In this presentation, we would highlight ways in which a ‘situated political ecology’ approach can capture livelihoods and co-creation of forest enclosed ecological commons in the three Protected Areas of Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jaldapara National Park and Gorumara National Park, in the state of West Bengal, India. Using a qualitative and ethnographic approach, we show that established systems of resource control have translated Duars, the Eastern Sub-Himalayan savannah grassland, into a politico-ecological entity of colonial extractive capitalism. Neoliberal conservation as espoused by the state forest governance have incorporated global priorities into the local forest economies, for subsuming the protected forests into a world capitalist production system. Commercialization of Duars not only led to a space for extraction of resources, but consequently have dispossessed communities of their erstwhile rights. Neoliberal conservation mechanisms are transforming forest-dependent communities towards market-based livelihoods.
This study is an ethnographic account of the forest villages of the Protected Areas of Duars i.e. Buxa Tiger Reserve, Jaldapara National Park and Gorumara National Park, where the forest-dependent communities’ dependency on commons is critical for their livelihood, survival and subsistence. These communities have a strong sense of belonging with their commons, which stands as a criticality of commons due to contested access to resources. Customarily the symbiotic relation of the forest-dependent communities to the forest’s systems have been rooted in their socio-natural practices while being dependent on their forest common resources. Forest-dependent communities predominantly depend upon common lands for open cattle grazing, as they either have small agricultural land, or are landless. Livestock raising, subsistence cultivation are critical economic form of livelihood as access to forest resources have been restricted. This ethnographic study using situated political ecology approach will contribute towards how situated living practices of struggle and resilience around livelihood opportunities are being produced through forest conservation institutions. We will further argue how co-creation of livelihood resilience for the communities along with provisions for the preservation of local ecological knowledge in these volatile geographies are necessary.
