Abstract
As it is known that “reconnecting to nature” is essential for sustainability, there are few studies on why reconnecting humans to nature is essential and how it can be accomplished. This study is aimed at finding innovative, yet sustainable ways to reconnect people with nature. The objective of the paper is to enhance the biodiversity knowledge of local residents through conservation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In the study, urban respondents’ knowledge about biodiversity with particular reference to non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was analysed for the first time. To achieve the objective of this study, participatory appraisal, one-on-one interviews, dual moderator focus groups, ethnographic field research, and semi-structured questionnaire were used. Plant name boards with local names and their NTFP values for the selected species were also installed. Results suggest that NTFP-producing species played a vital role in making people interested in biodiversity. It can be considered as one of the innovative ways to improve surrounding biodiversity, for further enhancing biodiversity knowledge, based on archival study and local community’s knowledge about NTFP producing species, NTFPs plantation also done across the study area like parks, roadside, open space. This paper also explored how this study could contribute to the formulation of policies in terms of creating various urban green covers in Indian cities, following the strategies of joint forest management, social forestry, and agroforestry.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India for sponsored the research. We also thanked all our interviewees for their assistance during fieldwork and made the extensive fieldwork possible. We want to acknowledge all interview partners for sharing their knowledge and perspectives on the research topic.
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This research has been sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India, New Delhi.
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SG has supervised the work. AM has conceptualised and designed the study with special reference to nature-based solutions and nature-based approach, done literature review, prepared databases, wrote the manuscript, done data analysis and interpretation, prepared diagrams, edited and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. CR has contributed in drafted the manuscript, done literature review, organising databases, prepared diagrams, revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ghosal, S., Majumdar, A. & Ruj, C. Reconnecting humans with nature: a nature‐based participatory approach for the enhancement of biodiversity knowledge in urban area of West Bengal, India. GeoJournal 88, 4537–4554 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10880-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10880-z