Making the hidden visible: Economic valuation of tiger reserves in India

Verma, Madhu; Negandhi, Dhaval; Khanna, Chandan; Edgaonkar, Advait; David, Arun Alfred; Kadekodi, Gopal K.; Costanza, Robert; Gopal, Rajesh; Bonal, Bishan Singh; Yadav, Satya Prakash; Kumar, Sanjay

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.05.006

Cited by 44 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…This long-term research was augmented by two stints of fieldwork in BRT in 2017 for this article, during which we conducted interviews in BRT with 14 Soliga male elders. These unstructured interviews were conducted after sharing a translated version of the Verma et al (2017) article with each of the interviewees. We introduced to each of the respondents the concept of economic valuation and described the various ecosystem services that were being valued so they could better understand economic valuation of ecosystem services.…”

Section: A Conservation Genealogy Of Sovereignty and Neoliberal Govermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We told him about a report entitled Economic valuation of tiger reserves in India: a value+ approach (Verma et al 2015, henceforth Verma Report), and he interrupted us to ask "why is the government 'valuing' tiger reserves"? We had come to BRT with a summary of a shorter article (Verma et al 2017) on tiger valuation based on the original report, in order to ask Soligas (an Adivasi community that constitutes the majority of the population in BRT) what they felt about the valuation of services in tiger reserves. Instead of answering Acchuge Gowda's question, we asked him for his opinion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mismeasure of nature: the political ecology of economic valuation of Tiger Reserves in India

Menon

Nitin

2019

Journal of Political Ecology

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The Indian state has conserved tigers by establishing reserves that are governed as a form of fortress conservation. Residence and local uses in these tiger reserves are often criminalized. It is in this context that we critique recent neoliberal attempts to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services from tiger reserves. Proponents of valuation argue that it will not only provide a justification for the reserves, but also recognize the importance of ecosystem services for human well-being. We use a political ecology approach to argue that economic valuation is never a benign tool, but is situated in wider institutional contexts that favor certain actors over others. In India, protected areas are being valued even as people living within them are being evicted and their use of the forest restricted. We draw from fieldwork in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Hills of Karnataka and conversations with Soligas. We ask how nature is made legible and who benefits from such legibility? We suggest that economic valuation can hide complex human-nature relationships and undermine different ways of knowing and 'valuing' landscapes.Key Words: tiger reserves, Karnataka, economic valuation

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Section: A Conservation Genealogy Of Sovereignty and Neoliberal Govermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mismeasure of nature: the political ecology of economic valuation of Tiger Reserves in India

Menon

Nitin

2019

Journal of Political Ecology

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“…Overall, the flow benefits from these selected six tiger reserves range from 50,000 INR/ha/year (US $ 769) to 190,000 INR/ha/year (US $ 2,923). The lower value corresponds to the tropical dry deciduous forest region, where Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan) is located and the higher value corresponds to the tropical moist evergreen forest region where Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala) is located (Verma et al, 2017). Nearly 5 % of India's geographical area consists of protected areas and they are responsible for providing ecosystem services or flow benefits worth 2,000 trillion INR per year by taking an average figure of INR 120,000/ha/year of flow benefits from the above study.…”

Section: Vitality Of Protected Areas In Terms Of Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

