Our Earth, the only known planet to host life, is gifted with a vast biodiversity. From the invisible subterranean fungal networks that link entire forests to the large and small animals that dwell in those forests, every organism holds a piece of our planet. However, humans have driven much of this diversity to extinction, while our interventions have often failed to protect and conserve this pristine biodiversity.
To protect our diverse ecosystems, the United Nations has declared May 22nd as World Biodiversity Day. This year, with the theme “Acting locally for global impact”, it highlights the importance of small community-driven efforts. We sat with Dr Aparajita Datta, Director of the Nature Conservation Foundation, to understand the importance of biodiversity conservation. She has been a long-standing advocate of biodiversity, working to conserve the biodiversity of the Eastern Himalayas for three decades.
The heart of our conservation was rooted in understanding the importance of local communities and their global impact. In this two-part interview series, we discussed her work in Arunachal Pradesh and the long-standing relationship with the local Nyishi and Lisu communities. As she shares her experience on local communities and their importance in conservation, she also highlights the challenges of the work.
Arunachal Pradesh has a megadiverse landscape, explains Dr Aparajita Datta. The Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) has had several opportunities to work at the frontlines of conservation.
“We have worked towards Hornbill conservation and research, ecological restoration, and nature education for more than two decades. Thus, building collaborative relationships with local communities across the Eastern Himalayas”.
“This has been a thorough process of mutual learning and capacity-building for us. Over the years, our understanding has evolved significantly. Our approach sees that learning is a reciprocal relationship built on mutual education, collaboration, and respect. This approach aligns with the principles of the Ethical Conservation Alliance,” explains Dr Datta.
People are a fundamental and integral component of any effective conservation program, she adds. She strongly believes that conservation programs do not need to educate locals.
“I think it’s not so much about educating or a one-way thing, as much as understanding and learning together," emphasises Dr Datta.
The Ethical Conservation Alliance (where Dr Datta is a member) advocates for this approach to align with more inclusive, ethical, and community-centered conservation practices as practiced by NCF. This approach enhances the success of conservation.
“The multi-layered approach in which local community members are not simply beneficiaries, but active conservation partners allows context-specific guidance, and helps shape conservation interventions based on their own experiences, knowledge, and priorities. This collaborative model ensures that conservation initiatives remain culturally appropriate, socially accepted, and grounded in local realities,” explains Dr Datta.
Additionally, this approach allows community members to also benefit economically from conservation initiatives. The conservation initiated in Arunachal Pradesh provides direct employment opportunities, training, and capacity-building workshops to locals.
“Having a conservation team composed largely of local community members strengthens trust and helps ensure that interventions are sensitive to local social and cultural contexts.”
While local communities enrich conservation practices, the involvement of the community is a complex relationship.
“Conservation priorities and values often differ among individuals and groups, and people’s attitudes are influenced by a range of interconnected factors, including history, culture, politics, economics, livelihoods, and relationships with land. These social dynamics are constantly evolving, and conservation work requires navigating multiple overlapping relationships and perspectives.”
These challenges are often heightened by varying economic pressures, and complex land governance systems are challenging to monitor. To overcome these challenges, the conservationists often rely on PARTNERS principles, a practical framework designed to promote ethical conservation through positive relationships, collaboration, and meaningful community engagement.
A successful program monitored through PARTNERS with the help of local communities, by Dr Datta, is the Hornbill Nest Adoption Program (HNAP). She explains that the project was conceived in 2012 to protect hornbills and their habitats outside the Pakke Tiger Reserve.
“It is now embedded in the local fabric of the villages where it operates. While HNAP is protecting an umbrella species, it has enabled local community members to become active hornbill guardians,” explains Dr Datta.
Ecological restoration is an important need in the landscape. After the HNAP began, the team also initiated a native species nursery and a forest restoration project to restore the degraded forests in the Pakke landscape through a scientific approach. To understand the complex ecological conservation of hornbills and the impact of climate change on the Eastern Himalaya, dig deep into Part Two of the series.
