Common lands in India: Spatial distribution and overlay with socioeconomic and environmental indicators

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country institute
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centre
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Markets
cg.contributor.crpWater, Land and Ecosystems
cg.coverage.countryIndia
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2IN
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Asia
cg.coverage.regionAsia
cg.creator.identifierHagar ElDidi: 0000-0002-2685-5416
cg.creator.identifierWei Zhang: 0000-0002-2933-6275
cg.creator.identifierZhe Guo: 0000-0002-5999-4009
cg.creator.identifierRuth Meinzen-Dick: 0000-0003-4782-3074
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136556
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Natural Resources and Resilience Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Systems Transformation - Transformation Strategies
cg.identifier.publicationRankNot ranked
cg.number2166
cg.placeWashington, DC
cg.reviewStatusInternal Review
dc.contributor.authorElDidi, Hagar
dc.contributor.authorKhurana, Ritika
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Wei
dc.contributor.authorJadav, Maheshkumar Kalidas
dc.contributor.authorGuha, Chiranjit
dc.contributor.authorPriyadarshini, Pratiti
dc.contributor.authorGuo, Zhe
dc.contributor.authorSandhu, Harpinder
dc.contributor.authorNagendra, Harini
dc.contributor.authorMeinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-14T12:09:19Zen
dc.date.available2024-03-14T12:09:19Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/140321
dc.titleCommon lands in India: Spatial distribution and overlay with socioeconomic and environmental indicatorsen
dcterms.abstractCommon pool resources provide important socioeconomic and ecological benefits for local communities and beyond, with around 2.5-3 billion people depending on commons for their livelihoods and other needs globally. In India, common lands constitute around a quarter of the country’s landmass, help meet the subsistence and livelihood needs of at least 350 million people and are of social and cultural significance to rural communities, as well as providing ecosystem services that benefit wider society. Despite these vital contributions, India’s commons have been facing widespread degradation, and policymakers tend to perceive some commons as “wastelands” because their true extent and value is not known. This study contributes to improved understanding of the magnitude and vitality of commons for rural communities, focusing on land-based commons in India. We provide a national assessment of the spatial extent and usage of common lands across districts, using publicly available spatial datasets and 2011 Census of India data and Household Census data. We further examine the spatial overlap between common lands and officially recognized protected areas to shine light on the possible locations where sustainable management or restoration of commons can potentially add value to conservation, in addition to benefiting local communities. Our results show that common lands are spread out spatially across the country and are intertwined, with more than one type of commons often present within the same district. Further, communities, especially poor, marginalized and indigenous communities such as Scheduled Tribe rely on forest commons, barren lands, pastures and culturable wastelands for their livelihoods, including for extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for housing and cooking, grazing livestock, among others. Common lands and the communities that depend on them also often live in proximity to or are surrounded by officially recognized protected areas. Our study points to the need to drill down to more disaggregated level for commons mapping, which, in conjunction with information on the values of ecosystem services provide by commons, could inform land use policies and conservation and development planning.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationElDidi, Hagar; Khurana, Ritika; Zhang, Wei; Jadav, Maheshkumar Kalidas; Guha, Chiranjit; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Guo, Zhe; Sandhu, Harpinder; Nagendra, Harini; and Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. 2023. Common lands in India: Spatial distribution and overlay with socioeconomic and environmental indicators. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2166. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136556.en
dcterms.extent59 p.
dcterms.isPartOfIFPRI Discussion Paperen
dcterms.issued2023-01-24
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCopyrighted; all rights reserved
dcterms.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Institute
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acadf4en
dcterms.relationhttp://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1155en
dcterms.relationhttp://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1082en
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw0911en
dcterms.relationhttps://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/common-lands-are-not-wastelandsen
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/136556
dcterms.subjectdata analysisen
dcterms.subjectrural communitiesen
dcterms.subjectdataen
dcterms.subjectpolicy innovationen
dcterms.subjectdegradationen
dcterms.subjectpasturesen
dcterms.subjectresource conservationen
dcterms.subjectforestsen
dcterms.subjectcapacity developmenten
dcterms.subjectland useen
dcterms.subjectprotected areasen
dcterms.subjectlivelihoodsen
dcterms.subjectland-use planningen
dcterms.subjecttribal peoplesen
dcterms.subjectcommon landsen
dcterms.subjectecosystem servicesen
dcterms.subjectrestorationen
dcterms.subjectcommunitiesen
dcterms.typeWorking Paper

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