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Ex-Post Evaluation of the Impact of an “Enterprise-Based Conservation Project”: The BCN Project in BRT Wildlife Sanctuary

Research Team: Sharachchandra Lélé, K. S. Bawa and C. Madegowda Enterprise-based conservation is now being viewed as a means to increasing the benefits flowing to local communities from natural resources while simultaneously achieving biodiversity conservation. This study examined the impact of an enterprise-based conservation project implemented under the Biodiversity Conservation Network Programme in the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Karnataka. The project attempted to increase the returns from non timber forest products (NTFPs) accruing to the Soliga tribal community by setting up an NTFP processing and marketing enterprise, and also by mobilising the community to improve the functioning of their existing NTFP-harvesting cooperative. Using these ventures as the incentive, the project sought to involve the Soliga community in a systematic monitoring of the NTFP resource dynamics and conservation efforts in the forest. ‘Before after’ and ‘with-without’ comparisons were used for different components of the impact analysis. In terms of magnitude of economic benefits, the study found that the employment generated by the enterprise was modest, and the profits from processing and marketing highly variable and not very high on a per collector basis. However, the limited changes brought about in the functioning of the NTFP-harvesting cooperative (LAMPS) resulted in very significant increases in returns to all harvesters. The approach of reforming the LAMPS thus turned out to be more efficacious, although more difficult and politically sensitive. The project was able to generate only moderate enthusiasm within the community for participatory biological monitoring, partly because they do not believe their extraction has any major impacts. Inadequate participation of the agency that controls the forest (the Karnataka Forest Department) confounds the problem. . Also, the Soliga community responded to raw NTFP price increases by increasing their harvesting efforts, without worrying much about sustainability issues. This could be attributed to the highly insecure tenure (legal and de facto) that the Soligas have over the forest. The study concludes that in taking an enterprise-based approach to conservation, it would be important to work towards reforming existing institutions—both in terms of institutional autonomy and security of tenure over the resource—and also to understand the capabilities of the communities carefully before making capital and technology-intensive interventions. Contact Email: cised@isec.ac.in

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