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Understanding the Local Socio-political Processes Affecting Conservation Management Outcomes in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India

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Abstract

Several measures have been recommended to guarantee a sustainable population of tigers: sufficient inviolate spaces for a viable population, sufficient prey populations, trained and skilled manpower to guard against poaching and intrusion, banning trade in tiger products to reduce poaching, and importantly, the political will to precipitate these recommendations into implementation. Of these, the creation of sufficient inviolate spaces (generally in the form of protected areas) has created the most issues with local resource-dependent communities, often resulting in significant challenges for tiger conservation policy and management. Very little empirical research has, however, been done to understand and contextualize the local-level socio-political interactions that may influence the efficacy of tiger conservation in India. In this paper, we present the results of exploratory research into the ways in which local-stakeholder groups affect the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). Using a combined grounded theory–case study research design, and the Institutional Analysis and Development framework for analysis, we identify the socio-political processes through which local-stakeholder groups are able to articulate their issues and elicit desirable actions from the management of CTR. Increasing our awareness of these processes can help inform the design and implementation of more effective tiger conservation management and policy strategies that have the potential to create more supportive coalitions of tiger conservation stakeholders at the local level.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous participants for their valuable contribution to our study. We would also like to thank the Viraat Welfare Society for their hospitality and the Corbett Foundation for their assistance. This study was funded by the Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC, Grant 138254), the Tomlinson Centennial Fellowship in Forest Ecology, and McGill University. The valuable comments and suggestions made by the anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Archi Rastogi & Gordon M. Hickey

  2. Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Post Box #18, Dehradun, 248001, Uttarakhand, India

    Archi Rastogi, Ruchi Badola & Syed Ainul Hussain

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  1. Archi Rastogi
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Rastogi, A., Hickey, G.M., Badola, R. et al. Understanding the Local Socio-political Processes Affecting Conservation Management Outcomes in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Environmental Management 53, 913–929 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0248-4

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