People's participation in decision-making processes in the domain of forest management has been acknowledged as an effective mechanism for improving livelihoods and forest conditions. The present study makes an attempt to ascertain the participation levels and identify the factors influencing the people's participation in Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes in the Kashmir Himalayas. The study is based on primary data, with a sample size of 434 households collected through a two-stage random sampling survey. The Participation Index (PI) was used to measure people's participation across different stages: planning, implementation, and monitoring. The determinants that influence the level of participation are then analyzed through the Binary Logistic Regression Model (BLRM). The findings indicate that the people's participation at the planning stage was 47.93%, at the implementation stage 54.38%, and at the monitoring stage 49.46%, indicating an overall moderate level of participation. The BLRM depicts that among the selected variables, gender, marital status, years of schooling, land holding size, income from forest, distance from the market, training, knowledge, and information have a significantly positive influence, while age, distance from the forest, restrictions on charcoal/timber harvesting, and a lack of incentives were found to have a significant negative influence on the people's participation in the JFM programme. Therefore, policy reforms should be reoriented to improve the organizational structure of forest management groups and implement fair benefit-sharing mechanisms, which are crucial for enhancing the participation of local communities in forest management initiatives.

中文翻译：

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克什米尔喜马拉雅地区人民参与联合森林管理计划的评估


人们参与森林管理领域的决策过程已被认为是改善生计和森林条件的有效机制。本研究试图确定克什米尔喜马拉雅山地区人们参与联合森林管理（JFM）项目的参与水平并确定影响人们参与的因素。该研究基于原始数据，通过两阶段随机抽样调查收集了 434 户家庭的样本量。参与指数（PI）用于衡量人们在不同阶段的参与：规划、实施和监测。然后通过二元 Logistic 回归模型 (BLRM) 分析影响参与水平的决定因素。调查结果显示，规划阶段民众参与率为47.93%，实施阶段民众参与率为54.38%，监测阶段民众参与率为49.46%，总体参与程度处于中等水平。 BLRM 描述了在选定的变量中，性别、婚姻状况、受教育年限、土地拥有规模、森林收入、距市场的距离、培训、知识和信息具有显着的正向影响，而年龄、距森林的距离研究发现，木炭/木材采伐的限制以及缺乏激励措施对人们参与 JFM 计划产生了重大负面影响。因此，应重新调整政策改革方向，完善森林经营团体的组织结构，落实公平的利益分享机制，这对于提高当地社区对森林经营活动的参与至关重要。