Chetan Kumar PGDFM MPhil PhD

Research Associate and Research Fellow of Hughes Hall

Biography

Career

2011-Present: Research Associate, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
August-December, 2010: Programme Officer, Business, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK
2004-2008: Project Coordinator, Forests and Livelihoods Program, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia
1999-2004: Research Associate, Forestry and Biodiversity Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India
1998-1999: Programme Officer, Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, New Delhi, India

Qualifications

PhD, Geography, University of Cambridge
MPhil Environment, Society, and Development, University of Cambridge
PG Diploma Forestry Management, Indian Institute of Forest Management
BSc (Honours), University of Delhi

Research

My main area of research, which reflects my interests at the interface of geography and politics, is governance of natural resources in developing countries. I am especially interested in understanding the interrelationship between good governance and sustainable natural resource management and exploring approaches through which their sustainable management and improved livelihoods of rural population may be achieved. I have worked on several of interdisciplinary research projects in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand and Indonesia.

I am currently working on a collaborative project titled 'Negotiating Tradeoffs: Making Informed Choices about Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation' funded by NERC ESRC DFID Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Programme.

Publications

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

Vira, B., Adams, B., Agarwal, C., Badiger, S., Hope, R. A., Krishnaswamy, J., and Kumar, C. (2012) Negotiating trade-offs: Choices about ecosystem services for poverty alleviation, Economic and Political Weekly, XLVII (9), 67-75
Pandit, B. and Kumar, C. (2010) Factors influencing the integration of non-timber forest products into field crop cultivation: a case study from eastern Nepal, Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 29 (6): 671-695
Balooni, K., Lund, J.F., Kumar, C. and Inoue, M. (2010) Curse of blessing? Local elites in decentralised forest governance in India's Shiwaliks, International Journal of the Commons, 4 (2): 707–728
Pandit, B., Albano, A. and Kumar, C. (2009) Community-based forest enterprises in Nepal: an analysis of their role in increasing income benefits to the poor, Small Scale Forestry, 8 (4): 447-462
Ojha, H.R., Cameroon, J. and Kumar, C. (2009) Doxa, deliberation and symbolic violence: Understanding the governance of community based forestry in Nepal, Forest Policy and Economics, 11(5-6): 365-374
Kumar, C. (2007) Perceptions of incentives for participation: insights from joint forest management in India, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, Volume 14, No. 5, pp. 532-547
Ojha, H.R., Timsina, N.P., Kumar, C., Belcher, B. and Banjade, M.R. (2007) Community-based forest management programmes in Nepal, Journal of Forest and Livelihoods, Volume 6, No.2, pp.1-7
Kumar, C. (2006) Wither community-based conservation? Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 41, No. 52, pp. 5313-5320
Kumar, C. and Vashisht, U. (2005) Re-defining community-state partnership in natural resource management-a case from India. Development in Practice, Volume 15, No. 1, pp. 28-38
Kumar, C. (2005). Revisiting 'community' in community based natural resource management, Community Development Journal, Volume 40, No. 3, pp. 275-285
Kumar, C. (2004) Participatory natural resource management in Asia and Africa: an overview of commitment of state, Afro-Asian Journal of Rural Development, Volume 37, No. 1, pp. 7-19
Kumar, C. (2005) Narratives on deforestation-contesting conventional wisdom, Social Change, Volume 34, No.4, pp. 86-92
Kumar, C. (2001) Federation of community organizations in joint forest management: a case from India, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, Volume 8, No. 3, pp. 239-248

Books

Tiwari, B. K. and Kumar, C. (2008) Forest Products of Meghalaya: Present Status and Future Perspective. Regional Center, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong
Ojha, H. R., Timsina, N.P., Kumar, C., Banjade, M.R. and B. Belcher (eds) (2008) Communities, Forests and Governance: Policy and Institutional Innovations from Nepal. Adroit Publishers, New Delhi
Darlong, V., Barik, S.K., Tiwari, B.K., Kumar, C. and Phanbuh, S. (eds) (2008) Livelihoods from Forestry in NorthEast India. North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas (International Fund for Agricultural Development and Government of India), Shillong

