Critical research concerning ecotourism has revealed the activity’s
socio-economic impacts, inclu... more Critical research concerning ecotourism has revealed the activity’s socio-economic impacts, including low-wage employment-based dependencies for many rural communities. While these dynamics are important, a crucial aspect of the ecotourism industry that falls outside this conventional sort of dependency is land use dynamics, specifically land use change, sales and entrepreneurship. We examine these dynamics in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India, where promotion of (eco)tourism since the 1990s has influenced significant changes in local land use. These changes were initially facilitated by outsiders buying land and setting up hotels and resorts in villages adjoining the Reserve. Empirical research reveals that while this initial boom of outsiders buying land has waned, land owning villagers are now setting up tourism enterprises on their own land, thereby diversifying land use from agriculture to tourism. Critical agrarian research has shown that material and symbolic factors influence farmers’ decision-making regarding land use change. An agrarian studies perspective thus facilitates a nuanced understanding of tourism-related land use diversification and change. By bringing agrarian and ecotourism studies approaches together here, we contribute to both by emphasising the importance of (eco)tourism in agrarian change and of attention to land use change in ecotourism studies to understand how rural people negotiate and navigate (eco)tourism in relation to land use. We also contribute to tourism geographies more broadly by highlighting how land use decision-making shapes local spaces in the course of ecotourism development. We draw attention to the broader processes of and impacts of ecotourism that shift generational rural land use influenced by changing values of land outside a protected area. Rendering land touristifiable deepens villagers’ dependence on the market and alienates them from their land. Ecotourism commodifies nature, and we show that this commodification extends to rural land outside of ecotourism zones per se.
Protected Areas represent the world’s economic and political commitment towards the conservation ... more Protected Areas represent the world’s economic and political commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity. The Western Ghats (WG) in peninsular India, part of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka Hotspot has the highest human population density and population pressure in the world and is in need of urgent conservation attention. Community Reserves and Conservation Reserves are protected area systems in India which integrate local communities as well as private organisations into protected area management. The potential for Community and Conservation Reserves was evaluated at 25 reserve forests and privately owned/leased forest fragments at Kodaikanal, Theni and Valparai, which are limited-access areas in the human-dominated landscape of the southern WG. Data collection at each site, on a range of issues, was based upon the characteristics of local communities which would be central to the integration of resource-use, community participation and biodiversity conservation. The sites where local communities preferred to participate in protected area management were further prioritized through ranking them for the variables and index calculated. Sixteen potential, community and conservation reserves were subsequently identified and prioritised. An analysis of the perceptions, of forest department officials and conservation researchers, towards the establishment of such reserves revealed that they were unsure whether these reserve systems would be beneficial for biodiversity conservation.
Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2022
Research in environmentality has provided an analysis of environmentally friendly subject formati... more Research in environmentality has provided an analysis of environmentally friendly subject formation through the influence of conservation governance. Within this research, examination of subject formation from the local community perspective is also gaining attention. However, a gender perspective in environmentality research remains marginal. This study thus contributes to environmentality research by drawing on intersectional feminist political ecology to examine women's engagement with ecotourism in the context of India's Corbett Tiger Reserve. Ecotourism as a form of market-based conservation has been commonly framed as an expression of neoliberal environmentality. Neoliberal environmentality is reflected in market-centred incentives used to promote conservation and support for local people via employment in conservation-based work - a supposedly ‘win-win’ dynamic. Through ethnographic research, I provide insights into different forms of women's engagement with touri...
Critical research concerning ecotourism has revealed the activity’s
socio-economic impacts, inclu... more Critical research concerning ecotourism has revealed the activity’s socio-economic impacts, including low-wage employment-based dependencies for many rural communities. While these dynamics are important, a crucial aspect of the ecotourism industry that falls outside this conventional sort of dependency is land use dynamics, specifically land use change, sales and entrepreneurship. We examine these dynamics in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India, where promotion of (eco)tourism since the 1990s has influenced significant changes in local land use. These changes were initially facilitated by outsiders buying land and setting up hotels and resorts in villages adjoining the Reserve. Empirical research reveals that while this initial boom of outsiders buying land has waned, land owning villagers are now setting up tourism enterprises on their own land, thereby diversifying land use from agriculture to tourism. Critical agrarian research has shown that material and symbolic factors influence farmers’ decision-making regarding land use change. An agrarian studies perspective thus facilitates a nuanced understanding of tourism-related land use diversification and change. By bringing agrarian and ecotourism studies approaches together here, we contribute to both by emphasising the importance of (eco)tourism in agrarian change and of attention to land use change in ecotourism studies to understand how rural people negotiate and navigate (eco)tourism in relation to land use. We also contribute to tourism geographies more broadly by highlighting how land use decision-making shapes local spaces in the course of ecotourism development. We draw attention to the broader processes of and impacts of ecotourism that shift generational rural land use influenced by changing values of land outside a protected area. Rendering land touristifiable deepens villagers’ dependence on the market and alienates them from their land. Ecotourism commodifies nature, and we show that this commodification extends to rural land outside of ecotourism zones per se.
