One of the greatest challenges confronting the managers of the world's protected areas is achieving effective biodiversity conservation while adhering to principles of social justice for the people living at the edge of protected areas. The history of protected-area management indicates that there is a shift from the conventional exclusionary method of conservation to a more participatory approach, an approach that includes local communities in the management process. In spite of the growth of the participatory approach in resource management worldwide, conflicts over resource use and traditional means of livelihood in and around the protected areas are common. The impact of biodiversity conservation on the local people's livelihoods in developing nations like India is poorly understood by many resource decision-makers. The regulation of forest-based fishing in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, located in the state of West Bengal, India, creates an ongoing struggle over resource use in the rivers and creeks of the reserve. This doctoral dissertation research project will explore the conflicts between the biosphere's resource managers and local stakeholders over the resource use of the Sundarban mangrove forests. The doctoral student will examine the causes, characteristics, and spatial extent of such conflicts. The project will be organized around three specific issues: (1) whether the present restrictions on forest-based fishing are influenced by past colonial forest management policies; (2) the impact of tiger conservation on the local people's livelihoods in the region, and (3) the use of ecotourism as an alternative way to improve livelihood in the region. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, focus-groups, community mapping, and survey will provide data on the issue of impact of biodiversity conservation on the subsistence of the rural populace of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.
Project outcomes will elucidate the attitudes of local people towards biodiversity conservation and shed new light on the involvement of local people in the resource management policies of the biosphere reserve. Through the use of a political ecology approach, the project will address processes of local community participation in protected-area management in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere in developing nations, thereby helping to develop more effective resource management and local community development strategies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.
explores the everyday struggles of the fishermen living on the edge of the Sundarban Reserve Forest. The research was conducted at two different Community Development Blocks: Gosaba and Namkhana in the district of South 24 Parganas. The fieldwork in Gosaba explores how in the name of biodiversity conservation the state Forest Department restricts fishers’ access to the core and Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary areas of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR), an important component of the wider biosphere reserve. Fishers are only allowed to fish in the buffer area of the STR with proper documentation such as a Boat Licensing Certificate (BLC). Issuance of BLC helps the state Forest Department to regulate the number of non-mechanized fishing boats in the STR. In reality, not every Sundarban fisher holds a BLC. Rather, the number of BLCs in the STR is limited as the department did not issue new BLCs after the 1980s. This limited number of BLCs has created the problem of illegal fishing in the STR, where fishers are forced to enter the buffer area without proper documentation. Some of the preliminary observations of the research project are as follows: The imposed rules and regulations on fishing in the STR have created dissatisfaction among fishers and tension between lower ranked forest officials and fishers because fishers mostly interact with these lower ranked forest officials. In Gosaba, BLC holders are often well-off people and do not catch fish by themselves. Well-off BLC holders own large quantities of land and some of their family members could be in government services. These BLC holders rent their BLCs to poor, land-less fishers for a nine month fishing and crab collection season. Sometimes, a BLC holder rents his BLC to a fisher with whom he is already familiar. Often, a BLC holder rents his BLC to a khotidar[1] from whom poor fishers rent a BLC. Khotidars act as middlemen between a BLC holder and a poor fisher. The forest officials argue that fishers’ presence in the core and sanctuary areas of the STR are harmful for existing wildlife as the wildlife density is very high in these two areas. The CO-PI was informed by one of the highly ranked forest officers that if fishers are allowed to catch fish and crabs with their traditional non-mechanized boats in these two areas, the wildlife will be disturbed. On the contrary, the CO-PI observed that during the peak season of tourism, which is from November-February, a large number of mechanized tourist boats are allowed to cruise through the crisscrossed rivers of the sanctuary and buffer areas of the STR. The department does not feel that the roaring engines of these mechanized boats can cause any harm to the wildlife of the region. The fine which fishers pay for fishing in the core and sanctuary areas is not mentioned on the back of the BLC, which is merely a paper document. The forest officials only mention the name of the forest block and the respective compartment number of that forest block in which they found the fisher. Fishers, who mainly work as crew members with a team leader or sainder, are often not aware of the fine amount they pay to the department. Paying the fine is generally taken care of by the team leader or sainder who in most cases either rents a BLC from a BLC holder or himself owns a BLC. There is a lack of transparency from the forest department regarding the type of offence and amount charged. The forest department increased the fine amount in the 2012-13 fishing season. The CO-PI found that the fishers were unaware of the increase in fishing charges for the 2012-13 fishing season until she went back to her primary research site and mentioned it to some of the fishers with whom she built rapport. None of the 35 fishers the CO-PI interviewed in Gosaba were involved with the ecotourism business. Most of the fishers whom she interviewed were interested in being involved in ecotourism activities around the STR because involvement in such activities would prevent them going into the forest and would save their lives from tigers. However, they were concerned about the amount of income they would earn from the fixed monthly salary of Rs. 2,000-3,000 ($37-55) as a cook, caretaker, or a helper for the boat man. Some of the fishers expressed the idea that they can earn more money if they catch fish in the forest rather than working in a tourist boat or lodge. [1] Khotidar: A khotidar is a local fish depot owner who buys fish and crabs from the local fishers of Gosaba and sell them to others.
