NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

 

 

Studies on natural resources and sustainable development constitute one of the important and rapidly expanding portfolios of research at GIDR. From the initial efforts of looking at various problems of environmental degradation such as common property land resources (CPLRs), groundwater, and forests, the faculty members at GIDR have expanded the canvas of their research both in terms of issues covered and techniques used. Some of the recent studies on the theme include development of environmental indicators, covering major natural resources in Gujarat; Institutional indicators for participatory irrigation management, and socio-economic-environmental indicators watershed development. The other set of studies have gone into valuation of natural resources in the case of protected area and water harvesting for drinking and domestic use. One of the important driving forces for the various studies on the theme has been to understand multi-patterned links between natural resources and human well being. This has led to a number of enquiries examining the interface with poverty in dry land and forest based regions in the country. More recently, a study has also gone into understanding institutional mechanism for sustainable development of inland fisheries, one of the emerging areas from the view point of linking natural resources with poor's livelihood. The studies carried out under the broad theme has evolved into exploring new partnerships and new agro-ecological systems covering states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttaranchal, and Rajasthan.