Protecting India's Protected Areas

Praveen Bhargav and Shekar Dattatri write:

The Forest Rights Act of 2006 (FRA) continues to be a matter of intense controversy. Some insist that forest dwellers should be allowed to exploit all forests, including Protected Areas (PAs) such as national parks and sanctuaries, for their livelihood. Others argue, on the basis of empirical and scientific evidence, that extractive exploitation within our small PAs cannot be ecologically sustainable at current human population densities, especially when the forests are linked to national and international markets. In this context, the recipe of the N C Saxena Committee on implementation of the FRA for redressing historic injustices to forest dwellers will precipitate an ecological crisis.