Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning ANNUAL REPORT 2011–2012 Once wild, runs wild again Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning ANNUAL REPORT 2011–2012 MISSION STATEMENT Action research for ecological restoration, conservation and natural resources management. 1 Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) Registered Office: No.27, 2nd Cross Appavou Nagar, Vazhakulam, Puducherry - 605 012, India Tel: 91-413-2225441 Web: http://www.feralindia.org Email:
[email protected] Cover Photos: Front: View of the Mundanthurai plateau © Srinivas Vaidyanathan Back: View of Agastiamalai (Agasthia Koodam) © Gopinath Sricandane www.feralindia.org 2 Table of Contents 1. Mandate 4 2. Programme Areas and Projects 7 3. Wildlife Biology and Conservation 11 4. Learning and Study Abroad 25 5. Natural Resources Management 31 6. Marine Sciences 36 7. Workshops and Conferences 41 8. Publications 46 9. Administrative Information 47 www.feralindia.org 3 MANDATE Our mandate is to provide a base and support for researchers to follow their interests and priorities. Furthermore, to impart training in ecological research, techniques and tools. And finally, to use ecological data to solve issues in natural resource management, conservation and advocacy. FERAL – once wild, run wild again. oundation or goal of our organisation is to find ways to help F natural processes return to a more natural or less degraded state. cology, as we define it, is the study of the interactions of E organisms within and across species in a shifting landscape of communities subject to the physical environments they inhabit. Our primary focus of work studies the interface and relationship between ecology and society.