Side Event

Issues at the intersection of poverty and critical ecosystems

Organizer
Royal Bank of Scotland Foundation India ( RBS FI)

Date and Time
15 October 2012 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11)

The event includes presentations by Royal Bank of Scotland and some of their NGO partners of their work done in the space of providing sustainable livelihoods to communities that are located in the buffer zones or corridors of our wildlife protected areas and so, dependent on their resources. These projects have targeted villages that are not eligible for the relocation packages from the Government. Alternative livelihoods provided include enhanced agriculture; crop changes/patterns/bio-fencing to evade crop raiding; basket of farm and non-farm activities like backyard poultry/enterprise poultry, stall-fed cattle, eco-tourism, handicraft etc. The projects strengthen Eco-Development Committees (EDC) and work in consultation with the PA managements. The issues and lessons are common in South Asia, SE Asia, Africa and parts of S. America. The approach seeks to achieve convergence among managers of ecosystems and of people programs. RBS Foundation India’s partners include: FES (Foundation for Ecological Security), NEWS (Bengal), NCF (Nature Conservation Foundation), ATI (Appropriate Technologies India, Uttarkhand) and Basix among others.