Understanding Current Forest Policy Debates through Multiple Lenses:

the Case of India

Abstract

The forest sector in India is in turmoil again as the government proposes changes to the National Forest Policy and to the Indian Forest Act, and the Supreme Court appears to favour conservation over people’s rights. This essay places India’s forests in their socio-ecological context and using multiple perspectives—from ecology, environmental economics, common property theory, and political ecology—to explain the roots of the current controversy and think of ways forward.