Power asymmetries and institutions: landscape conservation in central India

Understanding the importance of cross-sectoral implications of climate and socio-economic change in Scotland is essential for adaptation policy. This study explored the direct and indirect sectoral impacts of future change using the CLIMSAVE Integrated Assessment Platform. There is great spatial diversity in projected impacts across Scotland, and increasing uncertainty in the direction of change of impacts from the national to regional scale associated with climate uncertainty. Further uncertainty associated with socio-economic change results in 6 out of 13 indicators (artificial surfaces, biodiversity vulnerability, forest area, land-use intensity, irrigation usage and land-use diversity) with robust directions of change at the national scale and only three (artificial surfaces, forest area and irrigation usage) that are robust across all regions of Scotland. Complex interactions between socio-economic scenario assumptions (e.g. food imports, population and GDP), climatic suitability and agricultural productivity and profitability lead to significant national and regional changes in the distribution and extent of land cover types, with resultant cross-sectoral interactions with water, forestry and biodiversity. Consequently, stakeholders characterised robust adaptation policy options, within the CLIMSAVE participatory process, as those beneficial to society (and the country) in all scenarios, irrespective of the direction of change of the impacts. The integration in CLIMSAVE of a participatory scenario development process and an integrated participatory modelling framework has allowed the exploration of future uncertainty in a structured approach and better represented the importance of qualitative information and the social and institutional contexts within adaptation research.     

Livestock losses and hotspots of attack from tigers and leopards in Kanha Tiger Reserve,Central India

Carnivore attacks on livestock are a primary driver of human–carnivore conflict and carnivore decline globally. Livestock depredation is particularly threatening to carnivore conservation in Central India, a priority landscape and stronghold for the endangered tiger. To strengthen the effectiveness of conflict mitigation strategies, we examined the spatial and temporal patterns and physical characteristics of livestock depredation in Kanha Tiger Reserve. We combined livestock compensation historical records (2001–2009) with ground surveys (2011–2012) and carnivore scat to identify when and where livestock species were most vulnerable. Between 400 and 600 livestock were reported for financial compensation each year, and most (91–95 %) were successfully reimbursed. Tigers and leopards were responsible for nearly all livestock losses and most often killed in the afternoon and early evening. Cattle and buffalo were most at risk in dense forests away from villages and roads, whereas goats were most often killed in open vegetation near villages. A spatial predation risk model for cattle revealed high-risk hotspots around the core zone boundary, confirming the significant risks to livestock grazing illegally in the core. Such ecological insights on carnivore–livestock interactions may help improve species-specific livestock husbandry for minimizing livestock losses and enabling coexistence between people and carnivores.     

Channel migration zone mapping of the River Ganga in the Diara surrounding region of Eastern India

River channel migration is the universal phenomenon that is common in almost all alluvial rivers. The holy River Ganga, the heartbeat of India, is also not an exception in this case. It has shifted its course from time to time. After crossing the Rajmahal hills that is situated in the north-eastern corner of the Chota Nagpur plateau, this main river of India has started its lower course by flowing over the great low-lying flat plain of Bengal. In this flat plain area, the channel migration is a common phenomenon which is observed in the River Ganga also. The study is done in the segment of the Ganga River which is situated in the Diara surrounding area. Diara is a physical cum administrative region of the Malda district of the state of West Bengal of India which occupies an area of almost 900 km². For the identification of channel migration zone, several methods are used like construction of historical migration zone (HMZ), erosion buffer (EB), avulsion potential zone (APZ), restricted and un-restricted migration area (RMA and UrMA) and retreating migration zone (RMZ). The impact of the channel migration over the villages of the Diara region has also been depicted in this study. Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (RS–GIS) is used to perform this study by taking the help of historical maps, Survey of India topographical sheets, LANDSAT imageries, etc. The results show that the river has a historical migration zone of 855.55 km² during 1926–2016 period which is near the entire area of the Diara region (i.e. 900 km²). The construction of EB over the Ganga River for the next 100 years shows that more than half of the area of the Diara region will go under the river bed.     

