CEPF Workshop cum Mid term Assessment
A workshop cum mid term assessment was conducted by the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) at Keystone Foundation, Kotagiri on the April 8-9, 2011. CEPF is a joint initiative of l’Agence Francaise de Developpement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, x…x
Visiting Community Forestry in Orissa
In the midst of the growing momentum around the Forest Rights Act here in the NBR, a group of us took off to visit community groups engaged in community forestry in Orissa. Our discussions on the FRA with the villages had thrown up the opportunities opened up by community rights over forest resources – to x…x
Announcement of The Nilgiris Biodiversity Festival
The Nilgiris, ancient mountains, houses one of the most unique ecosystems of India. It lends its name to the first ever biosphere reserve to be declared for India by the Man and Biosphere Reserve Program of the UNESCO. The Nilgiris belongs to the Western Ghat chain of mountains – a global biodiversity hotspot. The Nilgiri x…x
Ecological Monitoring
Securing the livelihoods of forest-dependent peoples and the biodiversity they depend on necessitates good governance and sustainable management of common-pool forest resources. This is of special importance in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), South India, which supports high levels of both biological and cultural diversity. Keystone’s action-research over the past 15 years has illustrated the x…x
Nurseries
Raising of indigenous forest and horticultural species has been an area of priority in the work at Keystone. Most nurseries grow ornamental and horticulture varieties, but we raise forest and shola species and are being recognized for it by people and Forest Departments. Earlier, only the Forest Department would grow such nurseries. In our approach, x…x
Conservation Education
The mission of Keystone Foundation is to enhance the quality of life and environment with indigenous communities using eco-development approaches. Keeping this in mind, we initiated a programme on Conservation Education at various levels of the communities in the NBR. The level of interactions can be termed in the following heads. – Conservation education for x…x
An Introduction
Conservation approaches are integral to all projects at Keystone Foundation. From distant villages to urban taluks to districts within the state, work is now at a landscape level. The conservation focus keeps pace with enterprise and livelihoods. Specific projects provide insights into the ecology of bees, forest fruits, resin yielding trees, endemic cycads, agriculture, water, x…x
