Natural resource management and conservation efforts are at cross-roads today. On the one hand, threatened is the sustainability of essential ecological processes and life support systems in the wilderness, and on the other, at stake is the security of a just and disnified livelihood of the people living in and around forests and protected areas. This work argues that people-oriented strategies for natural resouorce management can help us overcome the crises of ecological disaster and threatened livelihood in India. Without a shift in strategy towards a combination of societal and technical inputs, forests and wildlife in India may not survive for long. The study provides a practical agenda for participatory survival options for wildlife, forests and people. Pandey argues how societal inputs can provide sustainable livelihood security to the people living in and round forests and protected areas, and how bio-ecological inputs, can effectively minimise the depletive forces that lead to biodiversity impoverishment and collapse of ecological processes and life support systems. The books has practical implications for policy makers, administrators, voluntary organisations, sociologists, ecologists, foresters, wildlife experts, international agencies and general readers. This is one of the most significant works on Indian forestry to have appeared.

Deep Narayan Pandey joined the Indian Forest Service in 1988, following a five year stint in the State Forest Service of Madhya Pradesh. He is currently allocated to Rajasthan cadre. He is one of India's leading foresters contributing to the analysis and field implementation of people-oriented strategies for management of topical forests, wilderlife and protected areas. Pandey received Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award (IPVM) for the year 1994, the highest national honour in the field of forestry in India.