SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ON WILDLIFE TOURISM DEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITIES: A STUDY OF SIX WILDLIFE PROTECTED AREAS OF VIDARBHA REGION IN CENTRAL INDIARashi Arora and Deepshikha MehraAbstract Wildlife tourism in India has always been an important source of revenue for the government and livelihood for the forest fringe communities. However, nationwide lockdowns imposed due to Covid-19 brought the whole sector to a standstill with sporadic tourism activities in between lockdowns including wildlife tourism. This had an impact on the livelihoods and income of local communities dependent on wildlife tourism. Thus, it became pertinent to explore the extent of the impact as well as the effectiveness of the existing systems to deal with the situation. This paper explores the social-economic impact of Covid-19 induced lockdowns on wildlife tourism in six protected areas (PAs) of the forest-rich Vidarbha region of Maharashtra State. Through a sample survey of villagers dependent on wildlife tourism in these PAs, the study was able to find issues of income loss and a resultant increase in indebtedness as well as low access to government benefits during this time. Thus, reviewing the current systems, plugging leakages in benefit transfers, building additional local skills for forest-based livelihoods, and developing stronger linkages between government financial institutions and local micro-finance systems becomes important to develop stronger safety nets in rural areas. |