As India’s economy grows, more and more biodiversity is being lost. The private sector has an equal responsibility in ensuring the conservation and restoration of biological diversity. Many corporate bodies in India and throughout the world own large tracts of land which retain and support a considerable amount of biodiversity. As a part of its Business and Biodiversity programme, the AERF collaborates with private landowners, corporate groups and business firms to combine conservation goals in commercial land use systems. AERF has recently joined hands with Suzlon Infrastructure Limited to develop a Biodiversity Park on 34 acres of land adjoining a Special Economic Zone. This site will be the first of its kind in India whereby a diversity of habitats will be restored and re-created within an industrial park. The site will be used for environment education and will also demonstrate that corporate bodies have a large role to play in conserving biodiversity.

AERF’s programmes in Applied Research and Energy have resulted in the protection and rehabilitation of a number of species in the Western Ghats. This includes protection of 13 nesting sites of the Great Pied and Malabar Pied Hornbills through the training and employment of local youth nest watchers. On the other hand, promoting the use of native tree species for bio-fuel extraction has stopped local communities from cutting these trees for fuel wood or timber. Promoting the use of native trees has also replaced the introduction of exotic plants and clearing of forests for bio-fuel plantations. Similarly the sustainable extraction, propagation and sometimes merely the knowledge of medicinal plants within forests and habitats in the Himalayan region induces communities to take action for species protection Sustainable use linked to livelihoods has resulted in the conservation of species, a strategy AERF firmly believes in. More information in Landscapes and Livelihoods