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From state to community: Forest land rights and forest conservation in India

Author

Listed:
  • Bharti Nandwani

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

  • Ishita Verma

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of India's landmark Forest Rights Act (FRA), which granted indigenous forest-dwelling communities legal rights to manage and protect forests, on the incidence of forest fires. Combining high-resolution satellite fire data with a village-level panel, we exploit pre-reform variation in forest cover in a difference-in-differences framework to identify the causal impact of the FRA on the occurrence and intensity of forest fires. We find that, following FRA, villages with greater forest cover experienced significant reductions in the likelihood and severity of fires. District-level data on the actual distribution of forest land titles corroborate these results. We further show that the decline in forest fires is accompanied by broader environmental improvements, including reductions in PM2.5 concentrations and burned area, highlighting the ecological gains from community-based forest governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Bharti Nandwani & Ishita Verma, 2026. "From state to community: Forest land rights and forest conservation in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2026-006, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2026-006
    as

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    File URL: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2026-006.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vélez, Maria Alejandra & Robalino, Juan & Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Paz, Andrea & Pacay, Eduardo, 2020. "Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Chand, Sandip & Behera, Bhagirath, 2023. "Does Assignment of Individual Property Rights Improve Forest Conservation Outcomes? Empirical Evidence from West Bengal, India," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 6(02), July.
    3. Erica Field, 2007. "Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1561-1602.
    4. Subramanian, Arjunan & Kumar, Parmod, 2024. "Property rights, factor allocation and household welfare: Experimental evidence from a land titling program in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    5. Arun Agrawal & Elinor Ostrom, 2001. "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal," Politics & Society, , vol. 29(4), pages 485-514, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law

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