Community Forest Protection and Management in Phayeng Village of Manipur

The present study examined the case of community forest protection efforts in Phayeng Viiiage of iVlanipur. The study focussed on the functional activities of the Umang Committee (Forest Committee) in the village which was set up by few concerned villagers in the 1950s when the village forest was completely destroyed due to unchecked deforestation. Focussed group discussions and personal interviews using semi-structured questionnaire were used to collect the data from a sample o f 125 villagers (60 core groups and 65 non-core groups).Garrett's ranking technique was used to rank the problems and constraints identified by the villagers pertaining to the management of the forest. Lack of government assistance was ranked as the most important problem In the conservation activities in the forest. The unresolved dispute over the ownership of the forest land proved to be a limiting factor in the functional activities of the committee. Lack of capital and technical support in forest management were other problems recounted by the committee members.