Linking Human, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Well-being: The Case of Big Cat Conservation in India
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GRF 2nd One Health Summit 2013: Presentation by Tara Teel, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Dept. Colorado State University, USA
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Linking Human, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Well-being: The Case of Big Cat Conservation in India
- 1. Linking Human, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Well-being: The Case of Big Cat Conservation in India Tara Teel Andrew Don Carlos Michael Manfredo Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Dept. Colorado State University, USA
- 2. “In recognition that the health of humans, animals, and the environment is linked, One Health seeks to increase communication and collaboration across the disciplines in order to promote, improve, and defend the health of all species on the planet.” (Kahn et al., 2012) vetmed.ucdavis.edu
- 3. Increased Attention – One Health Approaches in Conservation www.envirovet.org www.onehealthinitiative.com www.ecohealth.net http://onehealth.grforum.org/
- 4. Conservation Goals vs. Societal Goals… Conservation Goals Protect wild species & habitats Maintain ecosystem services Societal Goals Alleviate poverty Eradicate disease Maintain social equity Enhance economic growth Human well-being Mathur et al. (2010)
- 5. A One Health Case Example: Tiger Conservation in India
- 6. India at a glance: The Landscape • Area: 1,269,219 square miles • Elevation: Sea level to 28,208ft in Himalayas • 1 of 17 “MEGADIVERSITY” Countries • • • • 49,219 plant species 397 mammals 1,232 birds 460 reptiles • Protected Areas: Over 600 (4.8% of landmass) • • • • National Parks (99) Wildlife Sanctuaries (515) Conservation & Community Reserves (47) Tiger Reserves (43)
- 7. NTCA (2012)
- 8. India at a glance: The People • Population ~1.2 billion ~17% of the world’s people • 70% of population live in rural areas • 91 distinct “eco-cultural zones” • 325 languages • Per capita income ~$1220/year • ~ 60% of population live on < $2/day • ~1/3 of world’s poor live in India
- 9. India’s “Human-Conservation Interface” Close livelihood, economic, social, cultural links between communities and nature (Kothari, 2010) • ~ 300-400 million people directly dependent on natural ecosystems for subsistence • ~ 60% of India’s National Parks still have people living inside • ~ 3-4 million total people living in protected areas nationwide • Several more million live adjacent to and depend on protected area resources for subsistence
- 11. Protected Areas Boundaries as the “Critical Edge” Location of India’s Tiger Reserves relative to the 150 poorest administrative districts in the country Sinha (2013)
- 12. Tiger Population Health Objectives - Stable or growing local populations - Genetic diversity - Sex ratio Noon & Chanchani (2013) Conservation Goals - Availability of suitable habitat (water, cover, low-disturbance areas) - Large habitat blocks, or many connected habitat areas - Reducing mortality losses
- 13. Tiger Conservation & Ecosystem Health Tigers are the sentinels of nearly 300 rivers that flow through tiger habitats across India By protecting tigers, we protect these watersheds, which hold the key to India’s food security As an umbrella species, healthy tiger populations also ensure healthy habitats for a large and diverse number of species. Sinha (2013)
- 14. Tiger Conservation & Human Well-Being: Legal and Policy Context “National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007” • Creation of ‘inviolate spaces’ for the conservation of key wildlife species is mandated by Indian Law: – Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 – Forest Rights Act 2006 • This necessitates relocating people living within critical habitats after payment of compensation for rights settlement and provision of a relocation package Who does this policy affect ? No. of Villages in No. of families in Critical Tiger Habitat Critical Tiger Habitat Mathur & Gopal (2010) 762 48549
- 15. Tiger Conservation & Human Well-Being: Examining the Impacts of Conservation Policy • Psychological Indicators – Subjective well-being ratings – Perceptions of positive and negative socio-cultural changes • Stress “Biomarkers” – Stress hormones (salivary) • Cortisol (HPA axis) • Alpha amylase (SNS) – Chromosomal “telomere” length Snodgrass & Zahran (2013)
- 16. Tiger Conservation: A ONE HEALTH CHALLENGE The protection of the tiger is inseparable from the protection of the ecosystems that sustain it. …but the protection of these ecosystems is itself inseparable from the fortunes of people who inhabit them. Sinha (2013)
- 17. What’s needed to realize the full potential of the one health concept in the future? “Only an integrative approach will ensure sustainable health management in an era of climate change, resource depletion, land degradation, food insecurity and development challenges” – Global Risk Forum, Davos
Editor's Notes
- On a broad scale, one health recognizes the inter-linkages among humans, animals (including wildlife), and the environment, and it encourages different disciplines to work together toward a common goal
- The concept of one health – the interface between human health and the environment – is not new. However, this thinking has become more institutionalized in recent years through programs like Envirovet and more recently the One Health Initiative and Ecohealth Association (as examples). Of course, efforts of the Global Risk Forum, like we see with this summit, are an important part of this as well. The focus has largely been on disease issues and the human-animal interface in that context, linking human and veterinary medicine, but increasingly we’re seeing broader issues of ecological health and conservation being embraced under the one health umbrella. This is evidenced by recent papers like what you see here – a 2013 special issue in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management and a recent book chapter on applying one health to PA management. According to the authors of this chapter, PA borders are seen as the “critical edge” – where the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people meld together and are best addressed through a one health approach (provides an interface that can help bridge the gap between disciplines and thereby allow for benefits to both PAs and local people).
