A policy is intended to guide and determine present and future decisions and actions. It usually comprises two elements: a set of aspirations, goals or objectives an outline of a course of action to achieve them. A national forest policy is considered to be a negotiated agreement between government and stakeholders on the orientations and principles of actions they adopt, in harmony with national socio-economic and environmental policies, to guide and determine decisions on the sustainable use and conservation of forest and tree resources for the benefit of society. Forest policies, thus, not only have to cover issues under the competence of the forestry administration and its agencies, but also they need to contribute to overarching policies, including those responsible for national development or economic and poverty strategies. They also need to be consistent with policies issued by other government authorities. Thus, a forest policy is a policy for people, not for the forestry administration. Being an agreement among government and stakeholders, a national forest policy is endorsed by government and implemented through legal, economic and informational instruments, and by other stakeholders with their respective means. This book deals with some of the basic aspects of forest policies, laws, legislation and constitution of India. The book has been written with a view to cover the broad syllabus prescribed on the subject in various forestry colleges, forestry training institutes and Agricultural Universities in India. This will serve as a valuable source of information for the academicians in forestry colleges and institutes and also for the undergraduate and post graduate students for the preparation of competitive examinations in forestry discipline.
Dr. GIRISH B. SHAHAPURMATH, M.Sc. (Forestry) Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Forest Management Department of Natural Resource Management College of Forestry, Sirsi-581 401, Karnataka University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India E-mail: girishbshahapur@gmail.com/ shahapurmathgb@uasd.in o Specialization in Silviculture and Agro forestry, Forest Management, Remote Sensing and GIS. o Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Extension and Management (PGDAEM) by MANAGAE, Hyderabad during 2014-15. o Post Graduate Diploma Computer Applications (PGDCA) by InfoTech Computer Education and Manipal Institute of Computer Education (MICE) during 2008-09. o Total 16 years of experience in the field of forestry (Teaching, Research and Extension). o Presently working as Assistant Professor of Forest Management in Department of Natural Resource Management at College of Forestry, SIRSI (University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka (India). o Recipient of "Outstanding Scientist Award" in Forestry by The Society of Tropical Agriculture, New Delhi, India in 7th International Conference on Agriculture, Horticulture and Plant Sciences held at Shimla (H. P.) during June 28-29, 2018. o Recipient of "Best Teacher Award-2016" for outstanding contribution in the field of Forestry on the occasion of International Conference on "Rural Livelihood Improvement by Enhancing Farmers' Income through Sustainable Innovative Agri and Allied Enterprises (RLSIAAe)" organized by the Society for Upliftment of Rural Economy, Varanasi (India) during 30th October to 1st November, 2018 held at Birla Institute of Technology, Patna. o Recognized as a Life Member for the "Society for Upliftment of Rural Economy, Varanasi (Membership No. LM/245/2018). o First prize for Best Poster Presentation on Multistoried Cropping of Teak-perennial vegetables- legume based Agro forestry system Presented in National Symposium (Silver Jubilee) on "Agro forestry Knowledge for Sustainability, Climate Moderation and Challenges Ahead" held at National Research Centre for Agro forestry, Jhansi (UP) from 15-17 December, 2008. o First Prize for Best Poster presentation on "Forest Law and Models" presented in "National Kaanoonu Utsava" Exhibition held at Sirsi from 07.06.2014 to 06.07.2014 organized by Karnataka High Court, Bengaluru and District Law Service, Karwar and Bar Association, Sirsi. o Worked as Principal Investigator and CO-Principal Investigator for 10 Research Projects. o Field of interest - Silviculture and Agro forestry, Forest Management and Policy, Sustainable Forest Management, Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System in Forestry. o Developed the course materials as reference books and for competitive exams, such as ASRB, IFS, ACF, RFO, KPSC, etc., in the field of forestry for students' purpose. o Attended more than 15 Trainings/Summer/Winter schools, short courses, Seminars, Workshops, Conferences and undergone Agricultural Massive Open Online Courses (Ag MOOC). o Published more than 100 publications including Research papers in NAAS rated journal/Research notes/Papers presented and published in symposium/seminar/conference/workshop/Training/ international conference/Popular articles published in journals/ newspapers/Books/chapters in books.
