1. Context and Rationale

The governance of the commons, spanning forests, riverbanks, pastures, and communal lands, fundamentally sits at the intersection of ecology, culture, politics, and law. Across India and much of the Global South, commons are more than ecological spaces; they are living cultural and political entities that shape identity, sustain livelihoods, and sustain the moral and ecological fabric of communities. Yet, these landscapes are under intensifying pressure from climate change, market expansion, and centralized policy regimes that redefine how land and resources are valued, accessed, and controlled. Traditional systems of collective tenure and customary law now coexist uneasily with statutory frameworks and development models that often privilege economic growth over social equity or ecological ethics.

Within this contested terrain, the alienation of land, particularly in Indigenous and Fifth Schedule areas, has emerged as one of the most urgent governance challenges. The loss of traditional territorial autonomy and erosion of community rights over land, forest, and water continue to drive cycles of conflict and dispossession, especially among Adivasi communities across central and eastern India. Even as constitutional safeguards such as PESA and the Forest Rights Act seek to protect self-governance and collective rights, contradictions within land, forest, and revenue legislations have weakened their implementation. These struggles reveal how land remains deeply intertwined with cultural survival and political legitimacy, and how its alienation disrupts both ecological balance and community wellbeing.

Parallel to these conflicts, community-led stewardship models are redefining how the commons can be reclaimed and restored. Whether in the riparian ecosystems of the Narmada, the urban ecologies of the Delhi Ridge, or in forested landscapes shaped by customary practices, local initiatives are reviving the ethics of collective care and custodianship. Such efforts expose the tension between state-centric management and grassroots stewardship, showing how communities mobilize through legal, ecological, and cultural frameworks to defend and regenerate their commons. Together, the papers in this session traverse these varied landscapes—from Fifth Schedule regions marked by land alienation and governance fragility to community-led restoration movements and judicial interventions in urban and rural settings—to examine how politics, policy, and culture converge in shaping the present and future of the commons.

2. Objectives of the Panel

• To explore how cultural and customary systems of land governance shape contemporary climate and development policies.

• To examine political and judicial responses that influence collective rights, tenure security, and community agency.

• To analyse intersections between traditional ecological knowledge, technology, and collaborative governance frameworks.

• To discuss community-led stewardship models that inform equitable policy and legal mechanisms.

• To identify pathways for integrating cultural identity and local institutions into broader climate and conservation agendas.

4. Expected Outcomes

The five papers collectively engage with one central concern: how can commons governance reconcile cultural identity, political accountability, and ecological sustainability in an era of rapid transition? Drawing on grounded research across diverse geographies, they highlight the lived negotiations through which communities reclaim authority over land and natural resources. The cases from India’s Fifth Schedule regions, the Narmada riparian landscapes, and the Delhi Ridge reveal the layered dynamics of exclusion and reclamation—where state-led development, conservation policies, and private interests intersect with community resistance and cultural renewal.

The discussion underscores that the governance of the commons is inseparable from the question of justice. In the Fifth Schedule areas, systemic land alienation and inconsistent legal frameworks continue to undermine constitutional safeguards, weakening the autonomy of Adivasi gram sabhas and exacerbating socio-political conflict. The analyses reveal how strengthening these local institutions, harmonizing overlapping legislations, and recognizing community self-governance can mitigate the structural roots of alienation. Similarly, community-based restoration efforts demonstrate that environmental recovery is not merely an ecological act but also a process of political empowerment and cultural continuity.

Across these contexts, the session foregrounds three interlinked insights: first, that commons governance is sustained by the moral economies of care, reciprocity, and shared stewardship embedded in indigenous and local knowledge systems; second, that the political negotiation of rights and responsibilities must be grounded in participatory governance and legal accountability; and third, that resilient futures depend on integrating cultural identity and traditional custodianship within climate and conservation policy. Collectively, these contributions chart actionable pathways for reimagining the commons as dynamic social-ecological systems—where ecological restoration, local democracy, and justice-oriented governance are not parallel agendas but mutually reinforcing imperatives for sustainable and equitable development..