 A few years later, Joint Forest Management was employed in the state of Haryana to prevent soil erosion and deforestation.In 1977, villagers were persuaded that instead of grazing on erosion-prone hills, building small dams would help agricultural output on areas currently under cultivation.The program led to reforestation of many hills in the state.However,officially the state of Odisha remains the first to pass the first resolution for JFM

After the initial successes in West Bengal and Haryana, the JFM schemes received national importance in the legislation of 1988 and thrust in the Guidelines of 1998.