Pachmarhi (lat 22.28 N, long 78.25 E), 'Queen of the Satpuras', is the only hill resort in central India. Established by the British in the 1860s as a garrison town to patrol the ‘wild aboriginal hills’ and to escape from the heat of the plains. For millenia earlier, the Pachmarhi plateau and forests were a herbalists paradise. In the last two decades, the plateau and surrounding forests have become national parks and given international status as a Biosphere Reserve. Given the state of everyday conflicts between people and the law in forest areas, many questions arise about the future of this region. Almost two-thirds of the 5000 sq.km area is forested, while most of the remainder is farm land. Over 400,000 people live in this area in 575 villages and 8 small towns. The plateau and its surrounding forests act as a huge catchment area for tributaries of the major rain fed rivers of Central India, the Narmada to the north and the Godavari to the south.

A local activist says, "The thinking behind the sanctuaries and national parks is an anti-tribal, anti-people world-view. The law as it stands, the Wildlife Protection Act, makes no provision for those people who live inside notified forest boundaries. They are deemed to have no needs or rights at all. Only wild animals are meant to live inside a national park or sanctuary. Now this is a point of view that has come from Europe and America. Well, Europe destroyed all its natural growth forests a long time ago. The first national park in the world was the Yellowstone National Park in the USA. It was created despite stiff opposition from the tribal people living there, and more than 400 were directly killed in order that a national park might be created. And it is exactly the same point of view that is being applied here. We must accept the fact that people do live in forest areas, and they have a place there, they are a part of forest life."