Enterprise-based conservation and community perception in Western Ghats, Karnataka
Student name: Ms Ruchie Pathak
Guide: Dr Sudipta Chatterjee
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Siddappa Setty R
Abstract: Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are vital sources of livelihood for many indigenous
communities across the world. This dependence of the communities on NTFPs has caused
heightened extractions of the same from their natural forest populations and thus, calls for
efficient management of the NTFP extraction process. Enterprise-based conservation approach
was seen as one competent method for involving the indigenous communities in the management
of the resources they are dependent upon, by generating financial benefits for them in return.
This approach has also been adopted in the Western Ghats’ of Karnataka, under which value-
addition units were set up for the tribal community, in order to improve their economic status
and ensure sustainable extraction of the NTFPs by them.
The following study looks into the perception of the Soliga community towards this approach, in
order to understand the framework required for achieving the conservation and development
goals at the concerned sites. For the study, 73 detailed interviews of both members and non-
members of the value-addition units were conducted at the two study areas. The results indicate
full community support towards this approach; in fact, both the members and non-members have
put forward numerous suggestions regarding the structure of the unit and how it can be
successfully linked with conservation. A framework that is needed for meeting the challenge of
conservation with development has also been compiled based on the survey results.
KEYWORDS: Non-Timber Forest Products; Community Perception; Enterprise-Based
Conservation; Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve; Livelihood
