Conflicts in the Woods: Conservation Strategy and Forest Rights in the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha, India

The rural communities living near the forests share a strong bond with the surrounding nature and depend on the forests for their livelihood but the conservation policies of India, from their inception, prioritized exclusion of the inhabitants from the protected areas for preservation of wildlife. The plight of the people living near the tiger reserves increased due to several such legislations demanding creation of inviolate zones. People living in and around the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha faced similar threats and the authority undertook the policy of relocation of the villages from the core areas and buffer areas. The Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is the sole legislation which sought to secure the land rights of them. This legislation recognized the necessity of inviolate zones following the lines of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 but asserted that villagers should be displaced only when coexistence becomes impossible. Thus, the villagers were assured of rehabilitation packages there but, in reality, not all promises were kept properly. In this backdrop, the present paper seeks to explore the conservation policy in the Simlipal Tiger Reserve and the condition of the villagers after their relocation.