Biodiversity and Livelihood: Lessons from Community Research in India

Local communities are the custodians of biodiversity and traditional knowledge and they are not only losing their rich crop genetic diversity, but also rural livelihoods. These changes have brought negative effects into their domains of knowledge, culture and management of natural resources and have affected their livelihoods significantly. This paper attempts to focus on the lives and livelihoods of the Malayalis of Kolli Hills, especially on three key areas of natural resources and associated traditional knowledge: neglected and underutilized crop species (NUS), sacred forest landscapes and local art forms that highlight ecological relationships. The experiences of several field based projects implemented by the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation since 1994 highlights the need for a participatory natural resource management strategy (PNRMS). People friendly pathways is required to be put in place to ensure long-term sustainability of resources in such a landscape so that livelihoods are sustained.

The study documents the knowledge and usage of symbiotic mushrooms among Kattunaikka tribes from Wayanad and assesses its significance as a source of healthy food. The study was conducted during 2014-2016 through semi-structured and free listing interviews among selected Kattunaikka individuals. Total 15 species of wild mushrooms were collected which belong to 5 orders, 6 family and 6 genera. The usage of collective names to represent the mycorrhizal association revealed the good perception of Kattunaikka tribes on mushroom ecology. Termitomyces mushrooms were the most diverse and highly appreciated mushroom. Knowledge of distribution and ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungi signifies monitoring and retention of diversity and selection of species for forest nurseries.

India, one among the mega biodiversity countries is considered as the homeland of most diverse and rich traditional/tribal knowledge systems because of its unique cultural expressions which are directly or indirectly associated with biodiversity. The available information shows that there are 350-400 million tribal people residing in 1.73 lakh villages located in and around the forest areas of India. In spite of implementing various local/national/international programmes, the socio economic conditions of these communities are still not much improved due to various reasons like poor implementation of different welfare programmes, increased rate of exploitation, non-scientific collection of natural bio resources, lack of scientific approach on the part of the planners, policy makers, and administrators in understanding the real problems and aspirations of local/tribal communities. Therefore, we have adopted a new multi-disciplinary integrated approach with a view to upgrade their skills, technologies and to make them capable of meeting the changing needs of the communities. In this communication, the authors envisioned some of the activities like creating mass awareness by capacity building programmes among the target group through biodiversity management committees, developing user friendly data base on Peoples Biodiversity Register (PBR), implementation of various biodiversity conservation strategies, development of best practises, training on systematic and sustainable collection of Non Wood Forest Produce (NWFP), semi processing, value addition and marketing of medicinal/edible/aromatic plants. Further, introducing entrepreneurial capacity building programme and establishment of a ‘Trust’ under the patronship of BMC to implement various activities related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization are also envisaged. Apart from this; the authors highlighted the functioning and connectivity of BMC for providing better livelihood opportunities to tribal/local communities through implementing Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), programme.

The Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity hot spots in India, is a major diversity centre of Garcinia species. The region harbors 11 Garcinia species, of which 9 are endemic. Most of the Garcinia species are economically important with wide utility in both traditional and industrial sectors. The present chapter assesses the distribution, taxonomy and conservation aspects of the Genus Garcinia of the Western Ghats. Sustainable utilization of Garcinia species through plant products such as condiments, gamboges, resins, essential oils and high value secondary metabolites has also been discussed in detail. The chapter highlights the importance of utility and conservation of plant wealth in the Western Ghats.

Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (ABR) in Southern Western Ghats has been identified as one of the three centers of plant diversity in India. The Kanis (kānis) or Kanikkar, an indigenous population residing in the ABR holds rich traditional knowledge on wild edible plants in this region. A total of 49 Wild edible fruits (WEF) classified among 36 genera and 26 families are consumed raw by the Kanis in ABR. Maximum number of the fruit species belong to the family Myrtaceae with eight species. The present chapter describes these underutilized fruits in the context of their diversity, multiple utility and economic potential.Nutritional composition with special regard to ascorbic acid and anthocyanin has also been emphasized. It highlights the significance of these fruits as a cheap source of nutrients, the need for sustainable processes and suitable conservation approaches to be formulated.

