ABSTRACT
Conflicts over forests have continued from the colonial period to the present, but a new important 'ecological' dimension has been added to the present conflicts:
Earlier, these conflicts emerged out of the contending claims of state and people over a relatively abundant resource; now these conflicts are played out against the backdrop of a rapidly dwindling forest resource base. In other words, a new 'ecological' dimension has been added to the moral, political, and economic dime nsions of social conflicts over forests and wildlife
(Gadgil & Guha 1995:86).