Biodiversity Conservation and Local Livelihoods: A Study on Similipal Biosphere Reserve in India (original) (raw)
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Biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods- A study on Similipal Biosphere Reserve in India.pdf
Over-exploitation of natural resources and changing climatic conditions due to global warming are responsible for rapid loss of biological diversity. Creation of protected areas (PAs) across the globe which forms a critical component in global biodiversity conservation efforts are primarily designed for preventing further loss of species by restricting human use of natural resources. The Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) in the Indian State of Odisha is the sixth largest biosphere reserve in the country and forms a major part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. However, currently the reserve is under increasing pressure from growing human population that directly depends on the reserve for their livelihoods. The objectives of the present study are to develop a comprehensive understanding of the problems facing the SBR; and identify and analyse different factors that determine the extent of dependency of villages located in and around the reserve for extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The paper reviews the existing studies on the SBR by using the DPSIR framework for an in-depth understanding of interaction between local population and the biosphere reserve. Econometric techniques and descriptive statistics are applied to analyse the secondary data collected from 136 villages located in and around the reserve. The results show that economically poor villages and villages having more male members are likely to extract more NTFPs from the reserve. Villages located in transitional and buffer zones are likely to extract more NTFPs compared to villages that are in core zone. Designing appropriate and effective local institutions that would foster biodiversity conservation as well as livelihoods and structure the community behaviour are widely considered as the panacea for this problem.
eco.mont (Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research), 2009
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand, Himalaya, carries a large human population that traditionally depends on protected area forests, not only to fulfil basic resource needs but also for their livelihood. Due to restricted access to forests, resource utilization patterns have changed and communities have lost their traditional livelihood. This paper aims at investigating resource utilization patterns and rural livelihoods under changed socioeconomic conditions and changed availability of and access to resources. Necessary data was generated through remote sensing techniques, ground validation and mapping, observations, monitoring, and socioeconomic surveys. The study revealed a decline in forests and an increase in cultivated land due to changes in resource use patterns and resultant land-use intensifications. Availability per capita of forests and pastures declined by 0.72 % and 0.27 % respectively, wool production fell by 47 %; 13 % of the people lost their livelihood from forestry and 39 % in the woollen handicraft production sector. Now, subsistence agriculture constitutes the main source of livelihood, as indicated by a 16 % increase in dependency on agriculture, despite a drastic decline in the cultivated land available per capita. Agricultural productivity is fairly low and the region faces an average annual food deficit of 93 %, leading to further intensification in agriculture and community unsustainability in the region.
Education, health and housing are the key of development of human resources particularly in the case of scheduled tribe people. Ever since India gained independence a considerable amount of money and resources have been spent so that unprivileged, undeveloped tribal people could get fair deal. Hence education, health and housing are considered the most powerful instrument of social change. Tribal communities generally found close to the nature since the hoary past and they consider forest as their nourishing mother which supply them food, fuel, fodder, shelter, occupation and employment. Primary survey work carried out in 38 villages in Similipal Biosphere Reserve and found that tribal population in the Core Zone is 100%, 92.92% in Buffer Zone and 71.01% in Transitional Zone. Further it is found that 71.30% dwelling houses are made of grass/thatch/bamboo, 23.84% are tile/AC sheet/GI sheet and 4.86% are concrete houses in the SBR. All most all the houses in the Core and Buffer zones ...
Biosphere Reserves present a biodiversity conservation model for ecologically sustainable economic development and livelihood pattern presupposing ecology and economics as an inseparable continuum in the context of human interface management. The very mandate of the UNESCO declaration on the Biosphere Reserves make them a special type of protected area by admitting the local people living inside the Biosphere Reserve an equitable stake holder as the locals contribute to the management process with their indigenous knowledge pertaining to the conservation of natural resources and its sustainable use. Local population living inside the Biosphere Reserves in India are encountered with various contradictory and conflicting forest policies and acts from time to time, and are somewhat unaware of the new mandate of Biosphere Reserves. Faced with displacement threats, annexation of cultivable land to the forest and restriction on the use of natural resources – the tribals and other people living in the core and buffer areas of the Biosphere Reserves in India have evolved and adapted to unique sustainable livelihood strategies which are suitable to the local ecology and their way of life. Their emergent subsistence economy has redefined it against the backdrop of these exogenous factors by synergized traditional and modern economic practices. For optimal utilisation of available natural resources at their disposal they produce ecologically appropriate agricultural crops as par land and soil types and availability of water and follow crop rotation to maintain the production level. They tapped the vast opportunity of tourism that came to their way by providing their services to the visiting tourists. They also market their natural produces to the visiting tourists. The paper critically examines the working of some selected Biosphere Reserves in India, citing cases from both terrestrial ( Pachmarhi BR and Similipal BR ) and marine ( Gulf of Mannar BR ) ecosystem, and showing human element as an integral part of nature. Biosphere Reserves in India is unique with the presence of human habitation inside the core zone. This creates a man animal and man nature conflicts for utilisation of natural resources and subsistence livelihood. Continuance of livelihood inside the core area negatively affects the forest conservation whereas relocation of the villages from the core zone seriously affects the economy of the local people. Biosphere Reserves’ study would integrate the management of natures’ domain (Ecology) and humans’ domain (economics) and prescribes a model for human kind in the conservation and sustainable management of nature.
