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This is an explorative study. In this study ,an attempt is made to investigate the overall impact of JFM on the livelihood of participants and local environment in Orissa. The impact on livelihood is examined in terms of additional income and employment opportunities. In addition, the issue of socio-economic equity has been looked into in detail by adopting both the qunatitiave and qualitative regression techniques. Further, this study has unraveled the social and ecological impact of JFM on the local environment, on the environmental stress migration (ESM) of stakeholders from rural to urban area. The issues related to sustainable forest management under JFM have been highlighted by taking into account the stakeholders perspectives of the study area. Overall this study throws some lights on the impact of JFM in India.

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Dr. Naresh Chandra Sahu completed his Ph.D in the area of Natural Resource Management and Environmental Economics from Department of HSS, IIT Kanpur in April, 2008. Presently he is working as Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Management in IIT Bhubaneswar.

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