28. (1) The Government may assign to any village community the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forest, and may cancel such assignment. All forests so assigned shall be called village forests.(2) The Government may make rules for regulating the management of village-forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community to which any such assignment is made may be provided with timber or other forest-produce or pasture, and their duties for the protection and improvement of such forest.(3) All the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall (so far as they are not inconsistent with the rules so made) apply to village-forests.

²[28A. (1) On any land which is the property of the Government or over which the Government has proprietory rights, and on any other land assigned to the Government by voluntary written agreement of the owner for the purpose of afforestation, conservation or management through social forestry, the Government may establish a social forestry programme under sub-section (2).(2) A social Forestry programme is established when the Government by one or more written agreements assigns rights to forest-produce or rights to use the land, for the purposes of social forestry, to person assisting the Government in management of the land.(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, agreements under sub-section (2) concerning Government-owned lands need not be registered in the local records of right to lands, and no party to such an unregistered agreement may be divested of rights solely by execution of a subsequent assignment of rights by the Government to another person.(4) The Government may make rules to set out standards for social forestry agreements and programme, and such standards shall at a minimum(i) require agreements to include or make reference to an agreed-upon management plant for the social forestry programme;(ii) guarantee participants an equitable share of proceeds in return for labour invested;(iii) in the case of agreements contemplating timber harvest, require the duration of agreements to include the expected principal harvest;(iv) allow transfer of benefits and obligations under agreements between spouses, and, when a participant dies, under the laws of succession to his heir, and govern other transfers;(v) allow creation and dissolution of management committees representing participants in particular programmes, and empower the management committees to impose fine on participants for violation of agreement; and(vi) allow persons to petition the Government for 'undertaking' social forestry programme.(5) The Government may make rules to set out other requirements or guarantees for agreements, including(i) duties of participants to assist forest officers; and(ii) any other matter concerning formation or operation of social forestry programmes.(6) Rules made under this section may recognize different classes of social forestry programmes, and the Government may make different rules for different classes or programmes.(7) The Government may publish guidelines and forms for social forestry agreements.

28B. (1) For the purposes of section 26 and 34, the exercise of any right granted by a social forestry agreement under section 28A shall be considered to be done with permission in writing of the Forest-Officer.(2) Section 80 shall not apply to private lands subject to a voluntary written agreement under section 28A, unless such agreement itself allows the Government to invoke all or part of section 80.(3) Section 81 shall not apply to participants in social forestry projects under section 28A.]