Two-day workshop on biodiversity conservation, livelihood improvement begins in Coimbatore

Two-day workshop in Coimbatore discusses challenges in biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement with TBGPCCR and JICA.

A two-day workshop organised by the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project for Climate Change Response (TBGPCCR) in association with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that began in Coimbatore on July 30, 2024 (Tuesday) discussed challenges and various aspects in the fields of biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement.

P. Senthilkumar, Principal Secretary to Government, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, said the Forest Department was engaging local communities, including tribals, in biodiversity conservation activities, so that they become stakeholders and get the economic benefits.

Though TBGPCCR was launched with an emphasis on restoring degraded forests, livelihood improvement of local communities is a major component in all the four phases of the project, said Srinivas R. Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden.

Sudhanshu Gupta, PCCF and Head of Forest Force, said TBGPCCR was also aimed at bringing back native plant species, species that are endangered and critically endangered and are vulnerable under the IUCN status to forest lands after clearing invasive plants.

Siddharth Parameswaran, Development Specialist, JICA India Office, New Delhi, highlighted that the Tree Cultivation in Private Lands initiative, which covered an area of 1,43,000 hectares benefitting more than 87,000 farmers, was among the best practices of forestry projects JICA executed in Tamil Nadu along with the Forest Department.

I. Anwardeen, PCCF and Chief Project Director of TBGPCCR, said the unique project has newer components such as promoting urban and peri-urban green spaces for climate change resilience, marine conservation activity for enhancing the blue carbon through species recovery of the marine turtle and corals, and country’s first attempt to restore grassland habitats to reduce human wildlife conflicts outside tiger reserves.

Wakamatsu Eiji, Senior Representative, JICA India Office, and Ravishankar Thupalli, International Co-Team Leader, Project Management Consultancy, TBGPCCR, also spoke.