About NilgiriScapes
NilgiriScapes is an ongoing initiative dedicated to the sustainable development of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve —one of India’s most biodiverse and culturally significant mountain landscapes. We are a collective of civil society organisations, research institutes, universities, and local residents, united by a shared commitment to the conservation and long-term sustainability of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR).
Our dialogue series seeks to bring together individuals with a deep interest in, and love for, the Blue Mountains, fostering crucial conversations around the ecology, culture, and economy of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Through conferences, dialogues, and public engagement, we aim to bridge research, lived experiences, and community action. We strive to create platforms for meaningful dialogue and exchange between diverse stakeholders and domain experts, focusing on the past, present, and future of the Nilgiris.
The organising committee comprises various members across different profiles have come together. However, this group is ever growing :
Ajay Ludra • Dr. Anita Varghese • Faisal Rehman • Gail Coelho • Gopikrishna Warrier • Dr. John Mathew • Johnny John • Dr. Karthick Narayanan • Ranjani Prasad • Samantha lyanna • Shobana Chandrashekar • Dr. Siddhartha Krishnan • Dr. Tarun Chhabra • Shobana Chandrashekar
The Origin Story and Journey so far
Our work is grounded in one central idea:
“Research ON the Nilgiris, IN the Nilgiris, FOR the Nilgiris.
In August 2023, NilgiriScapes launched its inaugural conference, themed “A Land in Flux”, in Ooty. It brought together over 250 participants including researchers, students, policymakers, and artists.
In June 2024, we hosted the NilgiriScapes Conclave, focusing on revitalising the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and addressing urgent ecological and cultural challenges.
We’re now preparing for NilgiriScapes 2025, a public-facing conference set to shape new strategies for conservation and community engagement.
NilgiriScapes hopes to be a platform for research, knowledge sharing and a space for listening, learning, and action. We aim to:
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Connect diverse voices across disciplines and communities.
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Curate meaningful knowledge rooted in scientific and cultural depth.
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Cultivate citizen engagement through shared experiences.
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Communicate the ongoing stories of the Nilgiris to inform and inspire action.
The Nilgiriscapes is a modest attempt in taking stock of the biosphere reserve, almost 40 years since it was created. To this end, we welcome experts and practitioners of the NBR to weigh in on ecological, economic, and cultural continuities across the region.
Why the NBR Matters?
In 1986, India declared 5,670 square kilometres of land in a contiguous region that included parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, as the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (henceforth NBR) under the aegis of UNESCO. It is seen as a biodiversity hotspot where the Indigenous People and Local Communities of NBR live in economic and social interaction with each other and the hills. Many travellers, scholars, missionaries, biologists, anthropologists, linguists and sociologists have documented and described this unique region since the 1600s.
The designation culminated from the work of a committee chaired by Dr. Madhav Gadgil. which diligently demarcated core, manipulation, and restoration zones. The work also contributed to part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve being listed as a World Heritage site in 2012, the nomination for this title falling to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve spans 5,670 sq. km across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, and was India’s first biosphere reserve under UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Programme. Though it covers just 0.15% of India's land, it holds:
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20% of India's flowering plants (angiosperms)
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15% of India's butterfly species
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23% of India's vertebrates
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63% of the country's evergreen woody plants
Over two centuries, the region has undergone dramatic transformations — townships, plantations, hydroelectric projects, and tourism have altered habitats, communities, and climate. In the years to come, these changes will certainly be exacerbated. In such a scenario, it becomes extremely important to evaluate what might have been accomplished in terms of the protection of wildlife, with attention paid to emblematic, charismatic species; to map the species of plants and their conservation, with a focus on characteristic
assemblages of the Nilgiri landscape, such as the shola-grassland complex; and to have multistakeholder dialogues on themes around Conservation of Biological Diversity, Human-Wildlife Interactions and Coexistence and Legislation, Policies, and Environmental Initiatives.