Do developmental initiatives influence local attitudes toward conservation? A case study from the Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, India M. Arjunan a , Christopher Holmes b , Jean-Philippe Puyravaud c , Priya Davidar a, * a Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Pondicherry 605 014, India b WCS International, B.P. 8500 Soavimbahoaka, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar c ITPI India Pvt. Ltd., 6 Romain Rolland Street, Pondicherry 605 001, India Received 20 August 2004; revised 16 May 2005; accepted 20 June 2005 Available online 3 October 2005 Abstract We evaluated the conservation attitudes of the local villagers living adjacent to the Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in southern India 6 years after implementation of a World Bank funded eco-development project. We assessed attitudes towards three facets of conservation: the tiger, an emblematic species signifying India’s commitment to wildlife conservation; the forest, a principle source of fuel- wood and other products; and the Forest Department, which manages the forest. More specifically we predicted that (i) attitudes would be an effective predictor of resource use interest in the forest and (ii) benefits obtained from the EDP would create more favorable attitudes towards conservation and the protected area employees. Twelve villages located within 3 km from the reserve boundary were chosen and 2–3% of the households interviewed with regard to their attitudes towards these three facets of conservation, their household resource use patterns, wealth, sex, age and length of residency. We found significant associations between wealth, sex, age and both tiger and forest conservation. Providing benefits has not changed the underlying attitudes of the communities. The poorer sections of society, whether receiving benefits or not, tended to support tiger conservation because conserving wildlife did not affect their livelihood in any way, whereas both the rich and poor had misgivings about forest conservation due to dependency on forest products. We conclude that the eco-development project has not effectively addressed the most important of the local concerns. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Conservation attitudes; India; Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve; Protected areas; Rural livelihoods; Western Ghats; World Bank eco-development project 1. Introduction There is an inherent asymmetry in the costs and benefits of wildlife conservation in developing countries. Whereas the benefits of wildlife protection accrue to the national and global economy, the costs are often borne by the local communities. Therefore, integrating conservation and development projects has become popular as a way to alleviate the costs to the local communities in terms of loss of access to resources (Kiss, 1990; McNeely, 1995). The incentives provided by these programs are considered to fulfill the dual objective of compensating the loss of livelihood and increasing sustainable practices (McNeely, 1995; Infield and Adams, 1999; Holmes, 2003a). However, it has been pointed out that the Integrated Conservation-Development Projects (ICDPs) linking rural development with wildlife conservation might not lead to more sustainable practices (Barrett and Arcese, 1995; Oates, 1995). Reviews of such programs have identified potential conceptual flaws (Barrett and Arcese, 1995; 1998). For example Wells et al. (1992) in an appraisal of 23 such projects in tropical countries point out that measurable progress in these efforts has been rare because the linkage between conservation and development is obscure. Journal of Environmental Management 79 (2006) 188–197 www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.06.007 * Corresponding author. Tel.: C91 413 2213 806; fax: C91 413 2655 265. E-mail addresses: arjunan_m@yahoo.com (M. Arjunan), cholmes@ wcs.org (C. Holmes), jpp@itpi.co.in (J.-P. Puyravaud), davidarp@si.edu (P. Davidar).