There is increased global and national attention on the need for effective strategies to control ... more There is increased global and national attention on the need for effective strategies to control zoonotic diseases. Quick, effective action is, however, hampered by poor evidence-bases and limited coordination between stakeholders from relevant sectors such as public and animal health, wildlife and forestry sectors at different scales, who may not usually work together. The OneHealth approach recognises the value of cross-sectoral evaluation of human, animal and environmental health questions in an integrated, holistic and transdisciplinary manner to reduce disease impacts and/or mitigate risks. Co-production of knowledge is also widely advocated to improve the quality and acceptability of decision-making across sectors and may be particularly important when it comes to zoonoses. This paper brings together OneHealth and knowledge co-production and reflects on lessons learned for future OneHealth co-production processes by describing a process implemented to understand spill-over and...
This data package includes spatial environmental and social layers for Shivamogga District, Karna... more This data package includes spatial environmental and social layers for Shivamogga District, Karnataka, India that were considered as potential predictors of patterns in human cases of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD). KFD is a fatal tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease of humans, that is spreading across degraded forest ecosystems in India. The layers encompass a range of fifteen metrics of topography, land use and land use change, livestock and human population density and public health resources for Shivamogga District across 1km and 2km study grids. These spatial proxies for risk factors for KFD that had been jointly identified between cross-sectoral stakeholders and researchers through a co-production approach. Shivamogga District is the District longest affected by KFD in south India. The layers are distributed as 1km and 2km GeoTiffs in Albers equal area conic projection. For KFD, spatial models incorporating these layers identified characteristics of forest-plantation landscape...
A list of literature sources for secondary data on woody plant distribution in the Indian Western... more A list of literature sources for secondary data on woody plant distribution in the Indian Western Himalaya.
Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on... more Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on evaluation of regression models for 100-m class analysis.
Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on... more Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on evaluation of regression models for 200-m class analysis.
This chapter explores a series of personal narratives among migrant settlers situated at the cent... more This chapter explores a series of personal narratives among migrant settlers situated at the centre of a contested conservation landscape in Kerala, India. Facing starvation and unemployment associated with World War II, impoverished villagers from the plains of Travancore were encouraged by the State to move to its eastern mountain frontier. There they faced an impenetrable forest and the unwelcome presence of crop-raiding elephants. Settler remembrances of this period are dominated by articulations about daily elephant raids and by repeated references to famine. This study shows that memory born out of collective distress plays an important role in how migrant societies reflect on their lives, construct their identity, respond to exigencies and effect land use change. Alongside an analysis of non-human agency and memory, they serve as invaluable tools in understanding contemporary conflicts around conservation.
SUMMARY Islands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the ... more SUMMARY Islands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the growing global seafood trade. This study examines how export-driven fisheries in India's oceanic islands (Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands) differ significantly as a result of their varied history, culture, available infrastructure and market access. Despite being geographically closer to export centres on the Indian mainland, processing and transport infrastructure in the Lakshadweep Islands are limited. This only allows for the trade of non-perishable commodities like dried tuna that are caught using traditional pole-and-line fishing techniques, restricting reef exploitation to local preference-based consumption and opportunistic export. The Andaman Islands, on the other hand, with multiple daily flight connections and large private and government processing facilities, are better connected to export markets. The relatively recent and multicultural fisheries of t...
This paper traces past and present entanglements between people and elephants along a forest-agri... more This paper traces past and present entanglements between people and elephants along a forest-agriculture fringe in Kerala's Western Ghats. In doing so, it explores the evolution of conservation-linked conflict and its problematic impacts. Over the centuries, the region's elephants have played a dominant role in its mountain landscapes: as antagonists to cultivators; as sources of ivory, labour and revenue to forest traders, local rulers and imperial administrators; and as cultural and religious icons straddling forests and countryside. Environmental protection arrangements in recent years ushered in a new elephant, a charismatic flagship beloved of conservationists, but also a key actor involved in fluctuating tensions along the forest edge. In this study, I explore long-term engagements between people and elephants by interrogating three critical phases in history, each incorporating a changing identity for the place in question: as a bountiful, ivory-rich forest at the tur...
Details of the ecotone accumulation model to demonstrate effect of scale on species richness patt... more Details of the ecotone accumulation model to demonstrate effect of scale on species richness patterns.
.............................................................................................. x ... more .............................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................ 1 1.1 The research context and key questions ................................................................ 1 1.2 Conceptual and methodological approaches: multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives for complex conservation challenges ........................................ 5 1.3 The structure of the thesis ...................................................................................... 8 1.4 Study area (the geographical setting) .................................................................. 14 1.5 Summary .............................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2: Review: Biophysical and socio-political contexts relating to research on con2.
