Ms. Yashashree Garge will present her APS as per the details below:

Date: 16th September 2025 (Tuesday)

Time: 1130 - 1300 hrs. 

Venue: C-TARA Conference Room No.1

Title: Forests in Transition: Gendered Realities of Sustainability in Sal and Bamboo Landscapes of Bastar

Supervisor: Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria RPC Members: Prof. Anand B. Rao, Prof. Mahendra Shahare, Prof. Sarmistha Pattanaik

Abstract:

This report reflects on preliminary fieldwork conducted in Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, and reassesses the scope of my research in light of feedback from the first Annual Progress Seminar (APS). Drawing on literature review and exploratory field observations, the work examines sal and bamboo forests, focusing on how these species are understood and used in everyday life, in policy, and in academic research. While bamboo remains important because of its ecological presence and contested role in community rights and industrial use, sal seed has become a central focus. I trace sal seed through historical records, regulatory policies, and academic literature, and compare these with my field observations. Historically, sal seed has been valued both for household use and for industry, especially oil extraction. Over time, it has been shaped by state procurement schemes and regulations that often reflect colonial legacies. Yet in local markets, sal seed does not always appear as strongly as expected from state-level data. Community members use it for their own needs, sell small quantities informally, or participate in formal procurement systems, creating overlaps and gaps between official categories and everyday practices. Bamboo landscapes show similar tensions, as communities negotiate between their rights under the Forest Rights Act, state control, and industrial demand. Taken together, these cases show that forest resources are not only part of the natural landscape but are also shaped by rules, trade practices, and the different ways in which people and institutions make sense of them. The report concludes with an insight that sustainability in these contexts cannot be seen as a fixed target. It takes shape through ongoing negotiations over access, rights, ecological cycles, and socio-economic pressures. By following primarily the Sal seed through these different perspectives, my 2nd APS report serves as a precursor to understand how ecological futures are being actively shaped in Bastar.