A Methodology for Community Mapping of Natural Resources: Forests and Revenue land in Bargarh District of Odisha

International experiences show significant opportunities in using GIS technologies and participatory methods to map community natural resource uses. In India, this has as far as is known only been done in a limited number of cases so far. In relation to mining and forests there are particular benefits of community mapping due to the Forest Rights Act, which promises to put forests in the hands of traditional forest-dwellers, and because of expanded mining which might remove the very same forest before it is returned to local communities. This Working Paper presents a methodology for community mapping of natural resources based on a case study with an exploratory purpose at Gandhamardhan Hill in Bargarh District of Western Odisha.