ABSTRACT

Introduction In India today, resident human populations and wildlife are competing for and depending on the very same resource base. Policy makers, many of whom are also conservationists and thus interested in maintaining the natural environment, face the dilemma of providing sufficient livelihood opportunities for human populations, while allowing biodiversity to maintain itself and regenerate. This chapter examines one wildlife sanctuary in Eastern India (Figure 5.1) to see how feasible it is to reconcile wildlife conservation with the interests of the forest-dependent community that relies on the sanctuary for its livelihood. It concentrates on the

role played by non-timber forest products (NTFPs)= in the lives of women, the landless and tribals who live in nearby villages, and examines how these groups have been affected by the establishment of the sanctuary. It also explores possibilities for policy makers to involve forest-dependent people more integrally in wildlife conservation, thus improving their living conditions.