Forest Dwellers’ livelihoods and attitudes towards relocation: insights from Buxa Tiger Reserve, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT Local communities are relocated from protected areas to lessen human activities that jeopardize biodiversity conservation. Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) has a large number of people living in the core tiger habitat area and the relocation programmes introduced have not achieved the goal of complete relocation of people. Using both quantitative household data and qualitative and sustainable livelihood framework, this study aimed to assess the livelihood conditions of the forest villagers and understand factors influencing their attitudes towards relocation from the core area of the BTR. The results of binary logistic regression show that the age of the household head, education of the household head, family size, elderly dependency, forest dependency, income from ecotourism and forest department work, degradation of the nearby forest, and frequency of human-wildlife conflicts are the key determinants factors influencing the household decision to relocation. The study observed that most of the households were reluctant to relocate because of the low compensation amount, job insecurity and emotional bonding with the place where they feel happy and comfortable. In contrast, the non-availability of proper infrastructure facilities, lack of work, problems of human-wildlife conflicts, and children's education have appeared to be the key factors of alacrity to relocate.