Population displacement from protected areas is a contentious issue. To date, social science literature has largely been against displacement, given the social injustices and deprivations that have, in the past, resulted from it. Based upon over a decade of research on the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Maharashtra, India, by SHODH: The Institute for Research and Development, the authors raise a few supplementary points.
When SHODH began its baseline socio-economic study of the six villages located within the TATR, the authors held the common opinion that displacement has a detrimental effect on oustees and should thus take place only as a final resort, if at all. However, their subsequent research has revealed that the TATR villagers are largely not averse to the idea of relocating, and in fact many actively want to relocate.