Role of local people and community conservation in Rajasthan

Abstract

This chapter describes sacred spaces, protected populations of species, catchment and reserve resource forests, village wetlands, grasslands, institutional dynamics of the conservational efforts, and recommendations for conservation of ecosystems and wildlife in Rajasthan. The last few decades have seen considerable decimation by modern hunting and by “development” projects and processes. Community conservation, today in Rajasthan, has been described in the form of continuation of some traditional practices, e.g., oransor sacred groves, protection of species like Blackbuck and conservation of migratory species such as Demoiselle Crane and other waterfowls, regeneration and protection of forests in catchment areas linked to decentralized water harvesting, new protection of heronries or other wildlife congregations, conservation of wetlands with wildlife values, and resistance and protest against destructive activity such as mining. The authors have discussed issues related to limitations of such practices, such as the lack of tenurial security. Since many community conservation initiatives are being implemented on the government land and an aggressive policy of industrialization is being pursued, the need for initiatives of identification, documentation, recognition, and respect for such Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) has been stressed upon.