Preface -- 1.  Introduction Seema Purushothaman, Rosa Abraham -- 2. Adaptive Livelihood Strategies in the Karandhai malai forests, Tamil Nadu Kanmani Venkateswaran, Siddhartha Krishnan, Poosanavel Saravanan, M.C. Kiran and S.C. Gladwin Joseph -- 3. Livelihood Strategies of Peripheral Communities in Kanakapura, Karnataka  Kavitha A., S.C. Gladwin Joseph, and Nitin D. Rai -- 4. Land Use Practices and Policies to Reduce Poverty – Lessons from Annaikatty in the Western Ghats -- Seema Purushothaman.- 5.  Reconciling Conservation and Livelihoods with Fiscal Instruments – An Assessment of Bamboo in Karnataka Seema Purushothaman, Elisabeth Gsottbauer and Sheetal Patil.- 6. Reconciling Conservation and Livelihoods – The Role of Integrating Diverse Institutions Seema Purushothaman.- 7. Adaptive Livelihood Strategies – Community-Driven Ecotourism near Bangalore Seema Purushothaman, Benson Isac, Akai Mao and Priya Gupta.- 8.  Reconciling Conservation and Livelihoods – The Role of SHGs in M.M. Hills, Karnataka Seema Purushothaman, Dhanya B. and Sheetal Patil.- 9.  Village Commons, Livelihoods and Governance in Karnataka - An Assessment Sharachandra Lele, Seema Purushothaman and Sham Kashyap.

This volume is a compilation of essays that focus on livelihood issues faced by forest communities of the southern Western Ghats region of India. Communities living along the fringes of forests are, more often than not, overlooked in academic and policy discussions. However, they face considerable pressures, being sandwiched between conservation endeavours and the forces of urbanization and commercialization. The chapters in this book provide an insight into the kinds of livelihood issues these communities face and the potential means that can be adopted to sustain these livelihoods. This volume provides a unique alternative perspective by locating livelihood issues within socio-ecological-economic narratives of communities living at the intersection of the three southern Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and suggests directions for policies to address these challenges.