On November 9, Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, a member of the Indian Forest Service in Kerala State currently working at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), visited the World Bank and presented the findings of a study undertaken in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in India. His audience included Bank environment specialists and the Global Tiger Initiative Secretariat team.

He discussed the linkages between eco-development initiatives that engage local communities in biodiversity conservation and their livelihood security and the factors that determine the outcome of such efforts. Dr. Bhardwaj noted that it is through a combination of social empowerment, livelihood security and the involvement of women that eco-development can contribute to biodiversity conservation and human well-being.

In India, eco-development projects that engage communities and also aim to protect nature are subjects of considerable debate.
For further reading, see:

・Ecotourism in Kerala, India: Lessons from the Eco-Development Project in Periyar Tiger Reserve

・What is GTI?

・Eco-Development Project (GIR), Forests & Environment Department, Government of Gujarat, India

・Eco Development Project Report

・Project Performance Assessment Report, India – World Bank

・Participatory eco-development in question