Paper short abstract:

In Contemporary forest management, the women who are the primary stakeholder have been brought into decision making and empowerment process in the sustainable livelihood approaches.

Paper long abstract:

The 1988 National Forest Policy asserted that one of the basic objectives was 'creating a massive people's involvement with the involvement of women. This fact was later on reemphasized in Participatory Forestry revised guidelines of 2002 which clearly mentioned about 50% representation of women in the village institutions. In the last two decades in accordance with the Forest Policies and planning the women's role has been considered as highly valued in the decision-making process starting from planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in the activities of Joint Forest Management (JFM) or Forest Development Authorities (FDA). In the JFM the sustainable livelihood approach have been adopted not only to reduce poverty and also to empower the gender enhancing the capabilities in the participatory processes of natural resource management. Under the FDA program initiatives were taken to provide them with alternative livelihood opportunities reducing their vulnerability.

This paper will discuss on the tribal women empowerment in Forest Development Activities in Madhya Pradesh, the central state of India on the basis of a study undertaken in the 8 tribal dominated districts. Six tribal groups have been studied in these districts which included the Gond, Korkus, Baigas, Bhariyas, Sahriyas, and the Barelas. The study attempts to reveal the initiatives undertaken by the forest department to empower women.