The management of protected areas involves the regulation of anthropogenic pressures caused by the high degree of resource dependence of the human population living in or near them. Aware of the social injustice associated with limiting resource use in these populations, managers are now working with them to achieve a more equitable distribution of the economic benefits from conservation practices. Such park-human partnerships have taken on many local variations around the world. In the Western Ghats mountain range in peninsular India, widely prevalent human use of natural resources has damaged forest ecosystems. Widespread land use changes and economic development initiatives have resulted in many new settlements, necessitating the creation of a more sustainable development paradigm that balances the needs of people and wildlife. This chapter examines the status of forests in the more topographically diverse Southern Western Ghats ecoregion and assesses the impact of community-based government programs aimed at supporting conservation gains in the core protected areas and the surrounding multi-use buffer zones that comprise the ecologically sensitive areas of this globally recognized biodiversity hotspot.