Assessing the vulnerability of rare plants using climate change velocity,habitat connectivity,and dispersal ability: a case study in Alberta,Canada

Climate change generally requires species to migrate northward or to higher elevation to maintain constant climate conditions, but migration requirement and migration capacity of individual species can vary greatly. Individual populations of species occupy different positions in the landscape that determine their required range shift to maintain similar climate, and likewise the migration capacity depends on habitat connectivity. Here, we demonstrate an approach to quantifying species vulnerabilities to climate change for 419 rare vascular plants in Alberta, Canada, based on a multivariate velocity of climate change metric, local habitat fragmentation, and migration capacity. Climate change velocities indicated that future migration requirements ranged from 1 to 5 km/year in topographically complex landscapes, such as the Alberta Foothills and Rocky Mountains. In contrast, migration requirements to maintain constant climate in relatively flat Boreal Plains, Parkland, and Grassland ranged from 4 to 8 km/year. Habitat fragmentation was also highest in these flat regions, particularly the Parkland Natural Region. Of the 419 rare vascular plants assessed, 36 were globally threatened (G1–G3 ranking). Three globally threatened species were ranked as extremely vulnerable and five species as highly vulnerable to the interactions among climate change velocity, habitat fragmentation, and migration capacity. Incorporating dispersal characteristics and habitat fragmentation with local patterns in climate change velocity improves the assessment of climate change threats to species and may be applied to guide monitoring efforts or conservation actions.     

Comparative analysis of forest canopy mapping methods for the Sundarban biosphere reserve,West Bengal,India

The canopy density of forests is highly influenced by population pressure which cause forest fragmentations, deforestations, forest degradation and also land reclamation for infrastructure and agriculture. This study was envisaged with the objective of mapping the forest canopy density with two different methods by using Landsat 8 OLI dataset of the year 2016 after mapping the vegetation indices. One of the two methods is the semi-expert FCD mapper model, while the other model is newly developed by us and consists of eight vegetation indices. After running the models, the results of both the models were compared. It was found that for the semi-expert FCD model, the three classes viz. high canopy density, moderate canopy and low canopy covered an area of 81,615.51 ha (40%), 84,474.72 ha (41%) and 38,844.18 ha (19%), respectively. And for the modified FCD model, the same classes covered 69,134.670 ha (37%), 84,062.250 ha (45%) and 32,529.150 ha (18%), respectively. It was observed that the difference between semi-expert FCD model and the modified FCD model’s accuracy is about 1.75% and difference in Kappa statistics is 0.0362. Thus, the modified model is more accurate than the semi-expert FCD model and gives us more detailed canopy density map than the semi-expert FCD map.

     

Long-term sustainability of groundwater resources in the central Ganga Alluvial Plain,India: Study from Gomti River Basin

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Groundwater is the major primary source of drinking and irrigation water for nearly 500 million inhabitants in both rural and urban areas of the Ganga...     

Connecting the Dots: Public Engagement with Environmental Data

Air pollution and other environmental hazards are often imperceptible and need to be made publicly visible. The paper argues for the importance of visualizations in drawing public attention to imperceptible hazards and in providing the public with access to empirical data describing the risks. It also argues for critical inquiry into hazards’ selective visibility as it is produced by visualizations. The impact of visualizations and their selective visibility are considered through the example of a public art project called Particle Falls installed in 2014 in Pittsburgh, a city with a long history of both ignoring air pollution and working to ameliorate this problem. I examine the impact and selective visibility of Particle Falls by considering the underlying production of data, as well as context and support systems for this visualization, and by comparing it with other visualizations of local air quality.     

Vegetation type and land cover mapping in a semi-arid heterogeneous forested wetland of India: comparing image classification algorithms

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The present study evaluates and compares performance of three supervised classification algorithms namely Maximum Likelihood (MXL), Artificial Neural...     

Legitimacy,access, and the gridlock of tiger conservation: lessons from Melghat and the history of central India

Though tiger conservationists almost ubiquitously acknowledge the necessity of landscape approaches and the involvement of local people for effective tiger conservation, reconciling these two needs presents certain challenges for practitioners. Seeking to address both local exigencies and conservation goals, state-sponsored ecodevelopment initiatives have become commonly associated with Project Tiger reserves in India. However, in this essay I argue that by focusing on the proximate sources of tension between tiger conservation and local people (i.e., human–tiger conflict, habitat degradation, and prey depletion), these programs have reinforced the ultimate causes of such tension: the structural inequalities that exists between local people and state organizations. By linking the historical literature with my own fieldwork in the Melghat Tiger Reserve of the Central Indian Highlands, I show how the current structure of ecodevelopment largely mirrors that of colonial forestry by attempting to enforce natural resource property rights in a way that privileges the state and delegitimizes local relational mechanisms of access to natural resources. In doing so, ecodevelopment reflects the political structure that facilitated the rise of conflicts between tigers and people and reinforces the “gridlock of tiger conservation” (Rastogi et al. 2012). With this political ecology perspective, I advocate solidarity between conservation practitioners, local people, and state organizations in addressing these structural problems to further conservation efforts. Emphasizing co-management’s ability to accommodate multi-scalar forms of authority, I end by offering three lessons for conservation from Melghat’s experience with colonial forestry and ecodevelopment.     

