People within parks - forest villages, land-cover change and landscape fragmentation in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, India.

摘要

There has been extensive debate on the impact of people located within protected areas on conservation. This study was conducted by combining satellite image analyses with field information from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India, to understand the human processes driving land cover change in dry tropical forests of central India. In the tiger reserve, we find that the densely populated villages located outside the park boundary are better connected to regional markets by road networks, and are associated with greater deforestation rates and more forest fragmentation compared to the more isolated villages in the park interior. The park itself however, appears well protected in terms of forest cover and connectivity. Instead of focusing on resettlement of forest villages, forest protection needs may be better served by working with these surrounding communities to develop alternate mechanisms for income generation..