Forest Economics
Any decision to allocate resources between competing uses involves carefully analysing the different costs and benefits, and forestry is no exception. Population growth and consequent increase in demand for various products and technological changes have increased the forestland use conflict. Especially in the case of public sector management, arriving at appropriate social values takes time. Economists are called upon not only to provide values for marketed benefits and costs but also to assign values to those hitherto regarded as intangibles, imponderables, invaluable, etc. The overall objective of the work in the Forest Economics Department is to provide a better socioeconomic insight into the different aspects of forestry.
Research Highlights of Forest Economics Department:
- Assessment of the availability of wood raw material for plywood industry (North Eastern region).
- Intensive multiple-use forest management in the tropics with appropriate institutions.
- Participatory management programme to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of Non-Wood Forest Products.
- Integrated management of the alien invasive weed mikania micrantha (one of the most prominent invasive aliens in India) in the Western Ghats, Kerala, which is posing a serious threat in different production systems in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
- Developed Visitor Management strategies for Protected Areas in Kerala.
- Short-term study conducted on the integrating cultural and biological diversity into the conservation of Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve.
- Conducted an economic valuation of the ecotourism development of a recreational site in the natural forests of the Southern Western Ghats.
- Baseline data has been generated for the bamboo sector in Kerala, and strategies and action plans have been developed for governmental intervention to revitalise this sector, focusing on value addition, enhancing income generation and alleviating poverty.
- Assessed the economic feasibility and socio-cultural acceptability of bamboo-based architecture in the State. This study has identified many factors that influence the current use of bamboo in the provision of affordable shelter and indicates how its use might be affected in the future.
- Estimation of availability of bamboo in home gardens, economic potential of bamboo and evaluation of the socioeconomic and livelihood trajectories of the marginalised bamboo dependents in the State.
- Conducted an economic valuation of ecotourism at a traditional recreation site in the Western Ghats, Kerala, and developed strategies and an action plan for sustainable tourism.
- Assessment of the raw drug requirement of Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing industry in Kerala and linkages between the market, raw drug extraction and the informal sector.
- Carried out Forestry outlook studies for forest-based industries.
- Assessed the human dimensions of the Iringole Sacred Grove and developed strategies for its sustainable management.
