~ by Kalyanee Paranjape

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India’s topography is undergoing rapid changes. Due to this expansion, ecosystems are under threat due to rapid land use changes and fragmentation. This has led to a growing interest in integrating conservation concerns in infrastructure development in India and an urgent need to illustrate the extent of their fragmentation.

A recent paper titled, “Bits and pieces: Forest fragmentation by linear intrusions in India”, aims to understand the impact of infrastructure developments on forest structural connectivity in India through analyzing forest patch characteristics. The authors have utilized patch size, amount of perforation and inter-patch distance to quantify clusters and fragmentation categories. Cluster analysis was used to identify large, intact patches that need to be preserved in future development action plans. And results were summarized at the national scale and for the existing protected area (PA) network. The results also cover two important conservation landscapes; the Western Ghats and Central India, which are rich in biodiversity and critical for survival of several threatened large mammals including tiger and Asian elephant.

The scientists found an increase in the number of forest patches and a reduction in the number of large patches due to linear infrastructure in India. High tension power-transmission lines and major roads were the most common linear intrusions within forests, and 70 % of the assessed protected areas had some amount of linear infrastructure passing through them. They also discovered that the highest fragmentation due to linear intrusions was observed in Central India, where an intact forest habitat of size 162,000 km2 was split into 5200 smaller patches with a mean patch size of 30 km2 and the largest patch being 16,850 km2 in size.

The authors recommend that infrastructure projects should not be established through the existing forests and when inevitable, proper mitigation strategies are vital to maintain connectivity. A more rational development plan would be to connect larger numbers of villages or people while safeguarding forests rather than to establish the shortest routes that would destroy forests, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The study addresses the issue of fragmentation within forests and develops techniques that can be usefully applied to mitigate fragmentation problems in other fragile ecosystems such as tropical grasslands and savannas.

What drew you to work with Last Wilderness Foundation (LWF) and when did you join?
After working for the corporate world for more than a decade, I took the leap and quit my job in 2010. I was in search of an opportunity which would allow me to work in the field of wildlife conservation. During the short stint of 1 year with Sanctuary Asia, one of my ex-bosses from Citigroup had recommended to meet Nikhil Nagle (Founder of LWF), who was also with Citigroup and had recently quit and started a Wildlife NGO. As one would say, I was just lucky to find my dream job! My passion for travel, wildlife & Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve – it all came true! So the next thing I know is I’ve joined LWF in 2011

Over the last ten years of your work what have been some of the high points?
The best part of my work is that I’ve had extended families at every location that I’ve worked. This allows me to immerse myself into their local culture and traditions, which is of keen interest to me. Many of their cultural activities and traditional habits have also helped me to arrive at solutions for that particular landscape. Also, knowing the Pardhi community has been one of the highlights of my life. I have learnt so much from them. I’m humbled that they have accepted me to be a part of their family and have entrusted me to be one amongst them.

The other high point that I would like to share is the advantage of being a woman in this field. It is easy to break ice with the females in the community and work with them. Having ‘Ek chai ki pyaali’ (a single cup of tea) with them can break any barriers. This has also proven to be a very important tool for me since in most rural areas, I’ve seen women being the biggest influencers within a community. They’ve helped us to bring about a change.

And last but not the least, my experience with working with the Forest Department personnel have been fantastic! I’ve come across some of the most dedicated officers on-field and off-field who are not just committed to doing their jobs but are willing to go that extra mile to make a bigger difference. It’s great to work with such officers when they’re personally determined to bring about a change. Examples like the Kanha Tiger Reserve running the Bhoorsingh Public School & a dedicated women’s canteen, Panna Tiger Reserve supporting the Pardhi hostels and many more such live examples have shown results through support received from the communities.