Announcements

KV co-organised the launch of Dr. Asad Rahmani’s memoirs, ‘Living With Birds’, at Padgandi Bookstore and Cafe, Pune, on 19 December 2024. It was an insightful evening as Dr. Rahmani, renowned conservationist and ornithologist, engaged in a thought-provoking conversation with Ashish Kothari of Kalpavriksh. The discussion revolved around the conservation, biodiversity, and community-based initiatives, with particular focus on Dr. Rahmani’s extensive research on birdlife conservation. His remarks were also peppered with delightful anecdotes from his many decades of living with birds.

For nearly two and a half decades now the Protected Area Update (PAU) has religiously presented a consolidated account of India’s wildlife and protected area (PA) network. Published six times a year, it carries in a tightly edited format, news and information of what is happening in, to and around these national parks and sanctuaries that have been at the core of India’s wildlife conservation strategy. In the second of a series of edited books that synthesis this huge body of information on geographical lines The State of Wildlife and Protected Areas in Maharashtra – News and information from the Protected Area Update 1996–2015 presents a consolidated historical account of developments in the PA network in Maharashtra over two decades. While the primary unit still remains the individual protected area, the time line has changed from two months of one issue to 20 years that this publication covers. In following one news item after another about any particular PA we see what happened month after month, year after year; what developments recurred at what periodicity; what were the issues that were important and what was done about them – it’s an important glimpse into the contemporary history of a place (many places) marked on the map as a protected area.

Print copies are available for sale at Rs. 400 and for a a discounted price of Rs. 300 please write to [email protected] to order copies and/or further information.

Kalpavriksh has recently published three new children’s books. Details are provided below.

Click on Our Store to order the books!

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lIa, My Wild Mongoose Friend by Abhisheka K

A young college student volunteering at a wildlife rehab center forms an unexpected bond with Ila, a feisty Indian Grey Mongoose. From leaping across breakfast plates to cracking eggs, Ila’s antics charm everyone. Set in the lush outskirts of Bengaluru, this tale captures Ila’s adventurous return to the wild and her friend’s bittersweet lesson in letting go.

What Am I Good At? by Rahul Pradhan

Meet Baby Eagle—born high up in a tree, she quickly learns to say, “Kree!” But as she starts to grow up, a big question begins to trouble her: “What am I good at?”

Determined to find out, she asks all the animals she can find—an elephant, a sloth bear, a grey langur, a barking deer, and even an otter! Will she finally get an answer to her BIG question?

My Nest Is The Best by Niyatee Sharma

Stitching, weaving, digging, stealing… Did you know that birds have countless fascinating skills that they use to build their nests? Learn all about them in this delightful book on nests!

To read the entire Newsletters please click here: Issue No: 17 and No: 18

Latest Hindi People in Conservation: Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Security Newsletter is out!

To read the entire newsletter please click here.

Vikalp Sangam is inviting you all to a discussion on the book ‘The Great Nicobar Betrayal’, where speakers will discuss the overview of the project and the book followed by Q&A.

Speakers: Norma Alvares, Manish Chandi, Pankaj Sekhsaria

Moderated by: Shrishtee Bajpai 

When: Aug 10, 2024 07:00 PM (IST)

Topic: The Great Nicobar Betrayal 

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RCm0ATF9QhWvEVdkYJdAjA

Poster is attached.

Thanks!

Nagaland state in India has a unique distinction of having over 400 documented Community Conserved Areas, declared by the village community/clan on the lands/forests owned by them. Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF) was constituted in the year 2014 and got registered in June 2017 as a solidarity alliance of CCAs in the State. NCCAF is a member based alliance which started with 15 CCAs and currently has 28 CCAs, covering about 120 villages and an approximate area of about 250 square KMs. NCCAF became a member of the ICCA Consortium in January 2021.

