Subsistence and Biodiversity Conservation in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, West Bengal, India
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2014 SUBSISTENCE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE SUNDARBAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE, WEST BENGAL, INDIA Priyanka Ghosh University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Ghosh, Priyanka, "SUBSISTENCE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE SUNDARBAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE, WEST BENGAL, INDIA" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 26. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/26 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Priyanka Ghosh, Student Dr. Morgan Robertson, Major Professor Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp, Director of Graduate Studies SUBSISTENCE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE SUNDARBAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE, WEST BENGAL, INDIA DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Priyanka Ghosh Lexington, KY Co-Directors: Dr. Morgan Robertson, Assistant Professor of Geography and Dr. Pradyumna P. Karan, Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2014 Copyright© Priyanka Ghosh 2014 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION SUBSISTENCE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE SUNDARBAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE, WEST BENGAL, INDIA My dissertation research investigates the impacts of biodiversity conservation on the local population living in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR). More specifically, the research examines the impacts of conservation on local fishing communities living on the edge of the Sundarban Reserve Forest. In addition, it examines the causes and characteristics of conflicts between the biosphere reserve managers and the local fishing communities over the resource use of the biosphere reserve. The research project also explores the impacts of ecotourism on the local population that lives on the edge of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR). STR is one of the important components of the larger biosphere reserve and the core area of the STR overlaps with the core area of the SBR. Findings from research indicate that the current management of the SBR in many ways replicates a fortress conservation model in which local fishermen are denied access to the fishing grounds in the core and sanctuary areas of the STR. Furthermore, the regulation of number of boats through the Boat Licensing Certificate (BLC) creates an avenue for illegal fishing in the STR. Illegal fishing makes fishermen more vulnerable to tiger attacks as the fishermen try to avoid the patrolling forest guards and hide themselves deep in the forest. Fishermen also pay frequent fine for illegal fishing and face harassments from the biosphere resource managers. The confiscation of BLCs and fishing implements also leads to significant loss of fishing time. Additionally, the research shows how the characteristics of a fortress conservation model continue to live on despite there was no instances of eviction during the formation of the SundarbanTiger Reserve in 1973. In sum, this dissertation transforms our overall understanding of a fortress conservation model and suggests that we need to consider broader environmental and political history of a region to understand conservation in a given territory. KEYWORDS: India, Sundarban, biodiversity conservation, political ecology, resource-access struggles, fishers, rural livelihood Priyanka Ghosh Student’s Signature July 19, 2014 Date SUBSISTENCE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE SUNDARBAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE, WEST BENGAL, INDIA By Priyanka Ghosh Dr. Morgan Robertson Co-Director of the Dissertation Dr. Pradyumna P. Karan Co-Director of the Dissertation Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp Director of the Graduate Studies July 19, 2014 To Ma, Baba and Didi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my advisor and Dissertation Director Dr. Morgan Roberson for his constant support and guidance throughout my Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. Since my coursework in the Department of Geography, he encouraged me to pursue my ideas and introduced me to the field of political ecology. Without his insights and timely interventions, it would not have been possible to continue the research project in one of the world’s fascinating mangrove forest region—the Sundarban. In addition to Dr. Robertson, the entire dissertation committee provided invaluable insights and helped me to improve the quality of the research. I thank Dr. P.P. Karan for his ceaseless support during the dissertation writing period. His advices in relation to the conservation and protected area literature in South Asia helped me situate this dissertation into broader contexts. I thank Dr. Lisa Cliggett for her valuable theoretical and methodological inputs. I am thankful to Dr. Tad Mutersbaugh for always bringing in critical theoretical insights into the research project. Finally, I thank the outside examiner Dr. Sarah Lyon for her presence and feedback during the final defense. I thank Jeff Levy and Dick Gilbreath at the Gyula Pauer Center for Cartography & GIS, University of Kentucky, for preparing the maps used in this dissertation. I also thank Nabendu Sekhar Kar, Ryan Cooper, and Jayanta Sen for lending their hand in map making. This dissertation would not come to fruition without the Dotoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Dissertation Research Grant of the Association of American Geographers (AAG). I thank these organizations for their support. Any findings and recommendations expressed in this dissertation are of the author and do not reflect the views of the NSF and AAG. I am indebted to Dr. Sunando Bandyopadhyay in the Departemnt of Geography, University of Calcutta, for his endless support during my fieldwork in Kolkata and the Sundarban. He helped me to build contacts in the city, helped me in collecting documents and maps and assisted me to find field assistants for the project. I thank him for introducing me to Dr. Chandansurabhi Das who helped me in the initial phase of the research. I thank the West Bengal Forest Department, the Fishery Department and the Tourism Department for providing me with useful data for my research. My special thanks go to Mr. N.C. Bahuguna, the former director of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve for his invaluable assistance for the project since its inception. Mr. Bahuguna helped me collect secondary data for the project. I thank Mr. Pranabes Sanyal, the former Field Director of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve for his insights into the project and for providing me with some documents I needed for my work. I also wish to thank Mr. Siladitya Basuray, the Joint Director of the West Bengal Tourism Department, for his support in data collection. I thank the Directorate of Census Operations West Bengal for providing me useful census data for the project. I also thank the director of the National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organization, Kolkata, for providing me access to the maps of Gosaba, Sundarban. iii My heartiest gratitude goes to Dr. Bikash Raychaudhuri for providing me with both moral support and inspiration during the fieldwork. I will always remember my several visits to his residence in Kolkata and our stimulating conversations there. I thank Dr. Annu Jalais for inviting me in New Delhi for the workshop titled “Forests, Sociality, and Borderlands: Revisiting Issues in Deltaic Bengal.” The workshop provided valuable inputs in the project from several experts on the Sundarban. During the workshop I met Niranjan Jaladas, currently a doctoral student at the Center for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, who provided an important research document for the project and helped in my fieldwork at the secondary research site. Thank you Niranjan for all your support. I wish to thank my field assistants: Debarati Mukherjee, Bablu Samata, Anindita Mukherjee, Sumit Halder, Prahlad Mandal, Sudipta Gayen, Ujjwal Bhandari, Krishnamoy Chakraborty, Kanu Mandal, Biswajt Paul, and Pratham Biswas for assisting me in several field trips in Gosaba and Namkhana, Sundarban. I also thank Purba Rudra and Amanulla Biswas for critically reviewing some of my initial writings while I was in the field. I am immensely thankful to the people of Gosaba and Namkhana for participating in the research, welcoming me in their lives and sharing their thoughts. I thank my friends and colleagues at the University of Kentucky for their support and collegiality for a long period of time.