Community-based conservation and Globalizing India

The Future of Conservation

The context

• One of 17 megadiverse countries• >1500 tigers• 60,000 elephants• 4 biodiversity hotspots• 20% under forest cover – depends on how one defines a forest!• >1.21 billion people• 4.9% under protected areas• 50-200 million people living in and around forests• Development @6-9%• With only 2.4% of the world’s land area, 16.7% of the world’s

human population and 18% livestock, it contributes about 8% of the known global biodiversity,

Protected areas

• A network of 668 Protected Areas (PAs) has been established, extending over

• 1,61,221.57 sq. kms. (4.90% of total geographic area), comprising 102 National Parks,

• 515 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 47 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves. The

• 39 Tiger Reserves and 28 Elephant Reserves

“Clearly, the present model of wildlife tourism is unsustainable in a country

with over a billion people with an annual economic growth rate of 6-8 per

cent. Drastic regulation is urgently needed and more sustainable tourism

models must be built.” – Ullas Karanth, Wildlife biologist, WCS

Rising Human-Wildlife conflict

Nov 13, 2012

The elephant is said to have come

from the Bandipur forest. Forest

officials said a case had been

registered against the owner of the

farm, who is absconding.

Crops destroyed

Crops worth lakhs (Rs100k=$2.0k) of

rupees were destroyed when

elephants went berserk in agriculture

lands at Hosapura in the taluk Monday

night.

Policies

• Wildlife protection Act 1972, ammended 2002

• Forest Recognition of Rights Act 2006

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme - 2007

Balancing wildlife – peopleMOEF

• The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for the conservation and management of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The FRA, 2006 applies to National Parks and Sanctuaries, where forest rights are being recognized and vested in Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers in such areas. These rights can only be modified within or resettled outside of the CWH as per the provisions of the FRA, 2006.

Livelihood and conservation landscapes

Rights `Secured’ under the Forest Recognition of Rights Act 2006

1. Land rights to assure basic food and nutritional security

2. Conditional usufruct rights to harvest, collect, sell and manage MFP, fuelwood and fodder

Livelihood and conservation landscapes

• >50 million people • Small land holdings 1-10 acres• Human-animal conflicts• Sloping marginal land• Soil and water loss• Decreasing diversity • Dependence on forests for NTFPS (fruits, fuel-wood and fodder)•Changing land-use •Erosion of Traditional Knowledge•Lack of services•Lack of access to Markets•Rich in traditional agri-biodiversity

Forested area with settlements within a larger agricultural matrix

Forested islands within agricultural matrix

Agriculture

Forests

Edges Fringes Ecotones

FOREST

CORE

FOREST BUFFER

FOREST-FRINGE AGRICULTURE

MAINSTREAM AGRICULTURE

“INTERACTIVE EDGE”

FOREST-

AGRICULTURE

ECOTONE

River systems

Pollinators

Dispersers

Palaquium ellipticum

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

J M S J M S J M S J M S J M S J M S

1991-1996

% t

rees f

ruit

ing

Long-term monitoring: Phenology, dispersal and regeneration

Cynopterus sphnix

Dispersed fruits

02468

1012

91 92 93 94 95 96

# s

ee

dlin

gs

/m2

year

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

No

of

bee c

olo

nie

s

DDF Evergreen Cliffs Total

Honey harvest data from 1996 to 2009

ATREE mapped sacred natural sites in BRT wildlife sanctuary to understand the historical and cultural ecologies of the Soligas who have inhabited the landscape for centuries. The process, while documenting and archiving a vast resource of places and stories, also provided a critical understanding of the ways Soligas interacted with the landscape.

Socioeconomic profile

Soligas

2000

Lingayath

2000

Soligas

2005

Lingayath

2005

Income (per

capita)

Mean ±S.D Mean ±S.D Mean ±S.D Mean ±S.D

Agriculture 811 1138 1085 2600 264 311 651 671

Forest

Resource

1457 786 324 306 912 1062 1318 1361

Migration and

other

income

867 1204 956 1186 3491 3021 3537 3754

Kannan and Rai 2011 (manuscript is in preparation)

Objectives: rejuvenating traditional farming practices in rodent

Control and enriching the local agro-diversity

Erecting such owl-perches in the fields is

an age old practice and can be revived, to

help the farmers in vermin control

Indian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

Only 13 % of farmers use Owl perches in Rice fields

Indigenous practices – OWL perches

Owls are important at the harvest stage

Each female rat caught early in the cropping cycle is equivalent to catching 30-40 rats around harvest time.

Forest invaded by Lantana camara

Local-level long-term study of

change in lantana distribution:

1997-2007

Dramatic spread in Lantana in 10 years – implications for biodiversity and forest regeneration in BiligiriRangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary

20071997

Low

Hig

h

Lantana & Livelihoods: Putting invasives to

work in order to enhance local livelihoods

• jkjkj

Chittoor

HESCO

Currently >100 families

are dependent on Lantana

seasonally (INR 2500-

6000 per month)

World bank Development Market place Award 2003

Asia Pacific Forum Environment and Development Golden Award 2009

350 people trained

80% are women

7 partner organizations

Utility products from Lantana

Proof of Principle

• Over 400 artisans trained

• Person-days employment increased from 40 to 77 per cent

• 80% are women artisans

• Average monthly income has increased by 100 percent

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2004 2005 2006

year

Mean

nu

mb

er o

f m

an

-days

Increase in person-days employment and doubling of cash income

Forest invaded by Lantana camara