STRENGTHENING BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION THROUGH COMMUNITY-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW OF THE INDIA ECODEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The India Ecodevelopment Project supported from Global Environmental Facility funds has been a major conservation initiative of the Government of India that was initiated in 1997 in seven protected areas (PAs) in the country. This project aimed to strengthen biodiversity conservation by establishing critical links between conservation and community well-being. The objective of environmental review of the project in the seven PA sites was to review the success of enabling strategies and interventions under the project in effectively addressing biodiversity conservation and optimising benefits to local communities through measurable improvements.Strategic environmental assessment, along with other indicators of success that have been adopted worldwide for evaluating integrated conservation and development projects, was used for the environmental review of the project. The prioritisation of investments in activities under the project was found to be in accordance with the ecological profile and in conformity with the objectives of conservation in each PA. Although most of the activities identified under the project are beneficial and provide evidence of their positive impacts on biodiversity conservation, the project at large had pitfalls and success in varying proportions in different sites. The India Ecodevelopment Project has been particularly limited in scope to address biodiversity threats from unplanned development and incompatible landuse practices around PAs, which pose far more significant threats to conservation.