Kulkarni, Sajal

Anthropological and ecological research on pastoralism has established that shepherds and their animals have a considerable role to play in the production and sustaining of their environments. There have however been few studies of the interaction between pastoralists and forest environments in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the semiarid and subhumid forests. In India, the forests discourse has been dominated by a focus on tribal communities that are residents in forests. This has led to an ignoring of the fact that Indian forests have multiple claimants. Among the many pastoralists are a critical group who are seasonally dependent on forest resources. The Government discourse has tended to see pastoral presence in forests in largely negative terms both ecologically and socially. The present study seeks to look at questioning this narrative by examining the case of two landscapes where pastoralists interact with forest environments. Two studies are currently being undertaken in Rajasthan and Maharashtra and have sought to explore and document ways pastoralists contribute to the shaping of the forest landscape which are complex in form. Through timing their movements, composition of herds, and minimizing competition, a shepherding culture of stewardship may be said to have evolved. In the paper, we seek to demonstrate the cultures and institutions of careful and considered resource use that to form a template on which the viability of pastoralism is founded in both the ecological and societal sense. Much like forest communities or fishing populations pastoralists may also be said to have evolved cultures and practices of stewarding the complex and dynamic environment of which they are one among the many users.