Parks, people and protest: some observations on the mediating role of environmental action groups in grassroots resource conflicts

This paper analyses some of the problems and prospects associated with the new trend in the conservation discourse in India. The focus is on a campaign journey organised by a group of environmental NGOs through several national parks and sanctuaries in central and western India. The paper demonstrates that the new trend, despite drawing our attention to the problems of existing conservation strategies, fails to suggest blue print(s) for participatory, bottom up conservation strategies.