Stability consistency and trend mapping of seasonally inundated wetlands in Moribund deltaic part of India

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The Ganga-Padma moribund deltaic zone contains plenty of small seasonal wetlands. In this paper we mapped the temporal hydrological dynamics of...     

Effect of human use,season and habitat on ungulate density in Kanha Tiger Reserve,Madhya Pradesh,India

Conservation practitioners require strata specific, seasonal species densities for habitat management. Herein, we use stratified distance sampling in Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) with 200 spatial transects and an effort of 1200 km walk in the year 2013. Analysis was done to access (a) impact of human use and (b) effect of habitat and season on ungulate densities in KTR. While a single detection function for each species was used for estimating density within human-restricted core and multiple use buffer of KTR, species-specific seasonal detections were modelled for each habitat. Ungulate biomass was 4.8 times higher in the core area compared with the buffer zone. The core supported a herbivore density and biomass of 50 ± 4.80/km² and 26,806 ± 2573 kg/km², respectively. Chital were found to be most abundant, having a density of 30.1 ± 4.34/km² and contributing 33 % of the biomass with a habitat preference for grasslands (106 ± 39/km²) in summer and winter. Sambar had highest density (15.4 ± 3.34/km²) in bamboo-mixed habitat, in both seasons. Gaur contributed 39 % of the ungulate biomass and showed a seasonal shift in density from sal forests (9.65 ± 3.55/km²) in summer to miscellaneous forests (8.13 ± 1.94/km²) in winter. Barasingha were restricted to grasslands with similar summer and winter densities of 1.56 ± 0.76/km². Chousingha were rare (0.1 ± 0.04/km²), found mostly in miscellaneous forests and plateau grasslands. Grassland and bamboo-mixed forests supported 58 % of the total ungulate biomass. Management for an optimal habitat mosaic that maintains ungulate diversity, addresses the specific needs of endangered species and maximizes ungulate biomass is recommended.     

Variation of wild boar reproductive performance in different habitat types: Implications for management

The aim of this study was analyze reproductive performance of wild boar in different habitat over a 7-year period (2006–2012). A total of 468 pregnant females and 2.819 fetuses were analyzed, the mean number of fetuses was 6.02 (median = 6) per animal (4.62 per juvenile, 6.39 per yearling and 6.77 per adult). In litters, male-biased fetuses occurred significantly more often than female, the overall fetal sex ratio is 1: 0.86. Positive reproductive traits increased up to 90 kg of live body weight and then decreased. The reproductive parameters observed in our study reflect a relatively high reproductive capacity compared to the populations in southern and northern Europe, but are comparable with some populations in central Europe. Concerning habitat conditions, it is obvious that they influence the reproductive performance of females, and therefore must be included in management plans.     

Strategies for coastal ecosystem management in India

Present paper highlights various coastal issues and management strategies in India for effective environmental management for the sustainable development. The priorities for coastal management were selected based on the available date and material related to various international and national conferences. On the basis of secondary data, various strategies are suggested for the prioritized issues. These strategies include institutional strengthening, capacity building, policy plan, management plans for areas highly degraded, education and awareness; all these issues are discussed under the ecosystem-based management framework which gives better direction and is crucial for India??s costal management.     

Landslide probability mapping by considering fuzzy numerical risk factor (FNRF) and landscape change for road corridor of Uttarakhand,India

Landslide poses severe threats to the natural landscape of the Lesser Himalayas and the lives and economy of the communities residing in that mountainous topography. This study aims to investigate whether the landscape change has any impact on landslide occurrences in the Kalsi-Chakrata road corridor by detailed investigation through correlation of the landslide susceptibility zones and the landscape change, and finally to demarcate the hotspot villages where influence of landscape on landslide occurrence may be more in future. The rational of this work is to delineate the areas with higher landslide susceptibility using the ensemble model of GIS-based multi-criteria decision making through fuzzy landslide numerical risk factor model along the Kalsi-Chakrata road corridor of Uttarakhand where no previous detailed investigation was carried out applying any contemporary statistical techniques. The approach includes the correlation of the landslide conditioning factors in the study area with the changes in land use and land cover (LULC) over the past decade to understand whether frequent landslides have any link with the physical and hydro-meteorological or, infrastructure, and socioeconomic activities. It was performed through LULC change detection and landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM), and spatial overlay analysis to establish statistical correlation between the said parameters. The LULC change detection was performed using the object-oriented classification of satellite images acquired in 2010 and 2019. The inventory of the past landslides was formed by visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite images supported by an intensive field survey of each landslide area. To assess the landslide susceptibility zones for 2010 and 2019 scenarios, the geo-environmental or conditioning factors such as slope, rainfall, lithology, normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), proximity to road and land use and land cover (LULC) were considered, and the fuzzy LNRF technique was applied. The results indicated that the LULC in the study area was primarily transformed from forest cover and sparse vegetation to open areas and arable land, which is increased by 6.7% in a decade. The increase in built-up areas and agricultural land by 2.3% indicates increasing human interference that is continuously transforming the natural landscape. The landslide susceptibility map of 2019 shows that about 25% of the total area falls under high and very high susceptibility classes. The result shows that 80% of the high landslide susceptible class is contained by LULC classes of open areas, scrubland, and sparse vegetation, which point out the profound impact of landscape change that aggravate landslide occurrence in that area. The result acclaims that specific LULC classes, such as open areas, barren-rocky lands, are more prone to landslides in this Lesser Himalayan road corridor, and the LULC-LSM correlation can be instrumental for landslide probability assessment concerning the changing landscape. The fuzzy LNRF model applied has 89.6% prediction accuracy at 95% confidence level which is highly satisfactory. The present study of the connection of LULC change with the landslide probability and identification of the most fragile landscape at the village level has been instrumental in delineation of landslide susceptible areas, and such studies may help the decision-makers adopt appropriate mitigation measures in those villages where the landscape changes have mainly resulted in increased landslide occurrences and formulate strategic plans to promote ecologically sustainable development of the mountainous communities in India's Lesser Himalayas.

