What do you mean by social forestry ?

The concept of social forestry was introduced to work towards afforestation and to meet rural people’s needs. Under this program, unused and fallow land is used to plant species that can be beneficial to local people’s needs. At the same time social forestry helps in afforestation, prevents soil erosion and also helps in generating food and fuel wood for local people. After the introduction of social forestry in 1976, the benefits of the program were not passed to the local people, because they were treated as wage-laborers and they weren’t involved in decision making in the selection of species and in the process of maintenance. Later from 1990, government of India took steps to ensure local people’s active participation in social forestry.