UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Struggles for just conservation: an analysis of India's biodiversity conservation conflicts

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.2458/jpe.5214

Authors

Eleonora Fanari

Reported year

2022

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:15:42.290713+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:15:42.290713+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Documentary abstract — original language

The protection of the Earth's remaining biodiversity continues to be a debate of global importance as well as a source of contestation. In this context, the Indian government started with its post-colonial forest conservation from the 1970s, by ushering in the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. It has since reinforced its conservation policies, over the last 15 years giving particular focus to the protection of tigers, considered a keystone and endangered species. In 2004, a Tiger Task Force was set up to protect the tiger, followed by the establishment of protected habitats for tiger conservation, which in turn reinforced the idea of a human-wildlife binary and legitimized the control of these spaces through armed policing. These changes in environmental governance have altered the relationship between local communities and forest guards, in many cases aggravating already conflictual interactions. This article discusses the political ecology of emerging conflicts around protected areas (national parks, tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries) in India through an analysis of 26 conflicts documented in the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas), and informed by field research conducted within and around protected areas of India. Specifically, the article analyzes the interplay between conservation policies and the rights of the commons recognized under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, as well as the socio-economic impacts of conservation policies in terms of dispossession, violence and the increase of "green militarization." The article also highlights the social resistance movements developed against these trends, which are framed as part of the growing environmental justice movement. The article concludes with how this struggle may be essential to achieving an ecologically sustainable society in the future and to shape a new conservation model.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W4293288875

DOI

10.2458/jpe.5214

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

IN

Natural entities mentioned

Forest · Species

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5214
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W4293288875

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w1192310461 · CITES
• openalex:w1199351435 · CITES
• openalex:w1512901091 · CITES
• openalex:w1520920523 · CITES
• openalex:w1524636885 · CITES
• openalex:w1572125629 · CITES
• openalex:w1579651887 · CITES
• openalex:w1597633336 · CITES
• openalex:w1797402740 · CITES
• openalex:w1800005068 · CITES
• openalex:w1925757661 · CITES
• openalex:w1938845323 · CITES
• openalex:w1944152523 · CITES
• openalex:w1974714510 · CITES
• openalex:w2007098848 · CITES
• openalex:w2008114235 · CITES
• openalex:w2009146964 · CITES
• openalex:w2012735301 · CITES
• openalex:w201309109 · CITES
• openalex:w2019011677 · CITES

5 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.