Mangrove ecosystem is one of the most productive coastal ecosystems providing multiple benefits to the coastal community. Mangrove forests provide more than 70 direct benefits ranging from fuel wood to fisheries resources to the coastal community. Mangrove wetlands act as spawning and nursery ground for various marine fishes, shellfishes and crustaceans with due presence of detritus. The high organic matter in the mangrove ecosystem enhances the fishery production. Since, mangrove wetlands provide livelihood to the coastal fishermen living near the mangrove wetland, the study was carried out in the Godavari mangrove wetland. The total landing from the five fish landing centres in the Godavari mangrove wetland showed that about 1,550.8 tonnes of total fishery resources were caught by 45,075 motorized and 16,572 non-motorized boats during the study period between February and December 2012. The average catch by the motorized and non-motorized boat catch per day was 23.84 kg and 20.61 kg respectively. In the group wise fishes, the fin fish catch was high while in the species wise catch, shrimps dominated the catch with a total of 195 tonnes, accounting for 13% of the total catch, followed by Mullets (11%), Crabs (10%) and molluscan shells (9%). The fish catch during summer was generally low and higher in pre-monsoon season (June).

The composition between the global ecosystem/biodiversity and the economic system has been changing drastically with respect to population and economic growth. Unscientific economic growth without adequate precautions for safeguarding biodiversity has far-reaching consequences. Biodiversity loss is an external/social cost, since it hampers economy and the livelihood of people. The external issues and the need for their internalization have been widely discussed by environmental economists, which is the base for mainstreaming them. Rapid economic growth is imperative for a developing country like India. However, the preservation of natural resources like biodiversity, on which millions of people depend, is equally important to ensure that growth is more inclusive and sustainable. It is vital that every nation should preserve its biodiversity and the health of diverse ecosystems for global harmony, where mainstreaming the biodiversity concerns in various developmental programs is inevitable. Even if mainstreaming is an ideal approach for sustainable development, its practicability and success are dependent factors and a huge challenge, particularly for developing countries. More awareness generation, scientific information which establishes the linkages of biodiversity with developmental sectors, multi-stakeholders’ co-operation, financial support, and incentive measures can facilitate biodiversity mainstreaming. Valuation of the biodiversity goods and services and damage costs is significant. Through valuation, one can easily convey the overall importance of biodiversity as well as the damage costs, due to haphazard economic growth, to the public and the policy makers, who are the key actors in mainstreaming biodiversity.

Reservoirs and estuaries are two diverse types of aquatic ecosystems that have their own uniqueness. While artificial aquatic systems like reservoirs encompass hybrid characters of both lakes and streams, estuaries are considered as the most productive of all ecosystems. A detailed study of these ecosystems becomes essential to comprehend the health of such systems. Universal to any ecosystem is its ability to counter conditions of stress and this ability termed as robustness signifies the systems’ sustainability. Robustness is a good indicator of ecosystem health and is also dependent on the magnitude and type of inflicted stress. A comparative analysis of ecosystem health and robustness indicators of Bakreswar reservoir and Hooghly Matla Estuarine system is presented as case studies. Descriptive ecosystem indices are discussed in the current study including different network indicators. As a conclusion of this study, it has been observed that while the Bakreswar reservoir is moderately stable with a fairly robust and mature system, the Hooghly ecosystem is facing degradation. Ecological network indices revealed that variation in robustness values for both the systems is related more with the fish biomass perturbation scenario rather than the producer perturbation. This is confirmed by the various network indices used for analysis.

