Conserving Biodiversity Outside Protected Areas: Analysis of a Potential Wildlife Corridor in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India

CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY OUTSIDE PROTECTED AREAS: ANALYSIS OF A POTENTIAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR IN CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA By DIYA PAUL Master of Arts in Social Work University of Delhi New Delhi, India 2002 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE July, 2012 CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY OUTSIDE PROTECTED AREAS: ANALYSIS OF A POTENTIAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR IN CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA Thesis Approved: Dr. Dale Lightfoot Thesis Adviser Dr. Kristen A. Baum Dr. Jonathan C. Comer Dr. Alyson Greiner Dr. Sheryl A. Tucker Dean of the Graduate College ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................................9 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................9 2.2 Habitat fragmentation and socioeconomic factors in India ...............................9 2.3 Habitat fragmentation in the study area ..........................................................12 2.4 Corridors as a tool to curb habitat fragmentation ............................................13 2.5 Feasibility of corridors .....................................................................................17 2.6 The politics of conservation .............................................................................20 2.7 Conservation recommendations .......................................................................24 III. DATA AND METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................29 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................29 3.2 Identify socioeconomic factors contributing to forest area in Chittoor district and determine their relative contributions .......................................................30 3.2.1 Data collection and manipulation .............................................................30 3.2.2 Exploratory data analysis ..........................................................................31 3.2.3 Regression analysis ...................................................................................32 3.3 Propose a potential corridor based on the social and biogeographic conditions between Rayala Elephant Reserve and Sri Venkateswara National Park ..............32 3.3.1 Assessing the spatial configuration of the landscape ................................33 3.3.2 Identifying conservation priority areas .....................................................36 3.3.3 Identifying potential linkages in the landscape .........................................38 3.4 Provide conservation recommendations based on the corridors identified .....42 iii Chapter Page IV. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO FOREST AREA IN CHITTOOR DISTRICT ................................................................................................................................44 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................44 4.2 Individual variable analysis .............................................................................45 4.3 Correlation analysis .........................................................................................56 4.4 Regression analysis ..........................................................................................59 4.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................63 V. UNDERSTANDING THE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION OF THE LANDSCAPE ................................................................................................................................65 5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................65 5.2 Identification of landscape metrics ..................................................................66 5.2.1 Patch level metrics ..................................................................................67 5.2.2 Class level metrics ..................................................................................69 5.2.3 Landscape level metrics ..........................................................................70 5.3 Analysis............................................................................................................72 5.3.1 Class level metrics ..................................................................................72 5.3.2 Landscape level metrics ..........................................................................75 5.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................76 VI. IDENTIFICATION OF A POTENTIAL AREA TO DEVELOP A BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION CORRIDOR ...........................................................................79 6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................79 6.2 Identifying potential areas for conservation ....................................................80 6.2.1 Assessing the land use/land cover of the conservation priority zone (CPZ)................................................................................................................81 6.2.2 Assessing structural connectivity in the conservation priority zone (CPZ) ...............................................................................................................83 6.2.3 Assessing the conservation priority zone based on the transport network and settlements ...................................................................................84 6.2.4 Assessing the conservation priority zone based on water availability ..........................................................................................................................85 6.3 Potential linkages .............................................................................................87 6.3.1 Considering forests and water .................................................................88 6.3.2 Considering forests and the transport network .......................................89 6.4 Assessing the linkages .....................................................................................90 6.4.1 Hotspot analysis ......................................................................................90 6.4.2 Weighted matrix......................................................................................93 6.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................98 iv Chapter Page VII. CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PROPOSED BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION CORRIDOR ............................................101 7.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................101 7.2 Theoretical framework ...................................................................................101 7.2.1 Linking biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic needs ..............102 7.2.2 Linking biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation ..................103 7.3 Analysis of empirical data .............................................................................104 7.4 Scales of intervention .....................................................................................112 7.5 Recommendations ..........................................................................................115 7.5.1 Recommendations for conservation of biodiversity in Chittoor district ..... ........................................................................................................................116 7.5.2 Recommendations for addressing socioeconomic realities in Chittoor district ............................................................................................................118 VIII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................122 8.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................122 8.2 Discussion of results ......................................................................................123 8.3 Limitations .....................................................................................................124 8.4 Suggestions for future research ......................................................................125 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................126 APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................137 A.1 Metadata for the OLS regression analysis ....................................................137 A.2 Mandal map for Chittoor district ..................................................................137 A.3 Mandal wise population and tribal population ..............................................139 A.4 Parameters used to calculate landscape metrics using Fragstats...................142 A.5 Scores calculated for each segment of Linkage 2 (L2) .................................142 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1 Variables selected

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