In:
Tropical Conservation Science, SAGE Publications, Vol. 6, No. 2 ( 2013-06), p. 230-240
Abstract:
Similipal Tiger Reserve is a large insurgent-affected protected area (PA) located in the northern Eastern Ghats, India, with a resident tribal population of about 12,500. In 2007-08, we carried out a survey of conservation attitudes among 217 men and women ( 〈 20 years old) and documented their perceptions of wildlife and forest decline over a 20-year period from 1997-2007. Using data from the Forest Survey of India, we ascertained the decrease in forest cover ( 〈 40%), and using available census information we assessed tiger status over this period. Most of the respondents were primarily agriculturists (79%), and all households collected fuel-wood from the forest; 13% hunted and 49% fished. The majority of the respondents (80%) agreed that trees had disappeared, and 90% agreed that the tiger and elephant had disappeared. Respondents' recollections of Bengal tiger and Asian elephant sightings over a 20-year period indicated a drastic decline in their numbers, and perceptions of forest loss were supported by assessments of changes in dense forest cover indicating an annual deforestation rate of 1.577% yr −1 over a 20-year period, or loss of 274 km 2 of dense forest. This suggests that forest dwelling communities have an acute awareness of disappearing forests and wildlife, and informant-based surveys can be indicative of the status of wildlife and forests in situations such as Similipal, where ecological studies are problematic due to civil conflict.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1940-0829
,
1940-0829
DOI:
10.1177/194008291300600205
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2013
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2496920-5
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