Fisheries and related activities, including aquaculture in inland and marine sectors, offer livelihoods to thousands of people in developing countries like India, besides contributing significantly to economic and nutritional security of the nation. One of the major challenges in the world, especially in developing countries like India, is to address the issue of sustaining the dwindling fisheries resources, while meeting the challenges posed by emerging external threats on resources, such as climate change. In the marine sector, climate change is projected to affect individual organisms, populations, species distributions, and ecosystem composition and function both directly (e.g., through vagaries in precipitation, temperature, sea level changes, ocean acidification, etc.) and indirectly (e.g., through the intensity and frequency of extreme climate events such as storms). Evidence of climate-change impacts is the strongest and most comprehensive for natural systems and it impacts lives, livelihoods, health, ecosystems, economies, societies, cultures, services, and infrastructure due to the interaction of climate changes or hazardous climate events occurring within a specific period and the vulnerability of an exposed society or system. The major adaptive strategies evolved centers around providing awareness to the coastal population, training on alternate livelihoods in order to negate the risks and ill effects of climate change, and vulnerability assessment at micro levels. There is also a need for flood mapping, flood forecasting, development of a hydrological framework and downscaled climate change projection modelling coupled with strengthening coastal protection methods with the participation of local communities. These adaptation methods would become effective only through mainstreaming biodiversity into climate change strategies and by integrating climate change risk in the disaster management policies.

TCS has given a new dimension to sustainability by implementing site specific biodiversity mapping & action plans, biotechnology solutions for waste management and community bio-conservation programs. This integrated approach turns TCS campuses into the biologically diversified urban landscapes.

Biodiversity sustains human civilisation as it is intricately related to the supply of all the ecosystem services that underscore human well-being. The connotation ‘human well – being’ denotes amongst other things ‘security’ that entails security to ‘resource access’ and ‘adequate livelihoods’- as basic materials for a good life. However, the benefits of growth and development accruing from our natural resources need to be distributed equitably amongst the ‘people’ without damaging the ‘ecological health of the planet’ to achieve the goals of the sustainable development (2015) at the global level.

Though cities are proficient means of spatial organisation that provide shelter and livelihood to a large number of people and have developed into foci of innovations and economic growth they have been inept of taking care of nature due to their exhaustive and unsustainable consumption pattern. They are intense hubs of energy and material consumption that emanates massive wastes damaging environmental health and, in turn, biodiversity.

The answer to this dilemma lies in the Mainstreaming Biodiversity into the city planning and management which will balance biodiversity and development. Mainstreaming or including biodiversity into urban planning is imperative as cities draw numerous ecosystem services at local, regional and global scales. However, this expression ‘mainstreaming’ warrants a clear understanding of the jargon itself and the instruments that will enable integration of the same.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to explore the diverse instruments that are available at the global, national, subnational and local levels for biodiversity conservation and management and urban planning processes. The idea is to explore the interface that exists between the instruments of the two spheres and create a convergence between the processes of urban planning and biodiversity conservation.

The chemical and biological diversity of the marine environment with a wide variety of marine organisms are proven to be a very rich source of natural products with biomedical applications. Bioprospecting of marine algae, fungi, sponges and their associated organisms diverse in taxonomy is largely productive and biologically active and thus offer a great scope for the discovery of new biologically active compounds. The present study aims to evaluate the antioxidant properties and neuroprotective activity of fungi isolated from the marine sponge Callyspongia fibrosa. The molecular identification of the fungi by DNA Sequencing and subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed 99% similarity to Aspergillus tamarii. The ethyl acetate crude extracts of Aspergillus tamarii exhibited significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 <200 μg/ml on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. In addition, the extracts exhibited Nitric Oxide (NO) inhibitory activity in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW 264.7 neuroblastoma cells in a dose dependent manner, indicating that Aspergillus tamarii produces potential antioxidant and neuroprotective compounds.

