NCSC 2016Focal Theme

Science, Technology & Innovation for Sustainable Development

State Level Orientation WorkshopPondicherry

.N. ARUN. 9894926925

Pondicherry Science Forum cerdpsf@gmail.com

June 27, 2016

Sub Themes

I. Natural Resource ManagementII. Food and AgricultureIII. EnergyIV. Health, Hygiene & NutritionV. Lifestyles & LivelihoodsVI. Disaster ManagementVII. Traditional Knowledge Systems.

• Natural Resources (NR) - All the material present in nature most of which are used since the dawn of the human civilization.

• Abiotic Natural Resources - rocks, minerals,soil. • Biotic Natural Resources - Flora and Fauna. • Our demands for development put pressures on

natural resources beyond the nature’s capacity to restore and replenish.

• Needed - Planned development & Sustainable use of our resources.

• ↑of world’s population ↑ in human pressure on NR• Population density (India)- 77 person / Km2 (1901) -

117 person / Km2 (1951) - 216 person / Km2

(1981) - 382 person / Km2 ( 2011)• Forest cover - 70% in 1947 but 21.23% in 2013. • ↑ Population growth impact on non-renewable and

renewable resources, creating various environmental, economic and social crises.

• There is a need for innovative S&T interventions to frame suitable management practices of NR (planning, futuristic decision making processes, quick response mechanisms, crisis management, inventory management for alternative solutions, monitoring and impact assessment, corrective measures, etc.)

What will the sub theme cover?• Studies related to of all the aspects of NR extraction,

processing, value addition, or any other activity that leads to optimization of natural resource uses for various purposes.

• Works in identification of new natural resources or new/ better uses of already available natural resources for betterment of environment and human welfare.

• Review /impact assessment of exiting technologies for natural resources and strategies to address the negative impacts through appropriate correction in technology or developing alternative technologies.

Sub Theme I: NRM : Framework

Status Significance Threat/prospects Trend Practices

Innovative Science and Technological intervention Management

-/+-/+

-/+

Natural Resources

Terrestrial Aquatic

Forests Grass lands Agriculture Agro-forestry Fresh water Marine

Abiotic Biotic

FaunaFloraRocks & Minerals Soil

How to develop a project• Identify the eco system • Make a situation analysis / current practices/ inefficiencies

of the process / problems of sustainability etc.• Do background study if required and see if any

innovations exist elsewhere. Document them.• Think of innovative processes which can address the

lacunae identified above• Design experiments to test your innovative ideas.• Analyse the results and try to innovate further.• Compile, collate, extrapolate and share your findings.

Project Formulation

Define your objectives and methodology based on the aspects mentioned in this tableDefine your area of interest (AoI)

Ecosystem/s you want to focus on

Component of Ecosystem / resources want to focus

Situation analysis ( based on secondary information or field observation only)

Identify the issues you want to study and state the objectives

Design your tool and work on the approach to assess, measures following component for situation analysis and design your methodology .

Status Significance

threat prospect

trend practice

Status

Significance

threat

Prospect

trend practice

Natural Resource Management

• Project showing the methods of measurement of biodiversity. Eg. Coastal Sand Dune Biodiversity

• Project showing the significance and importance of the biodiversity. Eg. waste land Biodiversity

• Impact of climate change on biodiversity and their remedial measures. Eg. Study of Phenology of trees

• Impact Assessment study of various developmental activities on biodiversity.

Natural Resource Management

• Strategy/methods for the prevention and protection of threatened/rare/endangered plants and/or animals. Eg. Dodo bird.

• Assessment of the impact of various human activities on the biodiversity of a region.

• Identification of plants of medicinal value in the biodiversity rich area.

• Impact of overexploitation of forest and forest products.

Natural Resource Management• Impact of monoculture in forest during afforestation and

reforestation.• Studies on the impact of introduction of exotic species in a

natural ecosystem.Eg.Prosopis julifera• Causes and impact of deforestation due to various river

valley projects.• Causes and impact on biodiversity rich hilly region due to

construction of large dams.• Causes and impact of deforestation due to various

industrial activities.• Inventorization of biological resources in different

regions/parts of the country;

• Reclamation of wasteland and revival of their biological potential through microorganism conservation.

• Understanding of the intricate relationships and linkages between plants and animal species in an ecosystem.

• Role of biological sciences including biotechnology in multiplication of the rare, endangered and endemic species.

