<p>The participation of Indigenous communities in forest management has become a crucial component of the global effort to achieve conservation goals. However, involving all Indigenous communities in participatory management has proven challenging in a diverse country like India due to the complexity of its social and political landscape. This study aims to analyze Indigenous peoples’ awareness of forest management policies, the intensity of participation of Indigenous people in the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme and the factors influencing it, as well as its outcomes in the Kannavam forest, India. The primary results revealed varied outputs across the settlements studied. While the overall awareness level was between 80 and 100% in two of the settlements, one settlement showed an awareness level of around 25%. Similarly, most benefits of JFM were found to range from 50 to 100% in two of the settlements, with one settlement recording only one benefit at 100%. Results regarding participation showed varying degrees of intensity ranging from 0 to 60% in the selected settlements, with significant differences between the initial JFM implementation phase and the present day. Analyzing important participation variables from this study provides a new insight into Indigenous inclusion and its nuances in forest management programmes and policies. The study found that aspects such as lack of absolute decision-making authority, disparities in power-sharing, lack of incentives, and issues in benefit-sharing restricts the meaningful participation of Indigenous peoples. Guided by the results of the analysis and the perspectives of Indigenous peoples, the study proposes a more effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism to improve JFM implementation. We also recommend focused measures to address policy inconsistencies and power and benefit-sharing mechanisms to effectively involve indigenous peoples in forest management programmes.</p>