People and protected areas: some issues from India

Maan¹,

Chaudhry²

2019

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

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People and protected areas: some issues from India. India is one of the 17 mega biodiverse countries, occupying only 2.5 % of the world's geographical area and 1.8 % of the its forest area but supporting 16 % of the world's human population and 17 % of its livestock population. Biotic pressure on the country's protected areas is tremendous and managers of these areas face an uphill task in balancing divergent needs of different stakeholders of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The job of managing such areas is highly challenging because of the many difficult issues such as human-wildlife conflicts, encroachments, overgrazing, tourists' pressure (including pilgrimages into the forests), poaching, and an ever-increasing demand for diversion of protected areasfor development purposes. In the present article we discuss some of these issues with reference to India and emphasise the danger of losing ecosystem services (mostly of an intangible or regulating kind of nature) emanating out of these protected areas. ResumenLa población y las zonas protegidas: algunos problemas en la India. La India es uno de los 17 países con más biodiversidad, ocupa solo el 2,5 % de la superficie del mundo y el 1,8 % de la superficie forestal mundial, y alberga el 16 % de la población humana y el 17 % del número de cabezas de ganado del mundo. La presión biótica en las zonas protegidas del país es tremenda y los gestores de estas zonas se enfrentan a la tarea cada vez más ardua de encontrar un equilibrio entre las necesidades divergentes de las diferentes partes interesadas de los parques nacionales y las reservas naturales. Existen numerosos problemas, como los conflictos entre humanos y la fauna silvestre, las invasiones, el pastoreo excesivo, la presión turística (con inclusión de los peregrinajes a los bosques), el furtivismo o la creciente demanda de zonas protegidas con fines de desarrollo, que dificultan la labor de gestión de estas zonas. En el presente artículo, hemos analizado algunas de estas cuestiones con referencia a la India, a la vez que se hace más hincapié en el peligro que supone perder los servicios ecosistémicos (en su mayoría, de carácter intangible o regulador) que se derivan de estas zonas protegidas.Palabras clave: Zona protegida, Conservación de la biodiversidad, Servicios ecosistémicos, Conflicto entre humanos y la fauna silvestre, Ecoturismo, Refugio del tigre

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“…Prior studies explored how forest-based ES contribute to generate value or benefits for people's livelihoods [11,12], the environment, and the economy [13]. However, these studies were constrained by their disproportionate focus on the technical aspects of economic valuation such as biophysical quantification through modelling and mapping [14][15][16][17], or by employing purely monetary valuation, of the forest-based ES [18][19][20][21]. Little research has been carried out that demonstrates how social dimensions, for example people's perceptions or preferences, affect or play important roles in the identification and prioritization of forest-based ES.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Users and Other Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Identification and Prioritization of Ecosystem Services in Fragile Mountains: A Case Study of Chure Region of Nepal

Acharya

Maraseni

Cockfield

2019

Forests

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Forest-based ecosystem services (ES) play a vital role in improving people’s livelihoods, the environment, and the economy. Prior studies have focused on technical aspects of economic valuation such as biophysical quantification through modeling and mapping, or monetary valuation, while little attention has been paid to the social dimensions. Taking case studies of two dominant community-based forest management systems (community forestry—CF and collaborative forestry—CFM) in the Chure region of Nepal, we investigate how local users and other stakeholders perceive the valuation of forest-based ecosystem services based on proximity (nearby vs. distant users), socio-economic class (rich vs. poor users), and forest management modalities (CF vs. CFM). We found that local users and other stakeholders in the Chure region identified a total of 42 forest-based ecosystem services: 16 provisioning, 15 regulating, and 11 cultural services. While all local users prioritised firewood, water quality improvement, and bequest values as the top three services, genetic resources, hazard protection, and hunting services were valued as having the lowest priority. The priorities placed on other services varied in many respects. For instance, rich users living near a CF showed a strong preference for fodder, grasses, and soil conservation services whereas users living far from forests prioritised timber, fresh water, and flood control services. In the case of CFM, rich users adjacent to forests preferred timber, soil conservation, and carbon sequestration services but those living far from forests chose timber, poles, and flood control as their top priorities. Differences in rankings also occurred among the regional managers, national experts, and forest users. The reasons for these differences and their policy implications are discussed, and ways of reaching consensus between the users are suggested.

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Making the hidden visible: Economic valuation of tiger reserves in India

Cited by 44 publications

References 16 publications

The mismeasure of nature: the political ecology of economic valuation of Tiger Reserves in India

The mismeasure of nature: the political ecology of economic valuation of Tiger Reserves in India

People and protected areas: some issues from India

Local Users and Other Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Identification and Prioritization of Ecosystem Services in Fragile Mountains: A Case Study of Chure Region of Nepal

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