The dynamics between formal and informal players is essential to understand local dependence on forest resources and the effects of institutional arrangements on conservation and conflict. A study of three villages at the Navegaon National Park, Maharashtra was undertaken to analyse these dynamics following an ethnomethodological approach. The impact of institutional dynamics on resource dependency and conflict is explored through the implementation of forest conservation programmes, interactions between formal and informal players and within village communities, impacts of displacement threats, migration and resource restrictions on informal players, redesign of religious institutions, and human–wildlife conflict.
Amendments to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 were made by the union government in December 2022. These amendments resulted in an increase in the animal species protected by the WPA, while also increasing the penalty manifold. Against this background, it is argued that the criminal–legal framework of wildlife conservation established by the WPA is rooted in Brahminical environmentalism. The WPA will further strengthen the web of criminalisation around forest-dependent livelihoods, predominantly affecting forest-dwelling communities.