A large quantity of biomass generated aspseudo stem after banana bunch harvesting is presently discarded as waste by farmers due to the lack of proper utilization. These wasted banana pseudo stem biomass are rich sources of natural fibres. Current extraction methods such as mechanical and manual have many problems and are unable to produce quality fibres in bulk. The present paper reports the anaerobic separation of fibres from banana pseudo stem using a UASB reactor coupled contact bed for the production of clean fibres. Fibre separation was achieved in 6-7 days at the optimum pH and temperature in UASB coupled contact bed. Parameters specific to the process such as COD, biogas and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes of the process water were monitored during the anaerobic separation of banana pseudo stem fibre in the contact bed. The UASB reactor coupled contact bed was advantageous for the extraction of banana pseudo stem fibre where biogas is generated from the anaerobic degradation of cementing molecules, mainly pectin, concomitantly at around 5 litre/Kg pseudo stem. The optimization of pH and temperature for the maximum pectinases activity were also studied separately. Optimum pH and temperature for pectinases activity were at pH 7.0 and 30oC, respectively. There were no damages to fibres and yield was higher when compared to mechanical or physical extraction methods.

Kerala is blessed with rich diversity of Musa cultivars and each of them is characterized by unique taste, flavor, aroma and nutritive values. Farmers doing commercial cultivation are highly selective and interested only in cultivating commercially viable cultivars such as Nendran, Palayankodan, Kappa, Gnalipoovan and Robusta. Intensive application of urea containing synthetic fertilizers has resulted in the lushness of plants leading to the low content of secondary metabolites, which made them highly susceptible to pest attack. Non-selective application of systemic insecticides in edible crops leads to the contamination of toxins in fruits and their entry into food chain. Among 80 Musa cultivars identified during field study in various sites of Kerala, 60 are indigenous and 20 are hybrids of exotic. Ten cultivars among the indigenous group are diploid with genome constitution AA, and all of them are resistant to pest attack. Farmers are reluctant to cultivate diploid and pest resistant Musa cultivars due to some characters such as small fruit bunch, low market value, and low glucose content leading to the lack of pleasant taste, long duration to set flower and long duration for the replanted suckers to sprout. Analysis of genome constitution of 80 indigenous cultivars revealed that 12% of them are diploid with AA, 10% are AB, 15% are AAA, 13% with ABB and other 50% are AAB. Some of the cultivars with AAB genome constitution also showed high degree of resistance against insect pests, due to very high content of flavanoids, total phenols, very high activity of Phenylalanine ammonialyase, Polyphenol oxidase and Peroxidase in the pseudostem and leaves. No tetraploid Musa cultivars were identified in Kerala during the course of study. Wide spread transformation of agriculture lands to rubber plantation has resulted in the depletion of diversity of Musa cultivars. Many exotic Musa cultivars, introduced in Kerala, did not have wide acceptance from the public and among farmers, due to the lack of pleasant taste compared to indigenous types. RAPD analysis of the indigenous Musa cultivars revealed that they exhibited high degree of genetic variability and genetic polymorphism. In Kerala, 90% of the Musa cultivation is done by small scale farmers and most of them do not have their own land for cultivation and hence, they took land at lease for one year contract from owners. They are very particular to cultivate Musa which can give harvest within one year. Most of the cultivars identified during the course of study were unable to give harvest within one year. This is the reason for the abundance of only few commercially viable cultivars in the agroecosystems. Each Panchayath should take active conservation measures to conserve the diploid and indigenous cultivars which are resistant to pests. These cultivars can be used in future for breeding programmes to develop pest resistant and commercially viable Musa cultivars.

An Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) is one of the biodiversity components of soil significant to soil fertility. The AMF is essential for the healthy growthof many plants. In our extensive investigation on the natural AM flora of diverse commercially cultivated banana fields in South India, the AM fungus Glomus microcarpum was one of the major root associates of banana. It is associated with all the 13 banana varieties in South India. The spore density of G. microcarpum in soil samples ranged from 10 to 510 per 100g soil. Mean spore density in summer season (139.51±9.58) was significantly higher (P<0.0001) than that of monsoon season (91.61±4.73). In relation to banana varieties, the average spore density of G. microcarpum in the summer ranged from 20 (Kadali) to 185 (Rasthali), and that of monsoon ranged from 30 (Attukannan) to138.6 (Chenkadali) spores per 100g soil. The difference in spore density over banana varieties was not significant (P˃0.05) in both the seasons.The average AM fungal root colonization in banana varieties ranged from 32% to 85%. The mean AM fungal colonization of monsoon season was significantly (P<0.0001) higher than the summer. In general, information on any aspect of natural AMF biodiversity in soils is highly beneficial to sustainable cultivation of any crop.

