The Western Ghats hill range in India contains spectacular landscapes and an incredible array of wild species, many found nowhere else in the world. One among the world’s 34 most biologically diverse “hotspots”, t...

Road widening and related disturbance along with increasing tourism in the Valparai region of the Anamalai hills, has serious negative impacts on several endangered and endemic fauna, road-kill and habitat disruption for endangered and endemic fauna of the Western Ghats from lion-tailed macaques to amphibians and reptiles. This project explores wildlife mortality and crossing points along roads to identify mitigation and management measures.

How can one extend the reach of conservation into landscapes outside protected areas? Conservationists around the world are now working to extend conservation to such landscapes, especially lands under productive agriculture and plantations, by linking production with the market for products certified as coming from farms that follow sustainable and ecologically-friendly practices.

Scattered fragments of tropical rainforest amidst vast monoculture plantations, a high density of people, and a host of endangered, endemic wildlife—this is the Valparai plateau of the Anamalai hills in Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Keeping in mind the fragile ecosystem, conflict between people and wildlife, and the need for broad-based conservation awareness, we spearheaded a conservation education programme, beginning in 2007.

In the 19th century, human activity impacted less than a fifth of the planet’s land area; a mere two hundred years later, we have brought more than 95% of earth’s landmass under our dominion. Trapped between shrunken, degraded habitats and human-occupied landscapes, wide-ranging animals like the Asian elephant have been pushed into conflict with people. Persecution by affected people and the decline of suitable habitats threaten the long-term survival of elephants. Understanding the ecological and behavioural adaptations of elephants to altered landscapes and the relationships between elephant activity, spatial configuration of human settlements along movement routes, and the effects of people on elephant behaviour are crucial for resolving conflicts and fostering coexistence.

Can a complex and biologically diverse forest, once destroyed by human action, ever be brought back to its original state? When forests are in a relatively undisturbed state, it is best to leave them as they are rather than disturb them in the belief that they can be brought back or restored. Nevertheless, there are forests already degraded or destroyed where there is a strong case for restoration efforts, like here in the Anamalai hills.