admin

Poster on the Simulation Model and Inferences

We have published a poster that summarises the details of the simulation model developed as part of the ‘Mainstreaming conservation in district public policy’ project. This poster can be used by anyone interested in advocating a change in the way water resource use and management is being approached at policy and implementation levels. As with […]

Shapefiles for Coonoor landuse layer

The Landuse of Coonoor region was derived from visual interpretation of Google Earth imagery and ground truthing. The imagery in Google Earth is from January 2012. We are not claiming accuracy of these layers as we are not experienced at remote sensing analysis. We have attempted this to get a general picture of the land use of the […]

Model files and presentation at UPASI, Coonoor on 11th June 2013

At 11 AM on 11th June, at UPASI in Coonoor a meeting is being held in which representatives from District Administration and various departments, prominent academic and research institutions etc. are expected to participate. The District Collector, The Nilgiris District would be the chief guest. The presentation to be made at the meeting is available […]

Mainstreaming Conservation in District Public Policy

The project proposes to influence existing policies pertaining to, – Use of pesticides – Municipal sewage and waste disposal – Land use change, including planting of exotic species Downstream impacts on livelihoods and ecology: The Coonoor river will be taken up a case study. This will measure and prove need for conservation action and protection […]

The Context

The Nilgiris have seen a drastic change in land use pattern over the last century or so with shola forests and grasslands being replaced by monoculture plantations, habitations, farmlands etc. There is also an ever increasing population settled locally as well as a significant floating population that visits the Nilgiris for tourism. The pressure of […]

What we did

Keystone conducted a baseline survey of 38 hill wetlands. We have mapped, inventorised flora, fauna and people dependence on wetlands. Wetlands have been classified in different categories as common property resources – in rural and urban areas and in private and protected areas. In each of these categories a threat assessment has been made and […]

Threats

Invasive species Wattle, Ulux spp., Cytissus spp., Lantana camara is widespread at all sites. Invasive were found growing on the edges of the swamps forming potentially harmful threats to the health of wetland systems. Exotics Eucalyptus species were found in upland regions along most of the protected wetlands. Visually, there seemed to be a lot […]

Wetlands & People

Wetlands have high religious, historical and other cultural significance, especially for indigenous people, around the world. Wetlands or “hanni” in local language were revered as they were a part of nature and an important link in the chain of food and economic security. However, much has changed in the social fabric of communities and wetlands […]

Unique wetlands

Conservation and Sustainable Management of Wetlands in key areas in the Nilgiris is a prime interest area of Keystone. One chill winter morning, we set out on an exploratory study of these wetlands and thus started the project. Wetlands of the Nilgiris are unique, unlike wetlands in general – these are small sized hill wetlands, […]

Methodology

The Objectives of the study was to – – Survey and mapping of crucial wetland habitats in the hill district of the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. –  Assess the dependence of stakeholders upon wetlands. – Develop local wetland conservation and management plans – Initiate dialogue and advocacy with the government on declaring wetlands as important […]