• Strategies for in situ or ex situ conservation of wild life by multiplication and restoration of threatened, rare and endangered species.

Natural Resource Management

Low Agricultural Productivity

Increased disease occurrence

Natural calamity

Higher pesticides application

High pest incidence

How NR /Sustainability• Projects will look at practices/process that involve Natural

Resources leading to sustainable processes. • How they affect the environment the least manner.• How local resources can be effectively used for primary

/secondary production.• How alternate uses/innovative methods of NR can lead to

sustainable futures.– Organic frming / Permaculture / Water recycling/ Preventing

wasting of NR / Green processes / Reduced carbon foot prints / Better Life cycle assessments / Improved Gross Primary Production (more production with less inputs ) etc.

• Resource Mapping and Management Planning•

• Mapping of a region for the resources it provides, the pressures and threats it faces. Changes the area has been subjected to can help you with a situation analysis and designing an intervention for sustainable management of its resources:

• Proposed activities could be:• Identification of resources of the study area • Understanding and analysing its status, significance, threats/potentialities, trends and associated practices and

their subsequent ranking• Identification of the spatial pattern of the aforementioned and • Preparation of a management plan

• Methodological approaches:• Specify /focus your study – identify Area od focus (AOI) to one resource, e.g. Surface water, wet land, soil quality,

grass land, ground water, land use –land cover, etc• Make transect walk in your study area ,identify sources, mark their location on the base map;• Make thorough observations• Undertake field base measurements- for assessing quality and quantity • Hold discussions with relevant stakeholder• Design a questionnaire and interview of the stake holders • Develop a database, analyze and interpret•

• Expected out come • Resource Map • Resource Appraisal • Identification of threat/potentialities• Management plan

Biodiversity documentation, mapping and developing management and conservation Planning

• Diversity of life is foundation of natural resource potentiality of a locality or region. Identification this diversity in terms of diversity flora and fauna, its status (availability, scarcity, distribution, etc) are very much important to plan our activities to achieve sustainability. Therefore, documentation and mapping of bio-diversity in a locality ( e.g. school, homestead garden, village, ward, etc.) is important step to know the situation and based on these it is possible to develop a management and conservation plan design our activities ( e.g. land use planning, land cover management planning, resource utilization planning, etc). Moreover, under the provision of National Biodiversity Act, 2002 one can submit such report to Block Management Committee(BMC), District Level Committee or State Biodiversity Board for incorporation of the same in Biodiversity Register.

• Objectives:• Identification of diversity important life in a locality,• Identification of status, Significance, Threats/potentialities, Trend and associated

practices• Ranking of space within the larger area based on status, Significance,

Threats/potentialities, Trend and associated practices• Identification of spatial pattern • Preparation of management planning

• Methodological approaches:• Specify /focus your study – identify AoI – focus to one resource,e.g. Surface water,

wet land, Soil quality, Grass land, Ground water, Land use –land cover, etc• Make transect walk in your study area ,identify sources, marked its location on the

base map;• Source base observation• Field base measurement to assess quality and quantity ( one can able to adopt

quadrant method for quantification, particularly for identification distribution, but in such case better to select a small area like School campus. Homestead area, )

• Focused group discussion with stakeholder• Interview of the stake holder based on predesigned questionnaire • Data base development • Data analysis and interpretation• Expected out come • Biodiversity Map • Biodiversity Appraisal • Identification of threat/potentialities• Management and conservation plan

• Population counts of select groups of species and collating information on trends• Ecological requirements of migratory species that come to your locality from distant

locations for wintering/breeding.• Biological corridors which are essential for movement and passage of wildlife• Sustainable harvest of any plant species presently being collected unsustainably• Observing Social behaviour studies of wildlife and their interpretation• Wild relatives of crop plants Landraces and varieties and their status in your area and

analyzing farmers approaches to preserve them • Changes in flowering and fruiting patterns • Understanding the ecological role of lesser known flora and fauna• Minimizing human wild life conflicts• Securing sacred groves, community conservation areas• A plan with the State Forest Department • Role of pollinators and their role in maintaining our ecosystems.• Role of aquatic plants and animals in maintenance of water bodies in your locality.• Water quality of fresh water lakes/wetland and its impact on fish • Ground water mapping of a locality ( aquifer level identification and showing in map

through iso-line preparation management plan)

