The forest is a complex ecosystem consisting mainly of trees that buffer the earth and support a myriad of life forms.Trees are an important component of the environment. The trees help create a special environment which, in turn, affects the kinds of animals and plants that can exist in the forest.When we think of a forest there is a very typical image that comes into our mind; A forest full of green trees which provides fresh air that creates a soothing environment,wildlife wandering in some dense areas But forest is much more beyond that.

   In the case of Mumbai(SGNP) where the forest is located in a very densely populated area, the nature responses and interfaces act very differently. It almost looks like a concrete jungle surrounding the green jungle. The encroachment of settlement into Forest has changed the perspective of one towards the forest. As the idea of forest being a place of leisure immersed, some part of the forest got converted into a park. Undefined boundaries also  became a major area for settlement to occur. All of this resulted in more interaction of human activities. But encroachment wasn’t one sided. Even forest started to take over and expand within surroundings as a result.There are distinct ways in which forest is merging with surroundings. Hence we chose to look at how the city and its forest meet .Hence we observed the edges through which SGNP has been expanding into the city.

   To understand the shift in concept and boundaries of Forest we started to compile a timeline which shows the evolution of SGNP in response to global affairs. To observe the situation more precisely we chose to study 6 different extensions of forest which are responding distinctly to the external phenomenon. 

   Forest is dynamic, there is constant movement of some built and unbuilt. Forest not only creates an identity for its adjacent places but also impacts their life on daily basis,

Earlier the forest and its form used to be so dense that the people and the community have started inhabiting the forest for so many decades. Idea of inhabitation of forest is different for different life forms, for some it may be a constant source of fresh flowing water or trees with dense branches or source of fruits and vegetables.

This inhabitation forms an addition of layer to the ecology, cluster and species

   In this course we started exploring the idea of forest with various lenses.Having forest in a city not only means having a huge quantity of vegetation, various species of birds, animals but also means it creates a layer of human life and settlement adjacent to it, here are various approaches made to understand the depth of what a forest is:

 1) Human and non human life

 2) Idea of living adjacent to forest

 3) Different activities form on the edge

 4) Idea of safety and security

 5) Formation of social space and institutional space for the     stakeholders, working people and for the travelers

 6) Shifting of forest due to expansion of life forms and the    settlement

   Different economical and political conditions shape the encroachment of forest over the city and city over the forest. The expansion of forest can be seen through the undefined boundaries of the forest which creates opportunities to intervene inside the premises of forest. The cluster formed over the edge started expanding from decades,one can see the relationship of stakeholders and forest.These stakeholders can be of various nature like the dominant or the altering one. They can create a change in the environment through receding or expanding the forest by their idea of living. 

   The tribal community living inside the forest, have made their own habitat which also works  as an earning source of liveability. They have started consuming forest on their own terms along with planting more trees and maintaining them has become their idea of practice and care. This denseness has created a comfort and a sense of belief, where nature itself is a source of life and death. The care of animals and birds shown over here is much more greater than the residents treating the stray animals.Shifting them from forest to the busy city life can create a threat to their life as this outer world is not experienced by most of them.

   But there are some differences which can't be ignored. For outsiders, the forest becomes the place of leisure while for tribals it’s the base of livinghood. There is a cycle of  reproduction in the forest such that whatever gets consumed in the forest, the waste itself creates a new form, the idea of waste is not much seen in the forest, even the leaves which shade or the species which dies contributes something to the forest.

   Whereas the privileged city life has some different practice, the approach  of taking  care of the forest is not seen much, the more focused is given to the increasing land value, since the forest itself is a landmark which will eventually get proper road and railways along with metros the price of land also gets doubled. This also increases the usage of private vehicles, which creates a problem of pollution and discomfort, traffic's and horns disturbs the smooth functioning of forest and the species this scares them.

   Forest is the major force which is shaping the livinghood of adjacent settlements . Living near forest includes practices which are affected by various aspects of forests over the years but these go hand in hand.They have established their own routine and lifestyle correlated with the forest, any change in forest can impact the residents too like the heavy rainfall and floods blocks the road and their access, which becomes difficult for residents to step out of their houses. This becomes a threshold at which one can identify the two different structures of life going parallely.

   The people living outskirts of forest have their own routine based on the leopard spottings, there is no night life which is mostly seen in different parts of the city

Idea of safety and security still arises as no one can predict when animal interaction can happen?

   While having a conversation with the residents, different perspectives emerged towards the forest.For some their balcony  is to have personal leisure but for some it is the place  We already have a bond with forest ,what we have to do is to recognize it.

   Forest has always been seen as an opportunity to intervene. Forests across the countries have been shaped according to our need and  ‘greed’. Parks and open spaces gave us the opportunity to experience nature in a small pocket.Flattening the earth, having lawns in between alien skyscrapers, disconnects the relationship of the nativeness. We all have been used to staying in geometric grids of apartments and bunglows.Ever seen a straight line in nature ? It is the difference between walking on concrete paths and walking on a desired line through grass which makes us think about how the uniformity and minimalistic geometricity is taking Forest away from us. Grass peeping from the blocks , mosses on the walls are the signs of calling back forest.To the socially interactive colorful life of indegeneous people in the forest to the gray private room in our houses, the change in physicality shows us how the forest around you has transformed itself and you.Why to create boundary lines between Human settlements and the woods, when we ourselves are the woods.

   The human centric idea of beautification has led us to make ‘improved forest ‘ which will basically satisfy our leisure.In the name of green open areas.Does clean always mean beautiful? Then Autumn should be the most ‘dirtiest ‘ for us.We tend to keep ourselves away from garbage, but that trash can happens to be a source of food for stray animals.This idea of bourgeois environmentalism refines the way of commons to see the world. If it’s not a mess,it’s not progress.Look at the mess we create before any drawing ! .We see how natural fragile landscapes have been simplified. Why? So as to just ‘walk ’?In this study we are trying to answer how the forest edges have been changed as per the local situations like  socio-politics, Laws and regulations,and climate change.

   Living next to a forest can be seen as the best place to stay ; but for some it's the daily struggle .Human - wildlife conflicts occur when the needs and behavior of wildlife impact negatively on humans or when humans negatively affect the needs of wildlife. Many of us like pets roaming around our house like cats but when it comes to big cats it becomes a nightmare ! ‘This is my property ! ‘ claims a human; but that property already belongs to the animals and trees that have been existing there for thousands of years.”Leopards are among the most adaptable predators. If they lose forests, they live in farmlands. If they lose wild prey, they live on livestock. Leopards are also quick to duck undercover at the first sight of humans. Why would such secretive animals overlook the plentiful livestock and stray dogs and become brazen man-killers?Isn”t it interesting to have a look from both Human and Non -human perspectives ? ,We wake up to the chirping birds, says a person living close to the forest but Another person complains ,the roaring of the tiger woke me up that day !Forests gives the same experience to everyone ;but response from that creature varies from one to another.Every place has its own different series of stories of their daily experiences.This is what we observed while collecting information from the people we met white observing the neighborhood we were given.

   Various ideas of forest have been emerged  like extraction, mystery, wilderness, continuum, boundaries and protest the idea of extraction is highlighted because it creates     a source of income for the people living adjacent to the        nature

   The forest as a mystery here tells us about the institutional space formed and used as a social space by various age groups, along with the busy settlement life along the edge of boundary wall which in spite of having leopard spotting anytime wilderness.For forest as a continuum, it  is completely dissolved people harmoniously coexist with the forces of the neighboring forest, boundaries, protest.