Conservation Through Sustainable Use: Lessons from India

The human use of nature is a polarizing topic in India and across the globe, often perceived as contradictory to traditional exclusionary conservation. However, India’s natural landscapes serve as important sources of biological resources for many communities. This collection of case studies on sustainable use practices throughout India aims to identify the policies, management strategies, and knowledge contexts that contribute to resource use without damaging biological diversity.

Through a diverse array of personal accounts, stories and photographs from the field, and ongoing research studies across biogeographic zones, readers will connect with academics, practitioners, managers, and policy analysts who challenge us to rethink the conservation paradigm. These chapters provide a reflection on the history of conservation and sustainable use in India and illuminate a path towards a local and global future in which biodiversity and human well-being go hand in hand.

The wide variety of authors in this book reflects the broad audience this book will be of interest to, from students studying environmental conservation and sustainability to researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who work in the field and seek to learn about successful sustainable use systems and resulting lessons that have widespread application. This book will appeal to readers interested in the areas of environment sciences, biodiversity management, sustainable development, developmental studies, forestry, wildlife and protected area management, public policy, environmental policy, and governance.

Anita Varghese is Director (Biodiversity) at Keystone Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Zoology (Bombay University), master’s degree in Ecology (Pondicherry University), and a doctorate in Botany (University of Hawaii). Her interests are in plant conservation specifically on sustainable use, non-timber forest products, long-term population dynamics of harvested species, invasive plants, cycads, and forest trees.

Meera Anna Oommen is a trustee of Dakshin Foundation, Bangalore, and the Madras Crocodile Bank. She works on issues related to ecology, conservation science, and environmental history. Her recent work focuses on incorporating insights from multiple disciplines to understand the dynamics of human-wildlife conflict, aspects related to human-animal relationships, and the history of hunting in India.

Mridula Mary Paul is a postgraduate researcher at the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. She has previously been Senior Policy Analyst with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, and practised environmentallaw before the Madras High Court.

Snehlata Nath is Founder Director of Keystone Foundation and has worked on conservation-livelihoods-enterprise with indigenous people in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. She co-founded the NTFP Exchange Program network across Asia and has coordinated the India chapter for over 20 years.