Biodiversity Habitats, People, Policies, and Problematics: Through Case Studies of Ecological Systems of Aurangabad and Beed

Abstract

Marathwada is a microcosmic region of the Indian sub-continent; its inherent geographical terrain supports a range of unique biodiversity habitats and ecological cultural spaces (Sengar, 2020). The region is diverse in both biotic and anthropogenic cultures as that which gives illustration of the Human-Nature-Relationship (H-N-R) and Human–Environment-Resilience (H-E-R) interaction due to the complex range of culturally distinct communities living and thriving on the regional biota and its diversity (Sengar, in Histories, regions, nodes: essays for Ratanlal Hangloo. Primus, 2017a; Sengar, in Mathematical advances towards sustainable environmental systems. Springer, 2017b; Sengar, in Chaumasa: Q J Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum 117:54–61, 2021). However, some of the ecological systems in the region thrived due to displace the communities from the ecoregions of Western highlands and coastal plains. Pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial displacements brought Bhil and Koli communities in the region which thrived and nurtured the ecology (Chaubey et al., in PloS One 10(6), 2015) alike to their ancestral land and knowledge systems (hereafter; Knowledge Systems [KS]) (Shava et al., Environmental Education Research 6:575–589, 2010). Although diverse the ecoregions of the Marathwada are particularly vulnerable to environmental change and anthropogenic interventions. Over the last 5000 years before present (hereafter B.P.), the region evolved an enriched composition of human cultures. With the beginning of the twentieth century, colonial and postcolonial regional disparity and exploitation of the natural resources of Marathwada led to severe drought, scarcity of water, and land resources crunch. These resource crises further led to depletion of vegetation and consequent reduction in the biodiversity of flora and fauna both in terrestrial and aquatic zones. The so-called postcolonial state’s ‘pro-industrial’-orientated, extractive policy structures endangered local cultural knowledge, practices, and diversity. The policy structures of both colonial and postcolonial times resulted in bureaucratic dominance over nature. These methods and conservation concepts disallowed traditional human intervention in resource management. Thus, shrinking possibilities of traditional cultural restorative conservation practices for natural resource management and conservation. Even then, what we come across is the thriving ecological cultures in the microcosmic abodes both in Gautala region of Aurangabad and Bindusara river ecosystem of Beed thriving in gradual under the restorative KS of the Bhils and Koli communities. The present research paper broadly discusses two ecological regions of Marathwada, per se: periphery of Gautala ecological region and its ecological societies and aquatic habitat of river Bindusara and communities dependent on it reviving the river and its systems. The selected ecological systems and cultural societies are comparatively studied through their past and contemporary narratives. The study analysis, thus, will give us the changing patterns of human–environmental ecology relations in the region.