     

GIS-based mapping of water-level fluctuations (WLF) and its impact on groundwater in an Agrarian District in Tamil Nadu,India

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study describes the results of groundwater table variation in Thanjavur District before and after the monsoon seasons. Groundwater-level data...     

Reallocating water from canal irrigation for environmental flows: benefits forgone in the Upper Ganga Basin in India

This paper assesses the potential loss of irrigation benefits in reallocating water from irrigation to meet requirements for environmental flows (e-flows) in the Upper Ganga Basin (UGB) in northern India. The minimum requirement for e-flows in the UGB is 32 billion cubic meters (BCM), or 42 % of the mean annual runoff. The current runoff during the low-flow months falls below the minimum requirement for e-flows by 5.1 BCM. Depending on irrigation efficiency, reallocation of 41–51 % of the water from canal irrigation withdrawals can meet this deficit in minimum e-flows. The marginal productivity of canal irrigation consumptive water use (CWU), estimated from a panel regression with data from 32 districts from 1991 to 2004, assesses the potential loss of benefits in diverting water away from crop production. In the UGB, canal irrigation contributes to only 8 % of the total CWU of 56 BCM, and the marginal productivity of canal irrigation CWU across districts is also very low, with a median of 0.03 USD/m³. Therefore, at present, the loss of benefits is only 1.2–1.6 % of the gross value of crop production. This loss of benefits can be overcome with an increase in irrigation efficiency or marginal productivity.     

Sustainable cooking energy options for rural poor people in India: an empirical study

Currently, energy consumption for cooking in rural households of India is mostly based on fuelwood used in traditional stoves. This paper presents results of a study carried out in a forest fringe area of India on cooking energy use. The concept of calculating levelized cost as cost per unit of useful energy is applied on source–device combinations of cooking and validated in Bargaon Community Development Block of Sundergarh District in Odisha, India. About 92 % of the households in the study area use fuelwood as the only energy source for cooking; the total use of fuelwood for only cooking, in the Block is nearly 1.8 times the total sustainable wood supply showing an urgent need for promoting alternative cooking energy options. This paper also presents an assessment of different cooking options in terms of cost per unit of useful cooking energy. LPG, biogas and gasifier stoves are found to be far too expensive for the local people. Briquette-fired improved stoves appear to be a promising cooking energy option in the study area. Government support and intervention are recommended for promoting this option.     

Managing Watershed Externalities in India: Theory and Practice

Watershed development is the focus of poverty alleviation programs in rural India. Watershed projects aim to solve problems of externalities, but they also create their own externalities, which cause uneven distribution of costs and benefits that undermine project objectives and harm the poor. Numerous approaches exist to internalize externalities, including awareness creation, moral suasion, investment subsidies, regulatory limits and fines, indirect benefits, mergers, and recent innovations like payment for environmental services and cap and trade. These can be judged on several criteria; the best approach would solve the problem cost effectively and help or at least not hurt poor people. Watershed projects in India were examined to identify the approaches taken to internalize watershed externalities. Investment subsidies and indirect employment benefits are the least effective approaches theoretically, but they are the most commonly applied, most likely because they are easy to administer and bring popular short term gains. Some theoretically favorable approaches that have been used elsewhere, such as payment for environmental services, may not work as well in India due to high transaction costs. However, one key innovation that easily could be applied in India is to make investment subsidies contingent on performance. Legal support and property rights reform would be needed for other favorable approaches.