Resilience of Communities and Role of Social Capital: A Revisit to Two Forest Communities from Vidarbha Region in Central India
Author(s):
Dr. Deepshikha Mehra , Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and ManagementKeywords:
Forest Conservation, Resilience, Joint Forest Management, Revisit, Social Capital, Traditional & Non-Traditional Communities, Vidarbha RegionAbstract:
Rural communities in the developing world depend heavily on natural resources. Ability of these communities to safeguard the resource would depend on their resilience which is nothing but their intentional action to build collective capacities of its citizens to face changes as well as developing community capitals to cope with a dynamic and changing environment. One of these is social capital which is tendency for mutually beneficial collective action that different communities possess to different extents. It is being considered an important development tool as it helps communities plan, coordinate and successfully manage their resources. But, what are the factors that help build and sustain this capital in communities in order to enable them to be resilient? This paper explores the change in social capital and thus their ability to be resilient in two forest-dependent communities from Gadchiroli and Chnadrapur districts of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra State. Data was collected over two points of time, spanning five years through IFRI protocol and household survey. Multi-Criteria Analysis was used for analysis of data.The case studies bring out the fact that despite a long history of exclusion from ownership and management of forests in India, there are communities can be resilient and social capital plays an important role in bringing the resilience in them. However, resilience is not a fixed quality within a community. Rather, it is a quality that can be developed and strengthened over time. Identifying and reviving the stock of social capital, and incorporating these in the Joint Forest Management institution will help in building forces of resilience and collective effort in traditional communities. For non-traditional communities that are struggling to maintain it need positive intervention and inputs from external agencies (like the forest department or local NGOs), as external agencies can play an important role by helping communities in utilizing the stock of social capital productively with positive returns.
Other Details:
| Manuscript Id | : | J4RV4I2030 |
| Published in | : | Volume : 4, Issue : 2 |
| Publication Date | : | 01/05/2018 |
| Page(s) | : | 83-87 |
