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As you are aware India is one of the 12  mega-biodiversity countries of the world. Bulk of the Indian population is directly dependent on biodiversity and ecosystems for almost their entire basic needs: water, food, medicine, clothing housing etc. In India the Western Ghats, along with Sri Lanka, constitute one of the 34 biodiversity hot spots of the world. The Western Ghats are exceptionally rich in plant and animal species and supply nearly 40% of the water needs of the country. Unfortunately due to heavy human pressures this tremendous biodiversity is getting destroyed fast. Water resources are drying up and getting less in quantity for the growing population.

India is rich not only for wild biodiversity but also for the crop species and varieties. We had till fifty years ago over 100,000 local varieties of rice itself, each with its own special characteristics. Over 80% of these ancient rice varieties are today not traceable due to overuse of hybrids and other new varieties. Same is the case with wheat, jowar, ragi, cotton, brinjal, mango, jack, pepper, bananas, tuber crops etc. of which we had very high diversity. Our rich diversity of cattle, buffaloes, goat, sheep etc. are also on the decline.
We have a very rich treasure of medicinal plants and local vaidyas knew how to use them. Most of this traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants and their uses are vanishing due to more dependence on modern medicines. Moreover the traditional medicinal knowledge of the country and the products from our medicinal plants like neem. Sarpagandha, kokam, nelanelli, turmeric etc. are getting patented in foreign countries without any profit to the knowledge holders in this country, who are mostly villagers and forest tribals.
Our forest wealth is getting degraded due to high developmental pressures, encroachments for agriculture, cutting for raising tree plantations, mining, dams etc. As forest wealth declines our water sources become poorer and soils erode. Floods and landslides have increased due to improper use of forests and hills. Most sensitive, endemic plants and animals decline faster than others with forest degradation. As forests are fragmented and plant biodiversity declines animal species like tigers, elephants, deers, lion tailed macaque, birds,  amphibians, honey bees etc are also on the decline. Forest decline may be linked to poor quality life in villages and large scale migration to urban areas.
On one side the planet is threatened with climatic change because of air pollution. As sea level is rising slowly low lying coastal areas are becoming increasingly prone to sea erosion. To protect from erosion the government is spending huge money for making expensive stone walls which spoils the beauty of our scenic beaches and seriously affect the functioning of beach as an ecosystem.

From time immemorial our forefathers worshipped gods in specially protected sacred forests like kans and devarakadus, almost in every village of the Western Ghats. Today most of these sacred forests have been cut, reduced to one or few trees in the villages, or became part of reserve forests and lost their special forests. Some became Acacia plantations like Menasi aand Akkunji kan in Siddapur. If we study some of these old and well protected devarakans like Karikanamman forest in Honavar or Kathalekan in Siddapur it could be seen that they are full of very rare species of plants and animals.
Realizing this grave situation facing India’s biodiversity and the hardships to village and forest people who have maximum dependence on biodiversity the Government of India passed the Biodiversity Act -2002. This Act aims at:

According to the Biodiversity Act-2002 the Government of India set up National Biodiversity Authority at Chennai. Every State is also required to establish Biodiversity Board to advise the State Government on matters relating to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and equitable sharing of the benefits from use of bioresources with the rightful knowledge holders, who may be villagers or even forest tribes.

According to the Act every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biodiversity in People’s Biodiversity Registers. These local committees should take initiatives in preserving habitats, conserve traditional agricultural and livestock varieties and document all the special knowledge that the local people have about biodiversity

Karnataka State is the first in the country to set up State Biodiversity Board, which won the award  for the best performance for the year 2009-10. The State is also the first to establish Western Ghat Task Force to safeguard the Western Ghats.
The Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science has been engaged in various types of ecological and biodiversity related studies in Uttara Kannada for over 25 years, and has made many contributions and guidance related to documentation, sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity etc. Considering this background the State Biodiversity Board and the Western Ghats Task Force have entrusted us with a project to estimate Ecological Carrying Capacity of Uttara Kannada.
Similarly, identifying ecologically sensitive  regions in Western Ghats is a very ambitious project and it is our desire that the project should be carried out with the close co-operation and participation of the people. In this regard, recently, we prepared a simple plan for ecological studies at village level with the help of high school students. The plan was carried out experimentally with the participation of students and teachers from about 60 high schools. Students studied individually or in small groups about 120 villages and created a wonderful database under a scheme Namma Grama Biodiveristy. Their valuable contribution covers many aspects of village biodiversity, such as

Students were given opportunities to make presentations of their findings in conferences held at Kumta and Sirsi. About 18 selected students, along with their teacher guides, were selected for presentation of their work before scholars during the Lake-2010 Conference at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore during December 2010. All the winners were suitably rewarded. This programme of involving students and teachers in ecological studies have created widespread interest among the academic community and several high schools, junior and degree colleges have expressed interest in taking part in such programmes in the future. Therefore, once again, we are re-introducing this programme to the student community, not only of high schools but also of junior and degree colleges.
The benefits to the student and teaching community are as follows:

Highlights of the competition

The competition will be conducted first at taluk levels and selected students will take part and present their work in Lake 2016 (28th to 31st Dec 2016).  The students who successfully document all aspects of biodiversity (as per format Student’s Biodiversity Register) and excel in the presentations, will be honoured with “Young Ecologist, 2016” – award.
The proposed programme will involve:

     Dr. Prakash Mesta,

Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science
Field Station, 679/II, Vivek Nagar,
Kumta 581343 (Phone 08386-223426)

We look forward to your active participation in documenting the biodiversity of Uttara Kannada. This would provide an excellent opportunity for students and teachers taking science to the villages of Western Ghats villages.

ENTRY FORMAT

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Note: An institution can select any number of villages for study depending on the number of students who show interest

Please send the entry forms to the following address on or before   5 September 2016

Dr. Prakash Mesta,

Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science
Field Station, Siddana bavi road, Gandhi Nagar
Kumta 581343 (Phone 08386-223426)

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