Community Perspective towards Conservation and Development: a Study from Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand, India

Local community support plays a crucial role in success of conservation efforts of a protected area or key conservation species within a protected area. Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) is famous worldwide due to its contribution in tiger conservation primarily and so many other wild species including elephant, bear, ghariyal and mugger crocodile. To understand the community living in and around CTR, its perspective towards wildlife conservation, dependency on forest, human-wildlife conflict and developmental issues, the study was conducted in randomly selected village in north and south zone of CTR. Villagers reported dependency on forests for fuel wood and cattle grazing. Most of the villages were affected due to crop depredation and cattle lifting, whereas, occasional cases of human casualties were also reported. There were hardly any developmental activity in past. Mitigation of human-wildlife conflict, sustainable development of villages, and committed support from government agencies is required to ensure long term conservation of tiger in CTR and adjoining habitats.