Social Ecology and Environmental Protection in India: Issues, Challenges and Strategies

India has witnessed remarkable progress in human and economic development since Independence. The human activities are adversely affecting the environment and ecology while the global issues like ozone layer depletion, greenhouse gases affect, global warming, climatic change, etc. cause concern. The environmental pollution is posing a serious challenge for the sustainability of the economic growth while the road to sustainable development is a tardy one. There is degradation of natural resources due to over exploitation, unsustainable economic and commercial activities as well as poor governance of environmental regulations, policies and enforcement of environmental legislations. The social dimensions of environmental degradation are of paramount importance. Social ecology is a field of study first named and developed by Murray Bookchin in the 1960’s. Social ecology emphasizes actions and reflective practice that integrate personal, social, political and environmental concerns and possibilities. The end goals of social ecology include wellbeing and health, in the broadest sense, equity and social justice, and the fostering of mutualistic and caring relationships, personal meaning, organizational learning, co-evolutionary change and ecological sustainability. Environmental protection and conservation and sustainable development of natural resources assumes paramount importance in the context of changing paradigms of development and governance. Against this backdrop, present volume highlights the issues and dimensions of social ecology and environmental protection in India. It is expected the volume will be highly useful in understanding of social ecology, environment, sustainable development, natural resources management and evolving roadmap for protection of environment in India.