Chapters in books/reports

Kumar, C. (2007) Forest Catchment Treatment-Joint Forest Management Shiwaliks, India in Liniger, H. and Critchley, W. (eds) in Where the Land is Greener-Case Studies and Analysis of Soil and Water Conservation Initiatives Worldwide published jointly by CTA, FAO, UNEP and CDE. EARTHPRINT Ltd, Hertfordshire
Datta, S. Kumar, C. and Paul, V. (2004) Joint Forest Management in Haryana: Interventions and Socio-Economic Impacts in Environmental Threats, Vulnerability and Adaptation: Case Studies from India published by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). TERI Press, New Delhi
Kumar, C. (2001). Community based fire management: lessons learnt from JFM experience in Haryana, India in Ganz D., Moore P. and Shields B (eds) International Workshop on Community Based Fire Management. Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) Report Series 19. Bangkok, Thailand
Kumar, C. (2000) Forest Management History of Jhabua District in Madhya Pradesh in Green Beginnings: Joint Forest Management in Jhabua published by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). TERI, New Delhi

Articles in peer-reviewed/invited newsletters (Selected list)

Pandit, B. H., McDougall, C., Belcher, B., Kumar, C. and Maharjan, M.R. (2008) Leveraging Poor People's Access to Ownership and Benefits of Community-Based Forest Enterprises: The Role of an Adaptive Collaborative Management Approach, in Insight: Notes from Field published by Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), Issue 3, pp. 44-5
Kumar, C. (2005) Forests and armed conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir in India: problems and prospects in Special issue of ETFRN News on Forests and Conflicts published by European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN), Issue 43/44, pp 88-89
Kumar, C. (2003) Household energy options: a study of selected villages in Haryana in Special issue of Boiling Point on Forests, Fuel and Food published by Practical Action, UK, Issue 49; 18-20
Kumar, C. (2001) Community involvement in forest fire prevention and control: lessons from Joint Forest Management (JFM), India, International Forest Fire News published by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Issue 26, pp. 28-31

Presentations/Papers in international peer-reviewed conferences (Selected list)

Kumar, C. (2009) 'Elites in community based forestry in Meghalaya, India' in The Role of Elites in Economic Development, United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki, Finalnd, June 12-13, 2009
Kumar, C. (2009) 'Betwixt and between customary and state imposed regulations: the political ecology of deforestation in Meghalaya' in Conflict and Cooperation: Tools for Governing Tropical Forests, International Society for Tropical Foresters, Yale Student Chapter, Yale School of Forestry and Enviornmental Studies, Yale, USA, March 27-28, 2009
Kumar, C. (2008) 'Institutional dissonance in forest management in Meghalaya, India' in Governing shared resources: connecting local experience to global challenges, the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, England, July 14-18, 2008
Kumar, C. (2008) 'Political ecology of deforestation in Meghalaya, India' in International Conference on Research for Development organized, National Center for Competence in Research North-South held at University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, July 2-4, 2008
Kumar, C. (2008) 'Supporting income-generation from forest products in Meghalaya, India: key opportunities and constraints' in International Symposium on Interdependencies between Upland and Lowland agriculture and resource management, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany, April 1-4, 2008
Kumar, C. (2007) 'Community-based forestry in South Asia: can it support forest based livelihoods?' in International Community Forestry Workshop, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, September 30, 2007
Kumar, C. (2005). 'Forest and livelihoods improvement through community forestry in South Asia: potential and constraints' in Regional workshop on Capitalization and Sharing of Experiences on the Interaction between Forest Policies and Land-Use Patterns in South Asia, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal, January 24-28, 2005
Kumar, C. (2003) 'Institutional reforms in Joint Forest Management: reflecting on experience of Haryana Shiwaliks' in Politics of the Commons: Articulating Development and Strengthening Local Practice, Regional Centre for Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, July 11-13, 2003
Kumar, C. (2001) 'Socio-economic development of village communities-a prerequisite for sustaining community based forest management' in Global Change and Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia: a SARCS Regional Science-Policy Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand, February 17-19, 2001

Working papers (Selected list)

Balooni, K., Kumar, C. and Inoue, M. (2009) Can decentralized forest governance mitigate domination by state and local elites? Evidence from India's Shiwaliks. IIMK Environmental Management Working Paper Series No. 49, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
Pandit, B.H., Albano, A. and Kumar, C. (2008) Improving forest benefits for the poor: learning from community-based forest enterprises in Nepal. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia
Regmi, B., Albano, A. and Kumar, C. (2008) Improving livelihoods of the poor and marginalized in Nepal through leasehold forestry: a review of institutional constraints and opportunities. Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia and Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), Pokhra, Nepal.

External activities

Member, International Association for the Study of Common Property
Member, Cambridge University South Asia reading group
Member, Global Development Network
Acted as referee for the journals Human Ecology, Forest Policy and Economics, Journal of Mountain Development and International Forestry Review