State, Labour and Emerging Natural Resource Regimes: A Case Study of Forest- Based Livelihoods in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh

Third world environmental policies are increasingly moving towards market-based mechanisms for conservation of natural resources. In India, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, a key element of current policy on forest restoration, reflects this shift. While it has not been explicitly formulated as payment for ecosystem services, this policy relies on the use of market-based valuation techniques to finance equivalent afforestation for diverted forest land by the state. Using a mix of government reports, secondary data and primary survey, this article studies the manifestation of conservation in a hilly, forested and remote region within India and its implications on sustainability and equity for local resource users. The primary data shows the continuing process of encroachment of the commons, commodification and devaluation of natural resources at the local level. Simultaneously, a re-articulated notion of conservation is being used to bring the natural resource sector within the ambit of capital. This article examines the shift in forest policy in Himachal Pradesh, India, the changing relationship of state, local institutions and private investment, and how the articulation of conservation has interacted with policy and practice. As a beleaguered neoliberal capitalist system searches for avenues for profit, this article re-emphasizes the role of a democratic state and the inability of private capital to address social needs.