Despite the critical role of government agencies in decentralizing natural resource governance, little work to date has focused on the organizational aspects of the responsible government bureaucracies. Based on a qualitative investigation of the perspectives of Forest Department employees involved in India’s Joint Forest Management (JFM) program, this paper aims to provide an understanding of these internal dynamics. Elaborating on why bureaucracies with a learning orientation are essential if participatory natural resource management is to succeed, the paper underlines the constraints to transforming forest agencies’ hierarchical work cultures. Foresters describe JFM as a radical departure from traditional forest governance, but suggest that corresponding transformation within the Forest Department has not occurred.

Type of Case
Printed publication (book, sourcebook, journal article…)

Publisher
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 48(4): 475–490

Region
Asia Pacific

Biome
All

Forest Type
All forest types (natural and planted)

Primary Designated Function
All