Overview: Ecology and Society

The Western Ghats -- Deciduous Forests programme worked to develop a better understanding of the complex interface between ecology and society in the densely settled landscapes around wildlife reserves in the region. The programme spanned sites located in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and addressed this complex interface at the larger scale of conservation landscapes, which comprise protected areas, reserved forests, and privately-owned lands. The programme was built upon the belief that such a tiered understanding of the relationships between people and wildlife is critical both in formulating well-reasoned conservation policy as well as in effectively implementing it on the ground to bring about sustained conservation. Projects under this program focused on understanding of the ecology of deciduous forests as well the human societies that interact with these forests. The research encompassed studies on large mammal ecology and conservation with a focus on species such as gaur, elephants, ungulates, and carnivores, landscape-level habitat connectivity, invasive alien species and tree mortality, landscape and spatial ecology. Human-interface studies included work on interactions between people and wildlife, dynamics of human dependence on forest resources and social factors governing conservation interventions. The programme also trained several students, built local conservation capacity, and addressed policy issues. The program was led by M. D. Madhusudan between 1996 and 2019.