Development of

Environmental Literature in Kannada based on the findings from select conservation

action projects, as a means of need based Environmental Information:

case study from Uttara Kannada

Somashekhar B S Green India Trust

IBC 2012, Bangalore

Project Area-Western Ghats

UTTARA KANNADA: Replete with Natural resources,

Diverse communities Diverse dependence-usage patterns.

Many Environmental issues linked to

Socio-Economic contexts

PROPER UNDERSTANDING of such issues by the communities IS VITAL to ensure their

support / involvement in the overall conservation initiatives

Premise 1

Authentic Environmental Information (EI) leads to APPRECIATION about an

Environmental issue

Premise 2

Despite several significant initiatives addressing priority Environmental issues in place, EI DISSEMINATION not given priority; treated more as an adjacent ACTIVITY than a STRATEGY. EE MATERIAL treated more as an obligatory END PRODUCT than a NEED BASED OUTPUT. Available little EE material is NOT BASED ON USERS’ ACTUAL NEEDS: Form and language not familiar; replete with technical Information & Jargons, difficult-to-digest and make a comprehension. EE material largely falls short of making an IMPACT on the knowledge, skill and attitude of any target audience.

Current Strategies for ENVIRONMENTAL

INFORMATION Dissemination is not

so encouraging

EE MATERIAL is neither exciting, nor stimulating not even

evokes surprise

Premise 3

Research findings likely to remain as PROJECT REPORTS to alienate the local communities from the initiative. Stake holder groups CAN NOT ACCESS authentic information, but continue to CARRY DEFICIENT AND DISTORTED understanding of an environmental issue of concern. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS PERSIST: Deeper understanding is VITAL for the local communities who can then relate themselves with the issue and develop an APPRECIATION.

What will possibly

happen?

So?........1

CEPF SG projects in Uttara Kannada anchor a WIDE SPECTRUM of environmental issues, which are interconnected. Findings are potential REPERTOIRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION, and proper dissemination of it can make an impact. Need is to make concerted efforts to DISSEMINATE the EI and EDUCATE the communities. BETTER INFORMED COMMUNITIES ARE BETTER EQUIPPED to address the issue.

CEPF funded SG projects appear

promising and carry substantial EE potential

Constitute a

RICH REPERTOIRE of EI

PARENT PROJECTS

Critical areas for a landscape level wildlife corridor Feeding ecology, status of Food trees & habitat of lion-tailed macaques Cinnamon Plant Resources of Central Western Ghats

Tarantula Spider diversity, distribution and habitat-use

We chose 4 CEPF SG projects as the source

of EI

These 4 Focal subjects represent 4 key elements of an

ecosystem

•To make an assessment of environmental information needs of different target groups

•To distil and make comprehensive syntheses of the focal subjects anchored by the projects

•To develop environmental literature and educational material prototypes

•To field test the prototypes and release for wider use

Objectives

NEED ASSESSMENT with Grantees

Experts, Writers & E Educators

Target groups Importance Ranking under

the Parent Projects

Characteristics of EE material & Form

1 2 3 4

Farmer Households,

Head of the Family

** **** **** **** Interpretive, Demystifying, Inspiring; able to

straighten wrong notions

SUCCESS STORIES, THEMATIC PROFILE

Frontline forestry staff,

Field staff of Dept.of Revenue,

Irrigation, Rural Development

*** **** *** *** Able to cause attitudinal change, able to enhance

working knowledge & skills

PRIMERS & ESSAYS

Village heads, Opinion Leaders,

Elected members of Village

Panchayaths , VFCs

**** **** ** --- Informative, Inspiring; able to straighten wrong

notions; able to cause attitudinal change

SUCCESS STORIES, PRIMERS

Schools-Educational

Institutions, Mass Media

* ** * **** Interpretive, Exciting, Stimulating

STORIES, ACTIVITY MODULE

Women SHGs, NTFP gatherers,

Community Groups

--- --- *** --- Informative, Inspiring and Motivating

PROTOCOLS, HANDBOOK-USERS GUIDE

Target groups identified and prioritised

1. Corridors, 2.Food trees & LTMs, 3.Cinnamon resources, 4. Spiders

Rapid Review of EE material & its Descriptors

Ideally, EE material should be a case study, anecdote, essay,

handbook informal narrative

Basic concepts and principles should be clearly brought out

information should be complete and free from ambiguities,

distortion and deficiency; There should not be any factual

errors or discrepancies

Experience based description and success stories from the

region would be more valid

Informal and familiar tone with an appealing style of

presentation would be ideal;

Subject should be easy to read and easy to comprehend;

Simple language free from technical jargons and unfamiliar

terminology would be ideal

Familiar examples/ models would help understand the

subject easily; Reader should relate himself with the subject

subject should carry contemporary relevance & be pertinent

to the lives of target groups

Technical details and skills should be simplified so as to follow

and adopt easily

Latest findings elsewhere, on the focal subject should also be

mentioned

Planned EE material

Community Primers Fact Sheets

Pocket Action Guides Activity Module

4 self contained Envi Information capsules, with 2-3 need based EE material. Each capsule can be used for a specific target group under the project focus. Collectively they constitute a comprehensive EE capsule for UK.

\ EE material Focal Subject field \

1 2 3 4

Landscape-Corridor group

Plant group

Animal group

Plant-Animal interaction

NEED ASSESSMENT with the Target groups in the

field

Field visits to understand the Issues Familiarization with the issue; Additional field data gathered; Supplementary info about the dynamics and other implicit issues noticed.

PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

Parent inputs gathered Additional referencing and data compilation from published sources done In-house writers worked on Subject overviews and syntheses Storylines and structure of the prototypes evolved Personification, Contemplation, Success stories, Descriptive Essays and Fantasy stories are the templates used Prototypes in advanced stage of completion

MODEL PROTOTYPES

FURTHER …

DUMMY prototypes of all the material to be finalised Field testing with the stakeholder groups Normalising of the drafts with the help of seasoned science writers and EE experts Final release of the material for wider use Initiation of dialogues with KFD and other agencies for dissemination

The project has been quite exciting & inspiring and indicates a huge potential to develop EE material for Uttara Kannada. While many conventional initiatives consider EE material as an end product, we consider it to be the beginning to make a change in the attitude of the comunities for being pro-environmental.

Thanks ! CEPF-ATREE Dr. Bhaskar Acharya SG Project Grantees: BL Hegde, Narasinha Hegde, HN Kumara, Manju Siliwal Dr. Vasudeva, Forestry college, Sirsi Dr. Kushalappa, Forestry College, Ponnampet Sri Anant Hegde Ashisara, Chairman, WGTF KFD Writers-EE experts, Envi Journalists, NGOs GREEN INDIA TRUST-IINDICUS team Members of Local Communities of Uttara Kannada