Editorial: Relocation of people from PAs can work if done sensitively
Relocation from protected areas is among the hotly debated issues in Indian wildlife conservation.
Though the number of people displaced from inviolate areas for wildlife is less compared to the displacement caused by other development projects, the fate of those ousted from protected areas is often a cause for friction between social scientists and those interested in wildlife conservation. Much of the heartburn is because of the dismal track record of relocation.
Relocation, though, was not always for conservation. According to wildlife historian Mahesh Rangarajan, in the 19th century relocation from forests was for "surveillance and revenue collection". Wildlife conservation became the major reason for relocating people from protected areas only since the early 1960s. Such relocation will definitely help improve wildlife numbers.