What Lies Ahead

A perspective from the staff:

 

  • Engage with a larger set of people besides adivasis; this would spread knowledge and awareness; would help to improve overall environmental issues in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
  •  Focus on applied research and inter disciplinary approach to issues, always applying them to field situations.
  •  Expand into Karnataka and select areas to cover the whole of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve; intensify work in the region
  • Continue engagement and network with partners across the country and globally through more examples and programmes
  • Information, communication and Technology (ICT) to be used pro-actively for a range of stakeholders and participants both within working areas and with external partners.
  • Create a Field University/Field learning centre/Centre of excellence; skill development centre for adivasis which addresses both traditional and modern skills and creates barefoot expertise.
  • Address issues of adivasi education by advocating changes in the syllabus at school level
  • Constantly engage with communities on issues of self governance, culture, identity and social organisation; special concern for Primitive Tribal Groups (PTG) with small and dwindling populations.
  • Achieve ‘good governance’ in the voluntary sector with transparent and participatory processes
  • Community access to government programmes and benefits needs constant monitoring and follow up; to ensure improved facilities for the community.
  • There are five production centres in the Nilgiris – establised through projects of Keystone, which are value adding NTFPs and oganic agriculture produce at the villages. This is the village enterprise which directly brings profits to the community – gatherer, worker or staff of that local enterprise. Currently the centres are yet to have a legal entity and most of their operations are managed by the staff of Keystone. Within the next two years we wish to create a producer company which will have a federation of all these and many more centres of value addition spred across the three states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka in the biosphere reserve. These production centres also act as multi-nodal training and capacity building centres.

 

Many more detailed project ideas and area development focus plans have been made and will be used during implementation of programmes and research.