There is increased global and national attention on the need for effective strategies to control ... more There is increased global and national attention on the need for effective strategies to control zoonotic diseases. Quick, effective action is, however, hampered by poor evidence-bases and limited coordination between stakeholders from relevant sectors such as public and animal health, wildlife and forestry sectors at different scales, who may not usually work together. The OneHealth approach recognises the value of cross-sectoral evaluation of human, animal and environmental health questions in an integrated, holistic and transdisciplinary manner to reduce disease impacts and/or mitigate risks. Co-production of knowledge is also widely advocated to improve the quality and acceptability of decision-making across sectors and may be particularly important when it comes to zoonoses. This paper brings together OneHealth and knowledge co-production and reflects on lessons learned for future OneHealth co-production processes by describing a process implemented to understand spill-over and...
This data package includes spatial environmental and social layers for Shivamogga District, Karna... more This data package includes spatial environmental and social layers for Shivamogga District, Karnataka, India that were considered as potential predictors of patterns in human cases of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD). KFD is a fatal tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease of humans, that is spreading across degraded forest ecosystems in India. The layers encompass a range of fifteen metrics of topography, land use and land use change, livestock and human population density and public health resources for Shivamogga District across 1km and 2km study grids. These spatial proxies for risk factors for KFD that had been jointly identified between cross-sectoral stakeholders and researchers through a co-production approach. Shivamogga District is the District longest affected by KFD in south India. The layers are distributed as 1km and 2km GeoTiffs in Albers equal area conic projection. For KFD, spatial models incorporating these layers identified characteristics of forest-plantation landscape...
A list of literature sources for secondary data on woody plant distribution in the Indian Western... more A list of literature sources for secondary data on woody plant distribution in the Indian Western Himalaya.
Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on... more Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on evaluation of regression models for 100-m class analysis.
Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on... more Correlates of species richness for different biogeographic groups at the landscape scale based on evaluation of regression models for 200-m class analysis.
This chapter explores a series of personal narratives among migrant settlers situated at the cent... more This chapter explores a series of personal narratives among migrant settlers situated at the centre of a contested conservation landscape in Kerala, India. Facing starvation and unemployment associated with World War II, impoverished villagers from the plains of Travancore were encouraged by the State to move to its eastern mountain frontier. There they faced an impenetrable forest and the unwelcome presence of crop-raiding elephants. Settler remembrances of this period are dominated by articulations about daily elephant raids and by repeated references to famine. This study shows that memory born out of collective distress plays an important role in how migrant societies reflect on their lives, construct their identity, respond to exigencies and effect land use change. Alongside an analysis of non-human agency and memory, they serve as invaluable tools in understanding contemporary conflicts around conservation.
SUMMARY Islands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the ... more SUMMARY Islands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the growing global seafood trade. This study examines how export-driven fisheries in India's oceanic islands (Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands) differ significantly as a result of their varied history, culture, available infrastructure and market access. Despite being geographically closer to export centres on the Indian mainland, processing and transport infrastructure in the Lakshadweep Islands are limited. This only allows for the trade of non-perishable commodities like dried tuna that are caught using traditional pole-and-line fishing techniques, restricting reef exploitation to local preference-based consumption and opportunistic export. The Andaman Islands, on the other hand, with multiple daily flight connections and large private and government processing facilities, are better connected to export markets. The relatively recent and multicultural fisheries of t...
This paper traces past and present entanglements between people and elephants along a forest-agri... more This paper traces past and present entanglements between people and elephants along a forest-agriculture fringe in Kerala's Western Ghats. In doing so, it explores the evolution of conservation-linked conflict and its problematic impacts. Over the centuries, the region's elephants have played a dominant role in its mountain landscapes: as antagonists to cultivators; as sources of ivory, labour and revenue to forest traders, local rulers and imperial administrators; and as cultural and religious icons straddling forests and countryside. Environmental protection arrangements in recent years ushered in a new elephant, a charismatic flagship beloved of conservationists, but also a key actor involved in fluctuating tensions along the forest edge. In this study, I explore long-term engagements between people and elephants by interrogating three critical phases in history, each incorporating a changing identity for the place in question: as a bountiful, ivory-rich forest at the tur...
Details of the ecotone accumulation model to demonstrate effect of scale on species richness patt... more Details of the ecotone accumulation model to demonstrate effect of scale on species richness patterns.
.............................................................................................. x ... more .............................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................ 1 1.1 The research context and key questions ................................................................ 1 1.2 Conceptual and methodological approaches: multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives for complex conservation challenges ........................................ 5 1.3 The structure of the thesis ...................................................................................... 8 1.4 Study area (the geographical setting) .................................................................. 14 1.5 Summary .............................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 2: Review: Biophysical and socio-political contexts relating to research on con2.
Uploads
Papers by meera oommen