An analysis of the implications of conservation policy on forest dwellers well-being in India
Student name: Ms Shiba Desor
Guide: Dr Smriti Das
Year of completion: 2011
Host Organisation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE)
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Nitin D. Rai
Abstract: This paper attempts to show the multi-dimensional nature of well-being for forest dwelling communities and determine the implications of major conservation laws in India on well-being. There has been an attempt to define significance of three dimensions viz. right to customary practices, access to forest resources and quality of forest services for well-being from the point of view of the forest dweller. The paper describes implications of our conservation laws on each dimension and tries to evaluate the basic features of policy responsible for such implications. It then proposes policy changes that may help in better addressing the multiple aspects of well-being without undermining the conservation objective and briefly discusses the possible challenges in making such policy changes. The overall aim of this thesis is to study how and why our conservation laws come in conflict with the forest dwellers’ well-being. Such a study can provide a foundation for debate on policy changes in our conservation paradigm to better address different aspects of well-being for a forest dweller.
Keywords- conservation policy, well-being, forest dweller, livelihood function, coexistence
