Examining conservation attitudes, perspectives, and challenges in India
Abstract
Biodiversity conservation issues are often contentious and complex. Polarized debates
on the effectiveness of protected areas and role of people inside them, charismatic
species as conservation foci, and on specific policy initiatives are common among
Indian and global conservationists. We surveyed Indian conservationists about the
conservation effectiveness of protected areas and charismatic species, as well as
status of conservation and research efforts. We expected differences among people
based on professional affiliation, and educational background. We examined participants'
opinions on conservation policies like Project Tiger and Elephant, the Forest Rights
Act, and the Tiger Task Force Report. Participants ranked Indian research efforts
as average, and identified a bias towards terrestrial species and ecosystems. Ninety-percent
of participants considered reserves to be effective, many (61%) participants felt
that the situation of people living inside reserves is unsustainable, and many (76%)
felt the use of force to protect reserves from illegal human activities is acceptable.
Classification and regression tree models for these questions suggested that non-academics
were more likely than academics to agree with these positions. On the success of Project
Tiger and Elephant, older participants were more likely to think these initiatives
were a success. Many (63%) participants felt the Forest Rights Act needed revision,
particularly if they had doctoral degrees. Sixty-two percent of participants did not
think Tiger Task Force was effective. Overall, participants' professional affiliation,
age, and academic degree were important predictors of participants attitudes towards
conservation initiatives. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6646Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.027Publication Info
Karanth, KK; Kramer, RA; Qian, SS; & Christensen, NL (2008). Examining conservation attitudes, perspectives, and challenges in India. Biological Conservation, 141(9). pp. 2357-2367. 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.027. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6646.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Norman L. Christensen
Professor Emeritus in the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy
Christensen's research focuses on the effects of disturbance on structure and function
of populations, communities and ecosystems. On going studies include an analysis of
patterns of forest development following cropland abandonment as these are affected
by environment, stand history and plant demographic patterns. He and his students
are pursuing comparative studies of ecosystem responses to varying fire regimes across
temperate North America. He is conducting research on the utilization of rem
Randall Kramer
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Economics
Before coming to Duke in 1988, he was on the faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University. He has held visiting positions at IUCN--The World Conservation
Union, the Economic Growth Center at Yale University, and the Indonesian Ministry
of Forestry. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, World Health Organization
and other international organizations. He was named Duke University's Scholar Teacher
of the Year in 2004.
Kramer's research is focused on the econ
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