International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 36 (2-3): 195-200, 2010 © NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY, NEW DELHI
Conserving Biodiversity in Protected Area of Biodiversity Hotspot in India: A Case Study SUNIL NAUTIYAL1 * AND RAMA RAO NIDAMANURI2 Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Dr. VKRV Rao Road, Nagarabhavi, 560 072, Bangalore, India 2 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India * Corresponding author; Email:
[email protected]
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ABSTRACT: The hotspots are the world’s most biologically rich areas hence recognized as important ecosystems not important only for the rich biodiversity but equally important for the human survival as these are the homes for more than 20% of the world’s population. India got recognition of one of the mega-diversity countries of world as the country is home of the two important biodiversity hotspots: the Himalaya in north and the Western Ghats in the southern peninsula. Policy makers and decision takers have recognized the importance of biodiversity (flora and fauna) and this has resulted to segregate (in the form of protected areas) the rich and diverse landscape for biodiversity conservation. An approach which leads towards conservation of biological diversity is good efforts but such approaches should deal with humans equally who are residing in biodiversity hotspots since time immemorial. In this endeavor, a study was conducted in Nagarahole National Park of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, in Karnataka. Our empirical studies reveal that banning all the human activities in this ecosystem including agriculture, animal husbandry has produced the results opposite to the approach ‘multiple values’ of national park. To monitor the impact, existing policies have been tested from an economic and ecological view-point. Unfortunately, the local livelihoods (most of them belongs to indigenous tribes) in the area have received setbacks due to the implementation of the policies, though unintentionally. However, the ecological perspective is also not showing support for the approach and framework of the current policies in the hotspots. Satellite data showed that the temporal pattern of ecosystem processes has been changing. An integrated approach for ecosystem conservation and strengthening local institutions for sustainable ecosystem management in such areas is therefore supported by this study. Key Words: Biodiversity Hotspots, Indigenous People, Socio-economy, Nagarahole National Park, Remote Sensing, Gis, Vegetation Dynamics, Landscape Change
INTRODUCTION Worldwide, 34 hotspots cover less than 2.5% of Earth’s surface, are the living laboratories for biodiversity as well as equally important for more than 20% of the total world population living in these areas. Most of the biodiversity in the hotspots can be conserved with minimal efforts (Myers et al. 2000). The biodiversity hotspots in India (the Himalaya and the Western Ghats) are most important ecosystems of the world, harboring a unique biodiversity, which both on the one hand are threatened by overexploitation, and on the other hand threaten the adjoining lowlands by
increasing runoff from deforested areas. Therefore, issues related to the conservation and management of the biodiversity rich areas are very crucial and various programme are being implemented for ecosystem conservation and development of the local economy and people in the biodiversity hotspots. The conservation models that include creation of protected areas in the form of sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere reserves, were an innovation for sustainable development of the biodiversity-rich areas. But in developing countries, conservation has mainly focused on a segregated approach and mainly adopted from the North American approach for management of the area
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based on strict natural preservation and local communities are deprived to use the resources from the surrounding ecosystems despite the fact that in developing countries the human - ecosystem interaction is more complex and closely interwoven to support conservation options and the sustainable livelihood of the local people (Hjortso et al. 2006). Many studies have reported that following the segregated approach for conservation and management without emphasizing the multifunctional values of ecosystems/landscape and society can lead to conflicts between conservation and utilisation of the resources. This is widely termed as resource - people conflict and has been identified as a major hurdle for sustainable management of the ecosystems/landscape (Hjortso et al. 2006; Maikhuri et al. 2001). The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of conservation model - whether the strict ban associated with the implementation of the policies in India is helpful in achieving the biodiversity conservation goal along with sustainable ecosystem development.
Int. J. Ecol. Environ. Sci.
Rainy season start in June and ending in the Month of September and accounts for 50-55% of the total rainfall in the year. Overview of the area is given in Figure 1. Four tribal communities (viz., Jenu kuruba, Yerava, Betta kuruba and Soliga) living in the region. A total of 43 hadis (hamlets) with 1667 families falls in RGNP, of which 17 are located inside the core zone and 26 are outside the core zone (discussion with the people of RGNP). The total population of hadis was 6484 (Ramanaiah 2000). Since 1974 domestic livestock rearing and grazing has been stopped in accordance with the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
STUDY AREA The NHNP located between Kodagu and Mysore districts and comes in the perifery of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve of the Western Ghats. Geographically area lies between 11° 55' to 12° 12' N latitude and 76° to 76° 17' E longitude and share his boarder at northwest with the Bandipur National Park where Kabini reservoir separates these two national parks of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The study region comes under the “west coast plains and Ghat regions” agro-ecological zone of broad ecological zonation of the country and one of the representative sites of the zone in which the area is located. The area has a great ecological importance in terms of diversity of the natural resources. Nagarahole was enunciated in 1955 as a game sanctuary. Realizing its importance in wildlife conservation, the area of the park was extended by combining Mysore forests with Nagarahole National Park. It was 1974, that this area took a shape of full fledged Nagarahole National Park now renamed as Rajiv Gandhi National Park (hereafter RGNP). The climate of the study area is segregated into three seasons in a year. Summer (March to June) in the study area is hot and dry with the mean average temperatures going up to or slightly over 33 °C. Winter season (December to February) is comparatively shorter in time span and temperature dipping to 12-15 °C.
Figure 1. Location of the study area
METHODOLOGY In the study region records related to land resource rights and management practices were studied and households was surveyed to get information on land and livestock holdings, proportion of area under different crops before implementation of conservation policies, and people’s perceptions of development. For this we had studied four villages in detail (Table 1). Subsequently, participatory discussions were held with the people to understand the policy scenario. Quantitative information gathered from people included land and livestock holdings, land use, economic losses due to implementation of conservation policies in the region. The respondent was also asked to reveal what they thinks for promoting socio-economic development in view of various programmes those are implemented in the region. Information was gathered for the time allocation by the farmers to perform different activities
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Table 1. Demographic data of the studied hadis/villages (Nautiyal and Nidamanuri 2010)
Parameters Gadde hadi Tribal communities
Jenu kuruba Yerava and Betta kuruba
Number of households Total population Adult Male Adult Female Children
