Abstract
Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) has been an increasing phenomenon worldwide. The HWC usually occurs when the needs and behaviour of wildlife negatively impact the development goals of human societies and vice versa. Wild animals require significant habitats for sustenance, which overlap with human settlements and agricultural lands near Protected Areas (PAs). To address the HWC and to understand the complex relationship between the two, there is a need for a holistic approach that draws on multiple disciplines and approaches. Manas National Park (MNP) of Assam and its fringe areas are prone to numerous forms of the HWC, ranging from livestock depredation, property damage, human and wildlife death and injury and crop raiding. The HWC in the MNP has also seriously challenged the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG No. 1 (No Poverty), Goal No. 2 (Zero Hunger), and Goal No. 15: Life on Land are all threatened by the HWC. The Radical Ecological Democracy (RED) framework will be used as a conceptual framework to understand the social, political and economic arrangement of the PAs wherein communities living in and around the MNP have the right and full opportunity to participate in decision-making based on the twin principles of ecological sustainability and human-equity. Therefore, this chapter, “Human-Wildlife Conflict: A Case Study of Manas National Park, Assam”, attempts to characterise the HWC. This chapter will also examine the effect of the HWC on the SDGs in Manas National Park, Assam. Lastly, this paper will also highlight the HWC and the SDG from the RED viewpoint, which could provide probable alternatives that may be suggested towards the sustainable co-existence of nature and human livelihood in the MNP.
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Moni Pradhan, S., Choudhury, S. (2024). Human-Wildlife Conflict: A Case study of Manas National Park, Assam. In: Chakrabarti, A., Chakraborty, G., Chakraborty, A.S. (eds) Indigeneity, Development and Sustainability. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 18. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1436-0_19
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