- One Health can also be seen as part of the move witnessed at the global level toward more integrated approaches to conservation that take into account human well-being (e.g., Brundtland Report – Our Common Future, Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Reports released by the UN) A graphic from one of our colleagues in India illustrating that it’s not an either-or situation: conservation involves taking into account wildlife, ecosystem, and human livelihood (social) considerations; each of these elements in turn are important contributors to overall human well-being
- India represents a prime location to look at the interface of these different components of one health. In particular, our team is exploring these issues in relation to protected area management and conservation of the country’s national animal, the Bengal tiger.
- A bit of background on conservation in the Indian context… India has a diverse landscape and great species diversity Photos from around the country – south is more tropical, north is more mountainous – e.g., Himalayas Species shown: tiger, Asiatic lion, cobra, snow leopard, langur monkey, fish eagle (crested serpent eagle) Megadiversity countries identified by Conservation International (CI) Expansive PA system. The single biggest event in India’s conservation history was Project Tiger, initiated by Indira Ghandi in 1973, which has shaped the nature of conservation/PA management throughout India. One of the largest scale species focused conservation efforts in history. It started with 9 tiger reserves, and now there are 43. Tiger reserves (super “PAs”), designated to provide critical tiger habitat, can overlap with the other PA categories (e.g., they may consist of a national park and surrounding community reserves).
- About half the tigers in the world reside in India ~ 1700 animals based on current estimates. Drastic population declines in the past century have led to heightened global concern over the viability of wild tiger populations across the 7% of their historic range where the big cat can still be found. Green represents remaining habitat in India (~300,000 square kilometers), and under a third of that is currently occupied by tigers.
- Statistics that begin to point to some of the challenges associated with tiger conservation and PA management more broadly (livelihood issues, concerns about human well-being) India only occupies 2.3% of the world’s landmass but has 17% of the world’s people and more than 25% of the world’s livestock Poverty, many people dependent upon the forests for their livelihood in rural areas As with landscape and species diversity, we also see a lot of cultural diversity Eco-cultural zones: defined by Anthropological Survey of India (Singh, 1992) as areas that have a unique/homogeneous history of cultural use of the land/ecosystem (diverse relationships and competing preferences) (Photos of local villages and the people, photo of native spiritual dance/ceremony, sugar cane production [important cash crop]) (Stats mainly from US State Dept. and World Bank)
- With many people living in rural areas, close dependence on the land, creates a complex context for management (Stats from Ashish Kothari, from conservation NGO focusing on livelihood issues)
- Elaborating on the challenges associated with PA management… Photos depict a retaliatory leopard killing, NTFP (harvest of non-timber forest products from PAs), and cattle grazing HWC is a major problem in India – major consequences for people and wildlife (Model from WII faculty)
- This map illustrates the park-people interface more specifically in the context of tiger conservation. Remaining tiger populations in India are often situated in some of the country’s poorest areas where human subsistence is closely tied to the same resource base that sustains tigers and their prey. Map is from one of our team members: Samir Sinha, a Fulbright Scholar in our department who is also the current director of Corbett Tiger Reserve. He is conducting research to inform conservation strategies that balance the need for high quality tiger habitats and the welfare of forest dependent communities.
- Promoting healthy populations of tigers in India demands a comprehensive understanding of ecological/biological factors that can lead to long-term sustainability and recovery. Dr. Barry Noon and Pranav Chanchani (CSU/WII), also part of our team, are currently investigating tiger ecology in the Terai Arc system on the India-Nepal border. Their research is providing a better understanding of the co-occurrence of tigers and people in human-dominated landscapes and multiple-use forests. Map of their study area, photo from camera trap data
- Tiger conservation also has broader implications for ecosystem health as well as human health (again linking the one health elements) From a management perspective, given the role of tigers as a top predator, managing for this umbrella species results in protection of other species and entire watersheds
- Two pronged approach to tiger conservation: resettlement of human communities from protected areas identified as “core” tiger habitats and promotion of human-tiger coexistence outside of PAs -Inviolate spaces: areas without people living in them -Tigers have large home ranges and depend on large expanses of habitat without people there -Recognition in 2008 when the tiger census was released that there are far fewer tigers than researchers initially thought, this has put more pressure on the government to protect tiger habitat by relocating people (a reality) Illustrates the ongoing struggle to strike a balance between conservation and human well-being. Can have intense consequences for the people who are dependent upon these areas for subsistence and are being relocated.
- Recent work has focused on an examination of how conservation policy (resettlement) impacts human health and well-being. Dr. Jeff Snodgrass, one of the members of our team, and colleagues have been studying tribal communities near the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This PA has been identified as the site for a future reintroduction of wild Asiatic lions. Resettlement of 24 villages (~5000 people) between 1999 and 2002. They are experimenting with social and biological science methodologies to assess human well-being in displaced and non-displaced communities. Metrics of human health and well-being include… Preliminary results point to negative psychological effects of displacement (stress/anxiety) and suggest the need to further examine positive conservation outcomes of intensive measures such as resettlement vs. costs to human communities.
- Need to continue to explore each of these core elements of OH and to do so in an integrated way… In addition to the medical (human health) and veterinary sciences (animal health) that have been at the foundation of one health efforts, we need to involve ecologists and social scientists Social sciences, in particular, have not been readily represented in one health applications, and yet there is increasing recognition that so many of the issues we’re facing revolve around the “human dimension” (e.g., human behavior, livelihoods) To conclude, I would invite you all if you’re interested to join the conversation and consider ways to help strengthen the application of the one health concept in conservation in the future Next steps for us: developing a more integrated program of research around these issues in India