Mumbai” India” is struggling to prevent its growing population of 17million from infringing on the world's largest urban forest. Thisthreatens the biodiversity of the forest as well as the security of theinhabitants” as people have been killed by strayed leopards because ofthe blurred distinction between the city and the countryside.

Thelarger context of forests ownership and conservation in India iscontroversial. Forty million of India's poorest people live in forests”and some of them are pressured by gangs to engage in poachingactivities. The government has passed a law to grant forest ownershipto long-time forest dwellers” but conservationists fear new illegalsettlers might try to take advantage of this measure. Conservation andpro-poor policies are sometimes seen as antithetical.

To read more about Mumbai's urban forest” and Indian forest conservation in general” see the Financial Express.