Democratizing nature

This book explores two principal contradic tions in environmental politics in India between conservation and large-scale devel opment projects, and between short-term electoral politics and long-term imperatives of environmental conservation.

The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Himachal Pradesh, north-western India, is home to the western Tragopan-an endan gered pheasant. It shares its habitat with the local population living on the park's fringes. In 1999, the final notification of the GHNP banned grazing and plant collection by locals ostensibly in the interests of conserva tion. At the same time, the State de-notified a portion of the Park, thus enabling construc tion of the Parbati hydro-electric project.

The authors use the story of Parbati and Tragopan as symbolic representations of development and conservation to enter into a larger discussion on the politics surrounding these seemingly contradictory processes. The state, while espousing a conservation ideol ogy, also promotes developmental (hydel) projects that go against the grain of conserva tion. This contradiction is resolved through a strategic reading of the law which enables the state to de-notify protected areas.