Community forestry renders multiple pathways for action-based and preventive adaptation, often reinforcing community resilience towards the changes. However, the key decision factors, such as the centralisation of power in resource management, are often neglected. The study focuses on the prerogative of transfer of decision-making power to the lower-level central government authorities or other local authorities who are upwardly accountable to the central government or the upper level decision making systems. In an aspect of the state of Uttarakhand (India), which harbours the century-old institution of Van Panchayats (VPs), this is a prime issue. The translation of power dynamics through the revised Van Panchayat Act of 1976 that replaced the 1927 Act affected many aspects of local management, making forest councils increasingly dependent on the government; after 1997, approximately 8000 Van Panchayat were established, and the role and authority of Van Panchayat over village forest has substantially declined after the amendments in the years 1976, 2001, 2007 and 2012. The present study examines the diverse forest-people interactions in light of ecosystem-based adaptation by addressing changes in the rules and regulations of Van Panchayats (community-based forest management institutions) in Uttarakhand and their translational impact on the community.