Natural Resources, Indigenous Livelihoods and Cultural Landscape Identity under Tourism Pressure: A Qualitative Case Study of Chikhaldara, Maharashtra

Abstract

The cultural landscape is a product of the interactions between natural resources, livelihoods, cultural practices and human settlement over time and is rarely addressed as one in tourism and conservation planning. This study focuses on the interconnections between natural resources, indigenous livelihood, cultural landscape identity and the pressures of tourism in Chikhaldara, Maharashtra, paying special attention to the documented interconnections between the Korku and the Gavali community. Documentary analysis and non-participant field observation methods were used for the qualitative part of the study and selected ecological, cultural, heritage and tourism sites were studied. Thematic analysis of the evidence was conducted in relation to resource use, livelihoods, cultural and spiritual connections, tourism activities, development pressures and governance. The results suggest that forests and other environmental assets, production assets (agriculture) and cultural assets (hills and culturally important sites) are all integrated and interdependent. Evidence of linkages are traditional practices related to vegetation and sacred landscapes, historic associations with heritage sites, and resource-based agricultural, forest-based and grazing livelihoods. Tourism is related to opportunities for the local economy in the hospitality sector, in the role of guide, in transport, in small businesses, but with greater activity and infrastructure development by visitors, pressure can increase on cultural landscapes, ecological systems and water and land resources. The study hence suggests an integrated cultural–social–ecological perspective for the conservation of the resources, the resilience of livelihoods and the continuity of culture and the planning of responsible tourism in the case of Chikhaldara. The proposed framework has an analytical basis for future participatory research with the local community, as the analysis is based on documentary evidence and non-participant observation.