Conservation Programs

ATREE's conservation programmes begin with the premise that local communities are integral to any conservation effort. We believe that it is possible to evolve participatory approaches to conservation that reconcile conservation of biodiversity and the livelihoods of local communities dependent on the ecosystems around them. The conservation programmes at ATREE plan to address these issues through a series of multi-disciplinary action and research initiatives.

ATREE's conservation programmes include research activities by investigating the effects of human use on forests, including the harvest of non-timber forest products, and to suggest approaches that are sustainable. Other important areas of research include exploring options that could result in the increase in economic returns from the sale of forest products. ATREE is currently pursuing research in South India to assess the potential role of local institutions in conserving biodiversity, and assessing ways in which conservation and human sustenance can both be safeguarded. ATREE also works in Orissa, exploring the role of community forest management institutions in sustainable forest management and in livelihood enhancement. In the northeast, ATREE is working to promote livelihood options for communities living within or in the vicinity of Senchel Wildlife Sanctuary and Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, both located in the Darjeeling Himalayas. The Conservation and Livelihoods programme works in such diverse sites as BRT, MM Hills, Kanakpura, Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Natham, Orissa and Kalimpong. Examples of our project implementation efforts range from fabrication of lantana products and women's self help groups in the Western Ghats, to community-based reforestation work in the Eastern Himalayas. ATREE also has an interdisciplinary Coastal and Marine Programme, currently focusing on integrating fishing livelihoods and marine turtle conservation in Orissa.



In the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary , Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environemnt (ATREE) is working along side Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK), and the Karnataka Forest Department to help Soligas conserve their natural resources through forest-based enterprises, capacity building, and institutional reform with a primary focus on regeneration of non-timber forest products. more...





The Kanakapura range is approximately 450 sq km and runs from the south of Bangalore city to the Cauvery River. It is an area of moderate biodiversity with low rainfall, undulating topography, degraded dry deciduous and scrub forests that experiences chronically high soil loss. A large portion of the land is highly fragmented Reserve Forest, interspersed with agricultural communities. Rain-fed, antiquated farming practices, coupled with increased elephant raids on crops as the area is an elephant corridor results in poor agricultural productivity and marginal livelihoods. Therefore, these communities augment their income by increasingly depending on the forest through fuel wood collection, animal grazing, and the harvesting of non-timber forest products. more...



The Male Madeshwara Hills (MM Hills) Reserve Forest is located at the eastern border of the state of Karnataka with Tamil Nadu. MM Hills have an area of 173,920 acres comprising mostly of dry deciduous forest. Human settlements account for about 24,142 acres. Soligas and Lingayats who inhabit this area are hunters and gatherers of yesteryears now confined to settlements and lands allotted by the government. Given the continued dependence on NTFPs to boost income from agriculture, communities in MM Hills provide a rich tapestry of interactions with the forest and offer a unique platform to address the issues of sustainable extraction of NTFPs while also enhancing the livelihoods of the people. more...



Kalakad -Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in Agasthyamalai hills of Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu is known for abundance of rare plants and several endangered animals. KMTR being a tiger reserve enjoys total protection where no collection of any sort is allowed. It comprises the wet forests on higher elevations and dry forests in the foothills. more...






The Coastal and Marine Conservation Programme at ATREE focuses on the development of approaches to marine conservation that are participatory, appropriate and which promote the sustainable use of marine resources. There is a need to examine and revise approaches to marine conservation in India, since current approaches are essentially exclusionary and protectionist which alienate coastal communities from the management of their livelihood resources. more...





Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth that also harbor high levels of biodiversity. Unfortunately, most wetlands are facing grave threats from various human activities. To understand and act upon such threats, ATREE recently initiated a community based wetland conservation programme around the Vembanad wetland in Kerala. more...


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