T V Ramachandra
Energy and Wetlands Research Group,
Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science - 560012

Ecosystem carrying capacity is assessed based on the consortium of species the region can support, allowing for seasonal and random changes, without degradation of the environment and without diminishing carrying capacity in the future. Ecological carrying capacity provides physical limits as the maximum rate of resource usage and discharge of waste that can be sustained for economic development in the region. Identification of ESRs in Netravathi region would aid in sustainable planning towards the sound ecological regional development. The ESRs have been delineated at the village levels and there are 433 villages in the Netravathi river basin and among these 111 villages are in ESR-1, 69 villages in ESR-2 119 villages in ESR-3 and 134 villages in ESR 4. ESR 1 and ESR 2 are to be strictly no-go area with respect to developments and ESR 4 is referred as a least possible eco-sensitive region. The Community-based Conservation (CBC) approaches in ESR 2 and 3 would help in the conservation of biological diversity (or wildlife). Degradation of these eco-sensitive region with the unplanned developmental path will only erode the sustenance of natural resources and would affect the local livelihood.