Indian Ground Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata)
Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 182518054
‘Community-based approaches and action research for conservation of elusive Indian Ground Pangolin in open access landscape of Northern-Western Ghats, India'
Indian Ground Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is an Endangered species in the IUCN Red List. It is globally threatened due to poaching, illegal wildlife trade and traditional misconceptions. It is one of the least studied species and faces a high risk of extinction from wild habitat. It is listed in CITES Appendix-II and protected as Schedule-I species by Indian Wildlife Protection Act-1972.
In Northen Western Ghats of India, the habitat protection is difficult as over 95% of forest area is unprotected, open access and owned by local people. Therefore conservation of private forests in this region is extremely important.
The Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) has been promoting conservation with strong collaboration and partnership with the local communities with a geographical focus in the North-Western Ghats (NWG) which is part global Biodiversity Hotspot. AERF has demonstrated various approaches that work for sustained conservation since last two decades. It has successfully demonstrated that partnering with communities and creating sharing benefits from conservation are the key to success for long-term conservation. Till date Conservation Agreements helped to secure 4000 acres of community forests till 2028 in the North Western Ghats.
Research in isolation seldom works for the conservation of endangered species. AERF, therefore, devised a strategy to ensure long-term conservation of the endangered species and their habitats in consultation with stakeholders especially local communities. AERF’s focus is work on the ground for conservation that results in win-win both for species as well as for communities.
Project Objectives:
- To map the active Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) sites in the North Western Ghats using detailed surveys.
- To create baseline data about the ecology of Pangolin and mapping its home range in the study areas from Northern-Western Ghats.
- To Identify and map the threats to the Pangolins to further shortlist the areas for conservation action.
- To generate awareness among local communities to reduce misunderstandings about Pangolin and encouraging them to support its conservation.
- To develop community-based conservation action plan (CBCAP) for important Pangolin areas, using incentive-based mechanisms.