Forests, Wildlife & People on the Margins

FORESTS, WILDLIFE & PEOPLE ON THE MARGINS: PERMEABLE LANDSCAPES IN THE EASTERN GHATS, INDIA By DIYA PAUL A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Geography Written under the direction of Heidi Hausermann and Laura Schneider And approved by _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION FORESTS, WILDLIFE & PEOPLE ON THE MARGINS: PERMEABLE LANDSCAPES IN THE EASTERN GHATS, INDIA By DIYA PAUL Dissertation Co-Directors: Heidi Hausermann Laura Schneider Wildlife and human needs are often enmeshed within discursive representations and praxis of wildlife conservation in the Global South. In India, more than three quarters of forested area is “unprotected.” These spaces are categorized as Reserve Forests and support diverse flora and fauna within complex landscapes of human settlement and agricultural fields. Much of this biodiversity remains understudied and underrepresented. This dissertation explores how biophysical and social factors coproduce space to create a conducive landscape for wildlife in the semi-arid Eastern Ghats of South India. I employ a mixed-methods approach to respond to calls for more integrated research in conservation, and use a range of data sources such as semi-structured interviews, household surveys, faunal surveys and satellite imagery. The findings illustrate how livelihood diversity and everyday practices of rural communities living on the periphery of four Reserve Forests shape both landscape composition and structure. Species distribution models that assess relative likelihoods of distribution of the Sloth Bear, Four-horned Antelope, Wild boar and Leopard in the study area provide insight ii into the socio-ecological conditions under which shared spaces are created and maintained. This allows me to untangle the relationships mediating wildlife presence in unprotected forests. By drawing on lifeworlds of a marginalized forest dependent community, I argue that representations of Reserve Forests need to be contextualized based on actual vegetation characteristics and the relations between people, wildlife and forests. The results show that heterogeneity in land-use/cover produces a permeable landscape that resists precise classification. This dissertation attempts to disrupt traditional conservation paradigms by showing that wildlife persists in human-dominated landscapes through a complex intersection of landscape composition and structure, forest management policies, everyday practices of rural communities and mutual adaptations between wildlife and people. Thus wildlife conservation in Reserve Forests should understand the landscape matrix, take into consideration diverse land uses and acknowledge the value of forests to rural communities. iii Acknowledgements For making the seemingly impossible a tangible reality, I first want to thank Laura Schneider and Heidi Hausermann for their untiring support and encouragement. Even when I did not believe, both of you did, and that made all the difference. Thank You. Taking courses with Rick Schroeder laid the foundation for the work that this dissertation tries to do. Rick challenged my naïve assumptions and compelled me to think through what I really meant when I said the Eastern Ghats represented a subaltern biogeographic region. Thank You. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Vidya Athreya for her tremendous support, accepting a social science perspective to conservation and making me rethink my own assumptions. Suresh Jones, a chance meeting with you in 2003 opened a whole new world for me. I spent a large part of my life in conifer forests in the Himalayas, and visited other tropical moist deciduous forests around the country. Scrub forests were clearly unknown to me. None of this would have materialized had it not been for your passion and immense knowledge of the history and biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats. Thank you for your support and guidance through this entire process. My deepest gratitude to Anji my field assistant for his hilarious stories and in- depth knowledge of the Reserve Forests. For sharing his experiences from what he calls another life, when he was a hunter, a thug and an underwater irrigation tank specialist. I also want to thank Sajeeda, my research assistant for her dedication and willingness to learn social science research methodologies. Talking to Sajeeda about my research, its significance and the methodologies was a learning experience for me. Thank you for iv embracing it all. Most importantly, I am indebted to the Irula community, farmers and shepherds who were willing to take the time to answer my questions. I was fortunate to receive funding for my dissertation research from the American Institute of Indian Studies. I am grateful for the support I received at Rutgers to fund pre- dissertation research through: The Department of Geography, South Asian Studies, McGrann Fellowship, Graduate School and the Obama-Singh India initiative. They say it takes a village, and I have indeed been blessed to find voices of support through other faculty members at different stages of the dissertation process: Asher Ghertner, Trevor Birkenholtz, Julie Lockwood and Mazen Labban. I would also like to thank Kelly Bernstein, Cleo Bartos, Mike Siegel and Johnny Nunez-Thank you for indulging in random graduate student conversations, tips for the best pesto and everything else. My village would be incomplete without my fellow graduate students Tabby Fenn, Sangeeta Banerji, Ben Gerlofs, Mike Brady, Jenny Isaacs and Ariel Otruba- all of you are such an inspiration. Abidah Setyowati, Irene Zager and Debbie Scott you showed me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And most importantly my “people”, David Ferring and Monica Hernández- I owe you my heartfelt gratitude. This process would not have been possible without our conversations and commiserations. If there is a way to shrink space, Chris Krieger, Kajori Chaudhuri and Samhita Barooah you were an integral part of the family. Thank you. Finally, I would like to thank my parents Sanita and Bulan who showed me life is what happens when you are busy planning something else. Your strength and commitment to face challenges head-on has been critical to my process of learning, un- learning and doing. I also owe my gratitude to Rama and Sivaram, who along with my v parents have been supportive of our idea to return to graduate school. Suvir, thank you for not saying so but believing that I can. Sushil, your love, partnership and belief in the crazy has made this possible. And last but not the least, I thank my non-human companions- Cat, Lassie, Grizzly, Mustang and Jake (from whom I learnt, what “being cat” means). vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ........................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables .................................................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Research Problem & Context ....................................................................................... 2 1.2. Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 5 1.3. Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................................... 7 1.3.1. Beyond the Norm: Rethinking Wildlife Spaces ......................................................... 9 1.3.2. Finding Value in the Landscape Matrix .................................................................. 11 1.3.3. Co-producing the Landscape: Nature and Society ................................................. 13 1.4. Why Mixed Methods? .................................................................................................. 15 1.5. Study Area .................................................................................................................... 19 1.6. Dissertation Structure ................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 2. Permeable Landscapes: Why the Matrix Matters ................................................. 25 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 25 2.2 Literature Review & Research Questions ....................................................................... 29 2.3 Methods ............................................................................................................................... 38 vii 2.3.1 Data Used ..................................................................................................................... 38 2.3.2 Data Analysis Methods ..............................................................................................

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