By Alladi Jayasri BANGALORE June 9. A study conducted at Biligirangana Hills in the Western Ghats has amply demonstrated the benefits of space mapping and remote sensing in biodiversity conservation. In fact, the project conducted by ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) has been featured in the prestigious journal, "Science" (issue dated January 17, 2003) in its Editor's Choice column. Mapping and quantifying biodiversity is the key to effective conservation planning. "Yet gathering necessary data can be costly and time-consuming," the article said noting that conservation and land managers placed a premium on the methods that yielded tolerable estimates of biodiversity. The editorial recognised the contribution of ATREE's Kamal Bawa, Krishnaswamy, and others, for successfully testing a method of estimating tree diversity from space. In a presentation on eco-informatics made at the ATREE-sponsored Indo-U.S. workshop on Monday, ATREE fellow, Jagadish Krishnaswamy, talked about his experiences and the outcome of the project in the BR Hills. The study showed a strong and positive correlation between richness of species and the index of green biomass, the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which could be assessed accurately using satellite imagery. "The technique has potential for estimating broad patterns of tree species diversity at the landscape level in tropical forests, which may be crucial for identifying areas most in need of protection and where rapid destruction is under way," the "Science" editorial noted. Dr. Krishnaswamy said the B.R. Hills region, with a history of at least a 1,000 years and peopled as it is by the Soliga tribals who once practised shifting cultivation and selective logging and still had a lifestyle that was in complete harmony with nature, offered the ideal laboratory for the experiment. The topography, rainfall pattern, and diversity of flora in the region too gave ample opportunity for experimenting, he said. This experiment, being conducted with a grant the U.N. Foundation awarded to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, will use four World Heritage Biodiversity sites in India as models for other protected areas. If successful, it would be replicated in other areas. In the first phase of the experiment, a four-year trial period which may be extended to 10 years after a critical review, ATREE will undertake the project in the Western Ghats and the eastern Himalayas. Experiments at the two other sites, Nanda Devi and Keoladeo Ghana National Parks and the Terai floodplains, will be taken up by the Wildlife Institute of India. The three-day workshop, which started on Monday, has brought together India and U.S.-based experts working on the use of information technology in developing databases on biodiversity, ecology, and conservation biology. As many as 12 U.S.-based and 15 India-based scientists will exchange notes on their expertise and experience. They will also train 30 junior workers on the latest tools, skills, and concepts in eco-informatics. The workshop will also identify the gaps in the existing programmes and help develop a national proposal for application of eco-informatics in India. The workshop has been jointly organised by ATREE, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and the University of Massachusetts (MASS), and sponsored by the Indo-U.S. Forum, Department of Biotechnology. At the inaugural session, the additional Chief Secretary, J.P. Sharma, released a CD containing the database of plant biodiversity in the Western Ghats developed by G.N. Ganeshaiah, scientist, and others from the UAS. я