An international field course on interdisciplinary approaches and methods for ecological monitoring of natural resources and livelihoods was held last 5-15 May in Kotagiri, Nilgiris, India. The course aimed to equip different stakeholders with tools, insights, experiences & learning to make a change in their respective spheres of conservation, utilization and trade. Some 15 representatives of NGOs, academic institutions and the forest department participated in the course. They came from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra & Orissa as well as the distant provinces of the Northeast namely Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

The course made use of the wisdom and experience of local resource persons from Keystone, Prof. K.C. Malhotra, Mr. P.N. Unnikrishnan (IFS) and Madhu Ramnath. Also invited were international resource persons Tony Cunningham (PPI), Janet Seeley (University of East Anglia) and Crissy Guerrero (NTFP-EP).

At the end of the course, the students were asked to develop projects that coherently linked aspects of conservation, livelihood and enterprise in their own contexts. The five best projects were awarded 1500 Euros to implement the projects, namely: 1) Prasad Dash of Wasundhara: exploring the handloom sector & the dyes used in Phulbani district; 2) Hema of Kovel Foundation: developing a harvesting protocol for Tinospora cordifolia; 3) Anuja of Econet: conducting an ecological monitoring project of Terminalia chebula; 4) Sivan of MSSRF: documenting Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the adivasis in Wyanad; 5) Sangma of Samrakshan: working on a landuse plan in one of the Akings of Meghalaya.

The aspiration of the organizers is that this course be officially integrated into the education and training of all individuals in the Indian Forest Service. This would result in the institutionalization of holistic forestry programs. Congratulations to Keystone on a brilliant idea and exemplary execution! {Crissy Guerrero}