INDIA HAS A RICH CULTURAL/ SPIRITUAL TRADITION OF VALUING FORESTS, AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF FORESTS FOR LIVELIHOOD NEEDS, AN EXPRESSION OF WHICH IS STILL PREVALENT IN THE REMOTE FORESTED REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY WHERE TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES LIVE. HOWEVER, WITH A VARIETY OF EXTERNAL PRESSURES LEADING TO LARGE-SCALE DEFORESTATION AND LAND DEGRADATION, MUCH OF WHAT IS LEFT WITH US NOW ARE EXTENSIVE SECONDARY FOREST FORMATIONS. THIS IS THE CONTEXT OF A TWO-PRONGED APPROACH WHEREIN FORESTERS' SYLVICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE HAS TO BE APPROPRIATELY BLENDED WITH TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE (TEK) AVAILABLE WITH THE FOREST DWELLERS TO HAVE SITE-SPECIFIC 'HYBRID TECHNOLOGIES' FOR FOREST BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION.
PART OF A SERIES OF PRIMERS ON BIODIVERSITY, THIS VOLUME EMPHASIZES UPON ECOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF FORESTRY, TAKING A TRANS- DISCIPLINARY APPROACH TOWARDS FOREST DIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND LINKED SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT. IN THIS, INDIDA HAS HAD A PIONEERING ROLE TO PLAY, BOTH THROUGH THE SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP PROVIEDE AS WELL AS PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES LARGELY THROUGH NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTIVISM.
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PROF. P.S. RAMAKRISHNAN, EMERITUS SCIENTIST AT THE SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, JNU, AND HONORAY EMERITUS SENIOR SCIENTIST AT INSA, IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SOCIOECOLOGIST. TAKING AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TOWARDS CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE LINKED SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SOCIETIES, HIS AREA OF INTEREST LIES IN THE INTERPHASE BETWEEN NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THAT TOUCHES UPON ECOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, ECONOMICS AND ETHICS. PROF. RAMAKRISHNAN HAS PUBLISHED OVER 460 RESEARCH PAPERS, 21 RESEARCH SYNTHESIS VOLUMES, BESIDES VARIOUS POLICY DOCUMENTS, OUTREACH VOLUMES AND AUDIO-VISUAL DOCUMENTARIES.