Living On The Edge: Rethinking Tribal Issues In North-East India

In India efforts and initiative to secure forest resources have a long history. However the forest policies and regulations have been subjected to debate since the British era when a Forest Department was established back in the 19th century. The modern-day ideology of conservation has surfaced out of the awareness regarding the incessant expansion of agriculture and industries which has emerged as a threat to the sustainable use of resources. Policy orientation has often been alleged of excluding villagers who hold the most longstanding claim on forest resources and such confrontation with forest regulations has led to the gradual deterioration of the rural lifestyle and deprived these people of their important means of subsistence. This study was conducted in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam to understand the dichotomy between conservation regime and community rights over the the forest as prescribed under the Forest Rights Act (FRA 2006). This book highlights the historical nature of livelihood dependency among forest fringe tribe their claims over the land and nature of the conflict with the forest management in the contemporary period.