Conservation Biology

Across South India, biodiversity is found in a remarkable range of ecosystems — from the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats to lateritic plateaus, peatlands, freshwater wetlands, riparian corridors, coastal ecosystems, rocky outcrops, grasslands and the low-lying floodplains of regions such as Kuttanad. Each supports unique ecological communities and evolutionary histories, and many receive little conservation attention despite harbouring endemic, rare and threatened species.

This division is committed to those neglected ecosystems and the lesser-known species within them. Effective conservation should not focus solely on charismatic wildlife or iconic forests: countless herbs, grasses, fungi, insects, freshwater organisms, reptiles and amphibians play indispensable roles in keeping ecosystems healthy.

Our philosophy also recognises that people are part of nature. Indigenous and local communities have shaped and safeguarded many of these landscapes through generations of traditional knowledge, and their participation is essential in human-dominated landscapes where biodiversity and livelihoods coexist.

Through research, ecological monitoring, habitat restoration, community engagement, environmental education and policy advocacy, we work to reach the places that are ignored, the species that are seldom studied, and the communities whose knowledge has long sustained them.