forest Protection Committees
- The total forest area under such committees is around 57,182 sq.km.
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