Abstract:
Integration of local communities in nature/wildlife conservation is increasing, and the emergence of “Community-Conserved Areas” or CCAs in recent times is a testimony to that. Keeping northeastern India as the regional focus, this chapter aims to understand the evolution, nature and types of CCAs in this region and analyze their role, with particular reference to local human-wildlife conflicts in and around CCAs. These CCAs, comprising different land-use elements, have resulted in a decentralized model for governance and empowerment for the communities, but their role in reducing the emerging threat of human-wildlife conflict is understudied. Human-wildlife conflict through crop and livestock damage negatively affected the villages surrounding the CCAs, and such damages produced significant friction among various conservation actors. With two cases of human-wildlife conflict around CCAs from Nagaland, a biodiverse state in northeast India, this chapter delves deeper into the governance of this critical issue.