Jagdish Krishnaswamy and Bhaskar Acharya of the
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) are the principal investigator and project coordinator, respectively, on the CEPF Regional Implementation Team for the Western Ghats. They will lead the strategy for CEPF investment in this part of the Western Ghats & Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot.
Krishnaswamy has been with ATREE for seven years, while Acharya joined the organization in August 2008. Our writer Julie Shaw spoke to them as CEPF was about to launch grantmaking in the region.
Q: What do you think is the most compelling aspect of the Western Ghats?
Krishnaswamy: The Western Ghats is one landscape in India where the connectivity north, south and east, west is far better than many other parts of forested landscapes in the rest of India. And the other remarkable thing is that even some of the connection landscapes which are in the Western Ghats, which separate protected areas of forest also happen to be vital regions for coffee, cardamom, and some other types of agriculture systems.
Plus population density, which is lower compared to other landscapes in India, but globally speaking, in terms of comparing hotspots, it is one of the most human-dominated hotspots in the world. In spite of all that, it’s got a remarkable diversity of ecosystems and species.
Acharya: And the water. The states are heavily dependent on the water that comes from the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are like a lifeline for the area.
Q: I know that ATREE was very involved in the development of the ecosystem profile and the investment strategy for the Western Ghats, and that was an important process to go through and complete. Given that, why did ATREE decide to apply to be the regional implementation team (RIT) for the CEPF investment?
Krishnaswamy: It was a difficult decision, because there are many scientists and researchers at ATREE who would have been very competitive in applying for grants under the RIT. But we decided collectively that being able to drive the conservation initiative might put us in a leadership role, and also we would be able to engage with so many partners and collaborators that that would compensate for the loss of opportunities in terms of projects. That is the decision that we made, and I think we are happy with it.
Q: What do you think are likely to be the biggest challenges in terms of meeting the CEPF investment priorities?
Krishnaswamy: One of the most important aspects of this particular project is the partnership between the organizations and the forestry department, and also between the different organizations themselves. One of the most important challenges that we face is engaging the forestry department, who are in charge of the forest areas and protected areas, engaging with them in a very positive, proactive manner and getting their participation in the projects. Without their research permits or other types of permits, some of the really creative engagements of civil society and the forest department wouldn’t happen. So we really need them on board.
The other challenge is that when you’re looking at production landscape, such as coffee plantations or cardamom plantations or other types of agriculture systems which are in the corridor, our biggest challenge will be to bring them together and get them to adopt biodiversity practices and elicit their participation in order to maintain the corridor.
Acharya: On a more or less permanent basis. They’re not going to make a difference unless they’re permanent.
Krishnaswamy: In the past few years there has been the Forest Rights Act, which gives the right to forest dwellers who have been living in an area for a long time to cultivate, plant up to 4 hectares, and also to collect forest resources and to have access to infrastructure development.
One of the challenges would be to use the RIT abilities and the projects to make sure that the Forest Act can be used for conservation, and we can promote conservation through the entitlements that people are going to get, and also come up with ways of minimizing the potential negative impacts of the act on the corridor.
Q: How do you think the people who live near and in the Western Ghats view the natural resources?
Acharya: Some of them are living entirely within the ecosystem, and there are others who are slightly moved away from it. For some of them it’s like a gold mine. Conserving it will probably be at the back of their minds. Others will want to leave some for the future.
A lot of resources that are traditionally used are being depleted.
Q: How do you think the projects will help engage the public?
Krishnaswamy: In a couple of ways. One is to try to initiate livelihoods and agroforestry systems that minimize the negative impact on viability. The other one is trying to see if people can benefit from conservation in other economic ways, maybe through real ecotourism, but minimal ecotourism. Maybe even in the future payments for ecosystem services. So we need to think of creative ways to engage the people who are dependent on the land.
Acharya: They’re getting these benefits because of conservation. They wouldn’t have had this if not for conservation.
Krishnaswamy: Another thing would be to try to erase conflicts between people and wildlife.
Q: How do you feel about the long-term outlook for the Western Ghats?
Krishnaswamy: I’m very optimistic because the Western Ghats has got a pretty good percentage of protected areas, over 10 percent, and more are being added. Many of the state governments have had a fairly good record on conservation.
Acharya: The population is going to increase, it’s not going to go down. The pressures are going to be much higher. But everyone knows this is the set of resources we have.
Krishnaswamy: Many people are migrating to urban centers and so there are shifts in demography and other parameters in many of the areas that may be beneficial for conservation.