Ananda Siddhartha

• Wildlife conservation and environmental governance
• Conservation territorialisation and connectivity conservation
• Agrarian change and rural livelihoods
• Land, power and social change
• Qualitative research methods

Ananda’s research interests lie at the intersection of political ecology, wildlife conservation, agrarian studies, and environmental governance. His work examines how conservation policies and practices reshape relationships between land, nature, and rural communities, with a particular interest in the ways in which conservation is produced and governed beyond formally protected areas.

He completed his doctorate at Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands, where his research examined the political ecology of conservation territorialisation, elephant corridors, and agrarian livelihoods in South India. His research examined how land identified as elephant corridors is regulated, acquired, and governed, and the implications of these processes for conservation, land relations, and the livelihoods of farming communities. More broadly, his work is concerned with questions of power, land, territoriality, and the social and political dimensions of environmental governance.

Ananda has previously worked in journalism education and with NGOs on issues related to food security, food sovereignty, and rural livelihoods. He has also worked as a researcher on environmental and conservation issues, including archival research examining urban commons and their histories. He was previously the Managing Editor of the journal Conservation & Society. 

His work combines qualitative research with interdisciplinary approaches to understanding environmental and social change. His current interests include conservation territorialisation, agrarian change, environmental governance, and the relationships between conservation and rural livelihoods.