Displacement and Relocation from Protected Areas: Towards a Biological and Historical Synthesis

Abstract

"The chasm between the biologists' and social scientists' perspectives on relocation issues is widened by the fact that neither group attempts to derive insights from the scholarship of the other. For instance, the biological evidence (to be examined in detail below) is rarely backed up with concomitant understanding of the social and economic conditions of those who have been displaced by executive action. Often evidence of the well-being of oustees is almost entirely anecdotal (e.g., Johnsingh 2005). Even first-rate natural history and wildlife biology is no substitute for serious social and economic analysis, leaving claims, that the lot of the displaced has improved, open to doubt (for instance, see Johnsingh 2006). The glaring lack of knowledge of social science scholarship, indefensible in itself, also inhibits the ability to critically learn from the past record (Panwar, unpublished 1973 and 2003).

"Conversely, the wealth of sociological and historical materials on relocation focuses mainly on deprivation and loss of amenity. Conservation-induced displacement in India is relatively recent, dating back to the early 1960s, but there is a longer legacy of displacement for forest conservancy from the late nineteenth century onwards (Rangarajan in press, a). Yet, only rarely have sociological investigations drawn on the rich insights provided by biologists. Clearly, there is a need to combine the insights of the biological and sociological disciplines to examine issues at hand.

"A critical look at the various strands of evidence from different disciplinary traditions can help delineate where the differences lie and what they are about. In this respect, it may be useful to begin with a brief look at an Indian wildlife reserve that one of us (Shahabuddin) has been working in."