Concept:
- The answer can also be reasoned from the purpose of the programme rather than by quoting it.
- A scheme built around restoration must be working on land that needs restoring.
Step 1: Read what the programme sets out to do.
The source calls Joint Forest Management an example of involving local communities in the management and
restoration of forests. Restoration is needed only where something has already been damaged.
Step 2: Work out what kind of forest that must be.
A dense, healthy forest does not need restoring. So the land the programme works on has to be forest that has already lost much of its cover, in other words degraded forest.
Step 3: Check the ownership detail.
The passage adds that this degraded forest land is
managed by the forest department, while the village institutions carry out the protection work on the ground.
Step 4: Note the arrangement behind it.
In return for protecting such land, the community receives intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce and a share in the timber harvested through successful protection.
Final Answer: The programme protects degraded forests, that is, forest land under the forest department that has been damaged and needs restoration.