Up until the middle of the nineteenth century community
control of forests was considered responsible for forest
degradation [1]. Consequently, State control of the forests
started in the late nineteenth century by legally classifying the
State forests into : i) reserve (no activity/rights of the people
for forest products are permitted) ii) demarcated protected
forest (limited rights of local people for forest products for
domestic use are permitted) and iii) undemarcated protected
forest (no restriction of exercise of rights for domestic use) to
restrict the degree of access of the local people to the State.