Forest Management under JFM Mode
Nursery establishment
Planting stocks will be produced in permanent and decentralized temporal nurseries.
Decentralized nurseries will be established in VSS villages and managed by the VSSs. The selection criteria for nursery sites will include distance to plantation sites, water availability during the dry season and willingness of the VSS general body. The responsibilities and rights of nursery management would be completely vested to the VSS concerned after it acquires necessary skills and techniques for managing the nursery and producing required numbers of planting stock. The OFD staff will provide technical training to the concerned VSS members on management of nurseries and production planting stocks. The Project will provide the facilities for the nurseries including irrigation well, nursery equipment, fencing, quality seeds, cuttings, etc.

 Forest-type Improvement
VSS members will identify forest areas inside their JFM area and conduct silvicultural operations to improve the structure of forest stands and promote natural regeneration, including climber cutting, pruning, removal of dead and dried trees and enrichment planting by indigenous species. The removed dead and dried trees will be properly distributed to the VSS members.

Rehabilitation of Degraded Forests
a) Soil and moisture conservation measures including gully plugging, contour bunding, staggered contour trench, saucer pits with trench ridge/trench mound.
b) Assisted natural regeneration (ANR) to artificially facilitate natural regeneration on degraded forests where rootstocks are still available. Regeneration works include singling coppice shoots, removal of high stumps and climbers and tree planting in blank areas.
c) Block plantation with the aim of producing specific timber/NTFP products (economic plantations of timber species, fuel & fodder, bamboo, NTFPs along with saucer pits and half moon trench ridges at planting sites for maintainance of moisture.

Fire protection
Fire protection will be taken up by the VSS members. The fire protection will be carried out in two ways: i) construction and maintenance of fire lines; and ii) regular watching and patrolling. The VSS members will be paid for the construction of fire lines as well as patrolling bamboo and NTFP plantation during the Project period. “No fire bonus” will be provided to the VSSs for no-fires or successful extinguishing of fires.