List of Project Ideas …

• Household water audit and management plan• Study the soil thickness in different terrain condition, mapping and development of land use plan• Study the land cover and its impact on soil quality and planning• Study impact of rainfall on soil erosion, mapping, identification of vulnerable location and management

planning • Study traditional method of soil quality identification in your locality• Study the tilling practices and its impact on soil texture in the agricultural field• Study the impact of manure and fertiliser on soil organism and management planning• Study impact of harvesting practices of paddy and its impact on soil quality of paddy field and

management planning • Study the impact of field bund on soil quality of agricultural field and management planning• Study impact of solid waste on soil quality and management planning• Study the impact of soil moisture on soil organisms and management planning• Document the traditional land use practices of your locality and preparation land use plan • Water audit in household sector• Water audit in agricultural sector• Water audit in cottage industries• Water audit in schools/colleges• Water audit in offices• Water audit in hotels and restaurants, etc• Comparative assessment of traditional vs modern water conservation techniques• Study the settlement pattern (spatial arrangement) its impact on transportation cost (including energy

used for transportation);• Study the man-made drainage pattern of locality and its association with water logging or similar

problems of the locality and management planning

• Study the impact of wildlife on the settlement area and management planning • Study the home garden practices in the locality and management planning • study on environmental impact on settlement• Assess diversity of flora and fauna in your home garden• Assess diversity of wild edibles in local market.• Assess status of birds in your locality and prepare a check list• Assess the diversity of animal domesticated in your locality• Assess the diversity of medicinal plant of your locality.• Assess the diversity rice cultivated in your locality.• Assess the diversity of insects in your house.• Assess the status of scavenging birds of your locality and their role in waste management.• Assess the diversity of fish of your locality• Assess the diversity of pulses cultivated in your locality and their status.• Assess the diversity of butterflies and moths of your locality.• Assess the status of nocturnal animals of your locality. • Assess the diversity of reptiles in your locality and their status.• Assess the diversity of life found in soil of different land categories.• Assess the diversity of minor forest product of your locality. • Assess the nesting sites of migratory birds in your locality and prepare protection action

plan

Lakes under threat

Swadesi cotton mill complex

Degradation of coastal ecosystems

Developments within

Aquaculture

ILLEGAL CUTTING

ENCROACHMENT

UNPLANNED DEVELOPMENTS

MSW DUMPING

MSW DUMPING & BURNING

Coastal Erosion & Sea Water Intrusion

POLLUTION

Loss of Natural Resources

• How are different soils affected by erosion? You can make your own wind or water and evaluate

the effects on soil. • How does the pH of soil relate to the pH of the

water around the soil? You can make your own pH paper, test the pH of the

soil, add water, then test the pH of the water. Are the two values the same? If not, is there a relationship between them?

• Natural resource mapping and management planning, like watershed/micro-watershed planning.

• Water or Soil quality analysis, tools and techniques for water treatment or water harvesting and management,

• Mapping of biodiversity of village, ward, school, sacred groves, village forests, gardens.

• Population studies of a species and developing conservation and management planning ,etc

• It is expected that projects are carried out with a focus beyond just documentation which will cover assessment on frequency, density, etc in case of biodiversity documentation, as well as in case of preparing any management plan for any of the natural resource one has to use quantitative measurement /assessment techniques to review the present status, significance, trend and also the identification of possible threats and / or potentials of sustainable use..

Observation

LEARNING BY DOING & REFLECTING

AnalysisPresentation

Synthesis /discussion

Work on pollination in kenya

• Pollination has direct influence on yields even at low fertilizer levels

• Role on ecological functions e.g. pollination, soil biodiversity etc.• Assessment: Need more surveys especially for crops in fragile

ecosystems to monitor pollinator declines and causes with local people

• Adaptive management: Strategy for conservation and management of pollination services– Cashew nuts: flies, ants and honeybees for nut development– Coffee – improves flavor– Sunflower and cotton - oil output increased– Coconut - bees yield doubled.

Research on Managing Seed Systems to promote the sustainable utilization of crop genetic resources:

Focus areas 1. How to manage seed systems to promote sustainable

agriculture, improved farm welfare and in situ conservation.

2. Assessing the links between seed systems and farm level use of crops and varieties and their implications for welfare and diversity.

Work together to achieve happy healthy ecosystems

Smallholders access market prices from rural info kiosks, c/o Pride africa, IDRC

For future generation ??

Loss of NR