People, Parks, and Wildlife: Towards Coexistence (Tracts for the Times)

The ideology of conservation in India today faces a crisis. Nature lovers, photographers, tourists continue to flock to the National Parks, hoping to see tigers in Ranthambor, lions in the Gir forests, and rare birds in Bharatpur. But smugglers and poachers, supported by politicians and business interests, sheltered by local communities, raid the protected forests for valuable exports. This tract traces the roots of such problems to the very ideology of conservation in India, and discusses its historical and conceptual basis.