Protected Areas (PAs) have been a cornerstone of conservation efforts. However, PAs have become increasingly isolated with protection. Human pressure has shifted towards the forests located outside PAs, which serve as important corridors for wildlife movement. In densely populated countries like India, connectivity across vast landscapes is not possible solely by the expansion of the PA network and requires support from local communities. The importance of local institutions has been considerably ignored due to the focus on PAs, which have limited capacity to meet local demands as well as conservation objectives for vast landscapes.

This Ph.D. research integrates remote sensing, landscape ecology and institutional approaches to study social and ecological impacts of forest management institutions in a dry-deciduous forest landscape in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. The study area forms an important connection between Pench and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves. The study begins with a large scale landscape view to study the impact of different forest management regimes on forest change and fragmentation. It then zooms in to compare state and community institutions that differ in traditional norms as well as levels of local participation, assessing their effect on forests and local communities.