Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning

Human activities have significantly changed natural ecosystems, impacting biodiversity, interactions between species and ecosystem processes, with consequences for our well-being. Understanding and monitoring the responses of ecosystems and species to anthropogenic change is crucial for structuring our conservation strategies. This programme integrates numerous approaches to explore biodiversity and ecosystem-function maintenance by natural and social drivers, aiming to inform policymakers and conservationists to support conservation and restoration efforts essential for protecting biodiversity, ecosystem processes and human well-being.

Objectives

  • Assess, describe, and monitor all forms of biodiversity in response to global change.
  • Understand the factors that determine ecosystem structures and functions.
  • Study human-wildlife interfaces and analyse the impact of human activities on biodiversity, wildlife behaviour, ecology and plant-animal interactions.
  • Develop and maintain a comprehensive open-source database on India’s biodiversity to support conservation planning and action.
  • Enhance connectivity of natural landscapes and study associated movement patterns of flora and fauna.

Research Questions

  • What are the major factors responsible for long-term changes in wetlands, grasslands and forest ecosystems? How do they interact with global processes?
  • In what ways do human interventions impact ecosystem functions and services?
  • What socio-ecological factors enable the communities dependent on these ecosystems to respond and adapt to changes?
  • What policy gaps hinder effective conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity?
  • What are the primary obstacles to deploying models of sustainable agriculture that promote biodiversity? What policy framework changes are needed to overcome these obstacles
  • What are the factors needed to create effective wildlife corridors? How can landscapes be made into functional corridors, especially in human dominated landscapes?

Alignment with India’s international commitments:

This programme will contribute to India meeting its commitments to:

  • The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 2022 (Targets 2, 3, 4, 11, 14)
  • The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2018 (Targets 15.1, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.9)

Projects

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Woodpecker-communities-in-the-differently-managed-forests-of-Darjeeling-Eastern-Himalaya-India
Women preparing to cook wild edible banana flower to cook at Sakyong Village, upper Dzongu
Western-Ghats-Corridor
Urban-plant-diversity
Supporting-CFR-Recognition-Management-with-Geo-Spatial-Technology-Supporting-Data-Capacity-in-Conser
Securing-Individual-Forest-Rights-IFR-for-the-Forest-Villages-of-Madhya-Pradesh-using-geospatial-t
Otter-Conservation-in-Tamiraparani-River
Riparian-zone-restoration-and-associated-biodiversity-along-the-Tamiraparani-River-Tamil-Nadu
Restoring-Degraded-Natural-Habitat-near-Bengaluru-to-combat-Climate-Change

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