Setting an example for Biodiversity Conservation
Something interesting happened yesterday which I think will have a long term effect in this jungle.
The local District forest officer(DFO) called me and asked me to come over for a meeting with Atree yesterday morning. I knew Atree was into good biodiversity research, so I jumped at the offer and decided to attend the meeting. At the meeting there was also Dr Sudershan (Many people might have heard off him) who runs a NGO named VGKK at BR hills which looks into Tribal welfare issues, The District Conservator of forest and lot of other folks who have a active role to play in the forest where also present there.
The meeting started out with brief’s from each of the organisation heads. Atree folks talked about how they are measuring the changes in biodiversity, using GIS system, computing detailed maps etc. VGKK folks talked about how they are trying to find a balance between the tribal’s and the forest. They talked about their success with sustainability harvesting, tribal education etc. Then the forest dept folks talked about what they have been upto and what they have in mind. At the end of it, it was pretty obvious all three were trying to achieve the same goal and they were trying to solve the problem from different angles. I spoke a bit about challenges trying to run a eco-tourism resort.
Some of the interesting facts about BR hills that came out:
So at the end of the meeting, all of us decided to work together to solve the issues faced by BR hills. We are going to use the scientific knowledge of ATree, the hands-on working exp of VGKK and the power of forest depart. For example take weed management. There is too much weed (mostly lantana) growing inside the park. The idea is to encourage the local tribal’s to cut it out and then use that to generate electricity (which we give back free of cost).
I really hope this initiative works as planned. If it does work, then BR hills will set an example for rest of the forests in India to follow.
I love the photo on the atree website. Is that BR hills? I’m coming there soon if it is.
I’d like to get away from it all in about a month or so, where do you think I should head?
BTW, are you in Bangalore these days (read this weekend^w today)?
Dude, don’t mess with the weed…. 😉
I have heard and read a lot about Mr. Sudershan and his work for the tribals in BR hills. I have been to BR hills only once, that too when I was a small kid.
Hope you get to know more and share it with us.
wtg dude.. hope i can make time again and drop by..
Way to go, Kalyan!!
Just wondering, have you heard about the proposed Forest Bill? The one that plans to give 2 acres of forest land ‘back’ to each tribal family. Haven’t read it yet, but loopholes, if any would certainly lead to misuse.
Awesome Kalyan !!! it must have been very informative to rub shoulders with experienced people in the field.
Its really nice to see that tribal welfare is being addressed inorder to ensure that the forests remain intact and even the life of tribals is not compromised.
I do feel that if the Tribals are given a sense of ownership of particular areas & given rights to sell forest produce of the areas either to the government or to NGO’s. May a group of tribals can come under a Forest Mgmt Commitee and they are assigned the area, this will ensure that there are no vested interests on the part of the tribals . Of course the Forest Dept should ensure that harvesting of the forest produce is done in a non destructive, sustainable basis .
Actually what I did not mention was the fact that there were 2 folks from the tribal community in the meeting. It’s obvious we cannot do anything without their hand and support and I think that is the key in any Forest conservation in the country. Just throwing them out is not the answer as that iwll not work and besides we need to respect them and the fact that they have been staying here since the start.
I will keep you posted, but overall things are good here and the tribals have been very understanding.
Acutally yes and there is a lot of controversy around it. We will have to see wait and see what comes out of it. But yes folks here are ready for it.
BR hills is too close to my heart now. Even if I do come back to the city, I will be inclose touch with things here.
I think the photo is from Silent Valley in kerala but I could be wrong. BR hills is equally good, so you should drop in anyway 🙂
The rain’s are on and the monsoon will be in full swing. So you can forget about good wildlife sightings, but you can enjoy the wilderness and stuff. I will be in Bangalore this weekend. Lets try to catch up.
Its really neat dude:-) . Man, must have beena good experience to Meet Dr.Sudershan too:-)
btw, has your kannada improved, having been there for quite some time now?;-)
Kannada has improved a LOT. Infact I’m quite proud of it right now 🙂 the true halli kannada
Photo on the ATREE website
Is from Eravikulam National Park, Munnar, Kerala, (taken by Dr. Jagdish or Abi)
need to hear you to believe it… hmmmm… 😉
agree with milin:-) ..
Prashanth here (remember??)
Dear Kalyan,
Great experience for you in the meeting…and a nice little write-up. I did not know about it. Dr. S fwded me the link!
Drop in at VGKK sometime.
Regards,
Dr. Prashanth
BRH
Re: Prashanth here (remember??)
Dr. Prashanth,
Are you Dr. N.S. Prashanth from MMC ?
Tiger
Hey Kalyan, just read in HIndu that there are 17 tigers counted at your place… Way to go man… keep up the great work guys…
Re: Tiger
Which paper ? And that figure is TOTALLY wrong.
Re: Tiger
It has appeared in today’s Hindu.. I am marking the online version of the story
http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/07/stories/2005060711760500.htm
Re: Tiger
I know this female and spent quite some time with her when she had come to BRT. She collected 60 samples and found out atleast 17 unique tigers. Thats it. She would have covered like 30% of the park.. so ideally there could be as many as 40+ tigers there.
Re: Prashanth here (remember??)
Yes