ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book sets out the background to conservation and development in India. It places the issues specific to India in the context of broader concerns, challenges and opportunities for doing conservation and development simultaneously. The book provides valuable perspectives in environmental history, political ecology and political economy through which to examine conservation and development in India. It compares three case studies of renewable energy projects in India. The case studies include two hydroelectricity projects, one in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh, and one wind energy project in Maharashtra. The book presents results from one of the largest country-wide questionnaire surveys on human–wildlife conflict and shows the complex interactions between elephants and humans. It examines the social and ecological status of the village commons in two Himalayan villages in the state of Uttarakhand in India.
