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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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