Protected Areas represent the world’s economic and political commitment towards the conservation ... more Protected Areas represent the world’s economic and political commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity. The Western Ghats (WG) in peninsular India, part of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka Hotspot has the highest human population density and population pressure in the world and is in need of urgent conservation attention. Community Reserves and Conservation Reserves are protected area systems in India which integrate local communities as well as private organisations into protected area management. The potential for Community and Conservation Reserves was evaluated at 25 reserve forests and privately owned/leased forest fragments at Kodaikanal, Theni and Valparai, which are limited-access areas in the human-dominated landscape of the southern WG. Data collection at each site, on a range of issues, was based upon the characteristics of local communities which would be central to the integration of resource-use, community participation and biodiversity conservation. The sites where local communities preferred to participate in protected area management were further prioritized through ranking them for the variables and index calculated. Sixteen potential, community and conservation reserves were subsequently identified and prioritised. An analysis of the perceptions, of forest department officials and conservation researchers, towards the establishment of such reserves revealed that they were unsure whether these reserve systems would be beneficial for biodiversity conservation.
Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2022
Research in environmentality has provided an analysis of environmentally friendly subject formati... more Research in environmentality has provided an analysis of environmentally friendly subject formation through the influence of conservation governance. Within this research, examination of subject formation from the local community perspective is also gaining attention. However, a gender perspective in environmentality research remains marginal. This study thus contributes to environmentality research by drawing on intersectional feminist political ecology to examine women's engagement with ecotourism in the context of India's Corbett Tiger Reserve. Ecotourism as a form of market-based conservation has been commonly framed as an expression of neoliberal environmentality. Neoliberal environmentality is reflected in market-centred incentives used to promote conservation and support for local people via employment in conservation-based work - a supposedly ‘win-win’ dynamic. Through ethnographic research, I provide insights into different forms of women's engagement with touri...
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Papers by Revati Pandya
socio-economic impacts, including low-wage employment-based
dependencies for many rural communities. While these dynamics
are important, a crucial aspect of the ecotourism industry that
falls outside this conventional sort of dependency is land use
dynamics, specifically land use change, sales and entrepreneurship.
We examine these dynamics in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India, where
promotion of (eco)tourism since the 1990s has influenced significant
changes in local land use. These changes were initially facilitated
by outsiders buying land and setting up hotels and resorts
in villages adjoining the Reserve. Empirical research reveals that
while this initial boom of outsiders buying land has waned, land
owning villagers are now setting up tourism enterprises on their
own land, thereby diversifying land use from agriculture to tourism.
Critical agrarian research has shown that material and symbolic
factors influence farmers’ decision-making regarding land use
change. An agrarian studies perspective thus facilitates a nuanced
understanding of tourism-related land use diversification and
change. By bringing agrarian and ecotourism studies approaches
together here, we contribute to both by emphasising the importance
of (eco)tourism in agrarian change and of attention to land
use change in ecotourism studies to understand how rural people
negotiate and navigate (eco)tourism in relation to land use. We
also contribute to tourism geographies more broadly by highlighting
how land use decision-making shapes local spaces in the
course of ecotourism development. We draw attention to the
broader processes of and impacts of ecotourism that shift generational
rural land use influenced by changing values of land outside
a protected area. Rendering land touristifiable deepens
villagers’ dependence on the market and alienates them from their
land. Ecotourism commodifies nature, and we show that this commodification extends to rural land outside of ecotourism zones
per se.
socio-economic impacts, including low-wage employment-based
dependencies for many rural communities. While these dynamics
are important, a crucial aspect of the ecotourism industry that
falls outside this conventional sort of dependency is land use
dynamics, specifically land use change, sales and entrepreneurship.
We examine these dynamics in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India, where
promotion of (eco)tourism since the 1990s has influenced significant
changes in local land use. These changes were initially facilitated
by outsiders buying land and setting up hotels and resorts
in villages adjoining the Reserve. Empirical research reveals that
while this initial boom of outsiders buying land has waned, land
owning villagers are now setting up tourism enterprises on their
own land, thereby diversifying land use from agriculture to tourism.
Critical agrarian research has shown that material and symbolic
factors influence farmers’ decision-making regarding land use
change. An agrarian studies perspective thus facilitates a nuanced
understanding of tourism-related land use diversification and
change. By bringing agrarian and ecotourism studies approaches
together here, we contribute to both by emphasising the importance
of (eco)tourism in agrarian change and of attention to land
use change in ecotourism studies to understand how rural people
negotiate and navigate (eco)tourism in relation to land use. We
also contribute to tourism geographies more broadly by highlighting
how land use decision-making shapes local spaces in the
course of ecotourism development. We draw attention to the
broader processes of and impacts of ecotourism that shift generational
rural land use influenced by changing values of land outside
a protected area. Rendering land touristifiable deepens
villagers’ dependence on the market and alienates them from their
land. Ecotourism commodifies nature, and we show that this commodification extends to rural land outside of ecotourism zones
per se.