Revisions in monitoring procedures are another critical means of institutionalizing program flexibility and innovation. Instead of producing reports on success in meeting pre-set targets, new monitoring systems attempt to establish channels of communication that continually expand agency knowledge of local conditions and program developments. In this way, project monitoring becomes a part of the forest department's learning process. NGO members of working groups assisting state or national forest departments often conduct the research and analyses of field-level experience. The information generated then provides a basis for further policy and structural change. For example, the state governments of both Haryana and West Bengal have radically revised their original joint forest management resolutions based on monitoring and experience gained with JFM.

In Haryana, for example, the state working group constantly updates the base of information about developments in JFM. Substantial contributions are made by the NGO participants who have been documenting the experience in pilot projects and conducting ecological studies. In light of the new knowledge generated, appropriate changes have been made by the Haryana government to smooth the working of the locally based Hill Resource Management Society (HRMS). Some of the changes are summarized below.