Habitat degradation and invasive alien species are two principal forces that antagonistically interfere with native biological diversity of any region. Both the above are widely reported from India. Despite well-intended fiscal commitments towards biodiversity conservation at various levels, the ground reality is not always rosy. Lack of timely and actionable information threats to biological diversity strips practical utility from a majority of studies.

The advancement in information and communication technology that enables standalone, distributed client-server or cloud-based applications, which access information via web interface; opens hitherto unavailable options to conservation biologists. Mobile computing platforms provide a means to seamlessly integrate concurrent conservation campaigns while precluding duplication. With an in-built global positioning sensors, wireless connectivity, multi-media capabilities, browsers, etc., mobile platforms have the potential to transform biodiversity studies and boost conservation efforts. They provide an affordable means of scalable and rapid biodiversity field campaigns.

The authors present BIOTA – a BIOdiversiTy App that helps to identify and flag geographic coordinates of invasive plant species in India. The current release (Version 1.0) can identify 10 invasive plant species and record its location with time stamp on Google map. BIOTA is currently developed for Android operating system and can be downloaded from www.iiitmk.ac.in/cvrlei. Adoption of BIOTA by researchers, students and conservation enthusiasts will help to rapidly generate information on the presence of invasive species at various locations. This, in turn, will help to improve the prediction accuracy of invasive species distribution and to generate actionable information.

India is a mega-biodiverse country, home to nearly eight per cent of the world’s total recorded species of plants and animals. The conservation of our heretic biodiversity, sustainable utilization of its resources and access and benefit sharing of its bioresources by the statutory biodiversity management committees (BMC) and selfhelp groups at local level is a remarkably replicable model. Participatory, local level traditionally linked, viable alternative methods are employed to conserve our precious bioresources and some of the successful models can be identified at local level which can be duplicated across the world for the management of biodiversity. Biodiversity can be aligned with the livelihood primarily in terms of their dependence for food, medicine and shelter and subsequently trade and economic needs. By our successful models, local people support rather than resist efforts to protect wildlife and biodiversity. Some of the models include Common man’s Tuber conservancy from Wayanad, Kerala, conservation and trade of millets by poor Dalit women (The millet sisters) from Medak district of Telengana State, ABS from broom grass employed by BMC of Raipassa, a small tribal village of Tripura State. BMC of Pithorabad established organic wheat marketing linked to local livelihood, BMC, Eraviperoor employed best practise agriculture, and livelihood developments in Modi (Jheri) Village in Asifabad District of Telengana. Sustainable marketing practice established by BMC of Sikaribari from Tripura, sustainable trade and ABS for Medicinal plant resource trade by BMC of Kalmegh and neem leaf trade by Andhra SBB are some of the replicable models. People’s artificial reefs for sustainable livelihood for fisher folks of Kerala, sustainable trading of snake venom by Irula tribal Cooperative society, trade and sustainable conservation of environmentally acclaimed Ongole breed's successfully to many countries, and ABS employed by Indian Institute of Oil Research accessed microbial bio resources for insect pest and plant disease management of crops, are noteworthy.

Biodiversity conservation is inevitably a requisite in our dynamic world. In a highly populous country like India, conservation of biodiversity and a strong communication, education and public awareness initiative is most essential for its sustenance. A strategy is required to have a deep understanding of our diverse biogeographic regions and locale specific traditions that are closely linked to bioresources. This requires an appreciation of the persons associated with the conservation of both natural and cultural diversity. For conservation of biodiversity to become a part of a people’s action program, there is a need for their efforts to be recognized and rewarded. This has led to creating awards for biodiversity conservation and/or sustainable use at the national level. To recognize and publicly acknowledge such contributions that have led to positive biodiversity conservation actions and societal equity of resource utilization, the Government of India has established the ‘India Biodiversity Awards’ which are informative and replicable at the international level.