ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Committed for Nature Conservation since three decades
Prakruti, is a civil society organisation formed in 1991 by supporters of Appiko/Chipko( hug the movement of the trees to protect tropical forests). The main objective is working with forest-dwelling indigenous communities to evolve strategies to conserve tropical forests and securing the livelihood of forest-based communities.
Over past four decades we have launched several grass roots movements, including Save Western Ghats spanning six states across south India, towards conservation of natural resources that have resulted in change in policies. Under the banner of Save Western Ghats Movement we have been able to bring diverse stakeholders under one umbrella to share experiences and evolve strategies for conservation. We also support grass roots movement through providing skills, strategies to address the issues related to natural resources management. Issues like diversion of rivers, building of mini dams, infrastructure projects that destroy forests are the issues that Prakruti takes up with the support of local groups who are adversely impacted by these projects.
We also work on NTFPs, helping the forest communities like Siddhi, Halakki Vokkal, and Kunbi to add value to forest produce, and building skills towards sustainable harvesting of NTFPS. We have also worked to highlight the policies that lead to unsustainable harvesting of NTFPs and forcing the government to change these destructive policies.
Save Honey Bees Campaigns launched in 1992 by Prakruti is one of the most successful movements to conserve indigenous honey bees in tropical forest regions. In response to the call of beekeepers form Western Ghats, worried about introduction of exotic Apis mellifera into this region led us to work towards the importance of local bees and build a strong base of young beekeepers , who have shown commitment towards propagating bee keeping across the region. One important milestone of this campaign is organising Honey Festivals for almost 22 years to celebrate the importance of bees and their contribution towards conserving biodiversity. Negative impact of pesticides on honey bees, and impact of climate change on bees is also one of the concerns Prakruti is attempting to address.
OUR CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES
Community Engagement
Biodiversity Protection
Sustainable Resource Management
Honey bees: Jenu habba
Environmental Education
Policy Advocacy
SUCCESS STORIES
One of the major achievements is forcing the central government to work towards a comprehensive policy on Western Ghats. Known as Gadgil Committee report, it calls for conservation of Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive area. It envisaged future action based on the inputs from ground level Panchyat Institutions, a bottom up approach instead of top down model of development. Unfortunately these recommendations were rejected with appointment of another committee led by Kasturirangan, that came up with a diluted version to appease vested interests and politicians. The recent disasters of landslides across Western Ghats during monsoons are a proof of how rejection of scientific guidelines to manage fragile areas of Western Ghats would lead to disasters that cost hundreds of lives and damage property and livelihood. Despite these setbacks we are committed to carry forward our work to initiate actions towards protection of Western Ghats.
What Our Supporters Are Saying
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