Management of Similipal Biosphere Reserve Forest: Issues and Challenges
The conservation of biodiversity has been a contentious and complex issue over the years. Protected areas [PAs] that are created to preserve biodiversity are in critical condition due to excessive anthropogenic pressure. The Similipal biosphere reserve [SBR] in the Odisha state of India is the sixth largest biosphere reserve in the country and forms a major part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. SBR is the home for diverse flora and fauna and most of them are endemic in nature. Besides the rich floral and faunal biodiversity, SBR is also the abode of many tribes living in and around the biosphere reserve and critically depend on the reserve for livelihoods. Designing appropriate and effective local institutions that fosters biodiversity conservation and livelihoods is widely considered as a panacea for this problem. The paper describes the current issues and challenges faced by the SBR; analyzes how the local institutions are functioning and demonstrates how management interventions can be effectively and equitably prioritized towards the members of a community who are mostly dependent on forest resources in order to promote sustainable local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Lessons learned include the capacity building training activities to raise the skill and capabilities of the stakeholders through joint government-community collaboration; sharing of benefits in equitable way among the shareholders; empowerment of local people through better participatory programmes; and provision of well-defined livelihood enhancement opportunities through promotion of ecotourism which is highly neglected in SBR.
2017
Format of case study (manuscript or audiovisual) Manuscript Language English Keywords (3-5 key concepts included in the case study) Biodiversity conservation; FairWild certification; Sustainable livelihoods Date of submission (or update, if this is an update of an existing case study) 19 February 2018 Web link (of the case study or lead organization if available for more information) Geographical Information Country (where site(s) or activities described in the case study are located-can be multiple, or even "global") India Location(s) (within the country or countries-leave blank if specific location(s) cannot be identified) Western Ghats Longitude/latitude or Google Maps link (if location is identified) https://www.google.com/maps/@17.1876784,73.5480701,11z?hl=en Ecosystem(s) (please place an "x" in all appropriate boxes) Forest x Grassland Agricultural x Inland water Coastal Dryland Mountain Urban/peri-urban Other (Please specify) Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area The North Western Ghats is a recognized Global Biodiversity Hotspot, yet has a rather sparse protected area network, largely because the great majority of the forest landscapes that comprise it are privately owned. In the five districts of the northern Western Ghats, of the total forest area of 17, 699 km2, 12,043 km2 are owned and managed privately, while 5,656 km2 of forest area (less than 50% of privately managed land area) is owned and managed by the government. Description of human-nature interactions in the area Land use change due to expansion of agriculture, tourism, and development projects is contributing to loss of habitat and species at an alarming rate. Moreover, indiscriminate logging of forests for immediate monetary need is further degrading forests and habitats. Local extinctions and declines in healthy populations of many economically important medicinal plants provide sufficient evidence for these unsustainable practices.
Strict protected areas are a critical component in global biodiversity conservation, but the future of biodiversity conservation may well depend upon the ability to experiment successfully with a range of institutional forms, including those that permit human use. Here, we focus on forest commons in human-dominated landscapes and their role in biodiversity conservation at the same time as they provide livelihood benefits to users. Using a dataset of 59 forest commons located in Bhutan, India, and Nepal, we estimated tree species richness from plot vegetation data collected in each forest, and drew on interview data to calculate a livelihoods index indicating the overall contribution of each forest to villager livelihoods for firewood, fodder, and timber. We found that tree species richness and livelihoods were positively and significantly correlated (rho = .41, p < 0.001, N = 59). This relationship held regardless of forest type or country, though significance varied somewhat across these two factors. Further, both benefits were similarly associated with several drivers of social-ecological change (e.g., occupational diversity of forest users, total number of users, and forest size), suggesting identification of potential synergies and complexes of causal mechanisms for future attention. Our analysis shows that forest commons in South Asia, explicitly managed to provide livelihoods for local populations, also provide biodiversity benefits. More broadly, our findings suggest that although strict protected areas are effective tools for biodiversity conservation, a singular focus on them risks ignoring other resource governance approaches that can fruitfully complement existing conservation regimes
Occupation Prospects for Tribals of Similipal Biosphere Reserve Forest in Odisha: An Assessment
2018
The present study analyzes various livelihood opportunities for forest dependent tribal, factors affecting livelihood, changing trends and policy interventions. The study has been conducted in four villages and hundred samples were collected from Similipal biosphere reserve, located in the tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district of Odisha state. Tribal people depending upon forests for their livelihood seem to be challenging from sustainability front. People practice diversified portfolios at the subsistence level. It is found that convergence of various Government sponsored schemes at the village level will play a crucial role in facilitating their access to the mainstream. Effort on increased use of technology and information on market intelligence is a must. Sustainable use of forest resources, harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), imparting skill up gradation training, sensitization of the community by Government and private agencies are other essential factors for holis...