Challenges in Balancing Conservation & Development in Eastern Himalaya
April 7, 2015 , 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Join the India China Institute and the Environmental Studies program at The New School for an exciting talk on biodiversity conservation and development issues in the Eastern Himalaya.
“Challenges in Balancing Conservation and Development in Eastern Himalaya, a Biodiversity Hotspot”
A public talk by Ganesan Balachander.
Discussion moderated by Timon McPhearson, Assistant Professor of Ecology, The New School.
The Eastern Himalaya is a biodiversity hotspot, with parts of it declared as UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites (Kaziranga, Khanchendzonga, Manas). Equally rich is the cultural diversity of its multitude ethnic groups. The region is likely to witness rapid economic growth – held back till now due to a long period of neglect, political instability and conflicts – owing to geopolitical considerations (a long disputed border with China), vast potential of hydro electric power for a energy starved country and growing development aspirations of the people. Conventional development models will be unlikely to produce sustained and inclusive growth and are likely to lead to loss of species, water insecurity and continued ethnic conflicts. To address these problems, the major research priorities include:
~ Need for information on occurrence, extent and distribution of species, both faunal and floral
~ Modeling to ascertain likely impact of climate change (to prepare for adaptation as well as mitigation)
~ The value of ecosystem services and factoring this element in policy making and design of project
The speaker will address these issues through lessons learned over two decades of research activities and projects in the region.
Ganesan Balachander is Director of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore. ATREE is recognized as amongst the top 20 environmental think tanks in the world (U-Penn survey). Balachander is also currently a member of the Consortium Board of the CGIAR, a global public sector research organization involved in addressing food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and ecosystem resilience. Earlier, he was the Representative for South Asia of The Ford Foundation in New Delhi. In a previous career, before he obtained his doctoral degree in Ecology from Rutgers University with a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, he was a Vice President at Citibank, New York.
