Traditional Methods and Community Participation in Forest Conservation: A Case-Study of Bhimashankar, Maharashtra

Researchers throughout the world have studied the beneficial role of forests in disaster mitigation. This study aims at learning traditional practices of an indigenous tribal community and thereby tries to understand the factors affecting community participation and explores the role of other players such as the government or NGOs in the process of participation. The study looks at the traditional forest conservation methods among the Mahadeo Kholis residing around the Bhimashankar Sanctuary, near Pune, Maharashtra India. It also tries to understand the divergence between the government's scientific knowledge and the people's traditional knowledge, the effect of modernization on traditional practices and beliefs, and the implications of the global political economy of conservation on the actions of governments and the fallout on local people. Governments and conservationists should follow the new developments in the process of forest management and integrate existing indigenous practices and scientific knowledge to create effective and sustainable policies that institutionalize the symbiotic relationship between man and nature to preserve our deteriorating natural eco-systems.