After informally functioning for almost a decade, the NCCAF has finally established a physical office in Dimapur (the only Airport and Railhead in the State), and appointed a couple of staff, through the in-country membership programme of ICCA Consortium South Asia Secretariat, coordinated by Kalpavriksh, for which we are extremely grateful to the ICCA. The Office was inaugurated on the 21st June 2024 after a two day Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Meet 2024 at Mokokchung. The inauguration programme was attended by ICCA Consortium South Asia coordination team from Kalpavriksh, office bearers & Advisors of NCCAF, Kenono Foundation, Lemsachenlok and staff of Foundation for Ecological Security (FES). NCCAF hopes that the office will become a meeting point for all CCAs and a centre of excellence and knowledge of CCAs in the state.

For more details on CCAs in Nagaland pl contact: [email protected]

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Dear all,

Inviting you all for the third episode in this series with Activist Adv. Nisha Shiurkar on Savitribai’ Phule’s Relevance in Today’s Feminist Movement.

We, at Vikalp Sangam initiated a webinar series named कल से कल की तरफ़ / from yesterday, towards tomorrow, which explores the relevance of ideas, ideals and principles of Indian thought leaders of the yesteryears, and sees live examples of their applications manifesting around us. These will be valuable conversations, especially given the multiple crises India (and the world) are going through right now and attempt to co-create a vision of a collective future.

Date: 11th January, 2024 (Thursday) 

Time: 05:00 pm IST

Register on: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_l8JP5FVMTaCb6FHIzgx3hg

Please register in advance for this webinar to receive the meeting link.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing the information about joining the webinar.

We started this series with celebrated journalist-author and Founder of Ahimsa Conversations, Rajni Bakshi on The Relevance and Applications of Gandhi’s Principles of Non-Violence for Today’s Crises. Watch the episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/fhyO55aGFjU?feature=shared&t=4

The second episode was with Indian historian and environmentalist Ramachandra Guha on Gandhi’s Relevance in Today’s Crises. Watch the episode here: https://www.youtube.com/live/xT1SfqHKIHI?si=icaq3y0jzU3XKGON

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Please share this with others and join in to contribute to the rich conversations!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Hello, and you are all kindly invited to the launch of the new publication 

“Just Transformations: grassroots struggles for alternative futures” 

in which co-authors from Argentina, India, Turkey, Belgium, Canada, Bolivia, England, Venezuela and Lebanon will share the results of the ACKnowl_EJ (Academic and Activist Co-produced Knowledge of Environmental Justice) Project. ACKnowl-EJ was one of the first three Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) international research projects funded by the International Science Council (ISC). 

ACKnowl-EJ-book-launch-poster-final-1Download

Edited by Iokiñe Rodriguez, Mariana Walter and Leah temper, with from contributions from a wide variety of co-authors, including Ashish Kothari, Begüm Özkaynak, Ethemcan Turhan, Cem İskender Aydın, Arpita Lulla, Mirna Inturias, Rania Masri,  Lena Weber, Jérôme Pelenc, Meenal Tatpati, Mukesh Shende, Shruti Ajit, Aguilar,  Neema Pathak Broome, Shrishtee Bajpai and Jen Golby among others. 

Date: December 12, 2023 

Time: 12 pm UTC-GMT /12 pm UK/1 pm Spain/ 5.30 pm India/9 am Argentina 

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81704189296 

Translation into Spanish will be available 

The Just Transformations book can be downloaded free here:  https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/77032 

Book Synopsis: 

The climate crisis is the greatest existential threat humanity faces today. The need for a radical societal transformation in the interests of social justice and ecological sustainability has never been greater. But where can we turn to find systemic alternatives?

From India, Turkey and Bolivia, to Venezuela, Canada and Lebanon, Just Transformations looks to local environmental struggles for the answers. With each case study grounded in the social movements and specific politics of the region in question, this volume investigates the role that resistance movements play in bringing about sustainable transformations, the strategies and tools they utilise to overcome barriers, and how academics and grassroots activists can collaborate effectively.

The book provides a toolkit for scholar-activists who want to build transformative visions with communities. Interrogating each case study for valuable lessons, the contributors develop a conceptualisation of a just transformation that focuses on the changes that communities themselves are trying to produce. 

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