About

In the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, the worlds of ecological and material conservation seldom interact, despite sharing common goals of sustainability and adaptation. While both these worlds aim to safeguard the region's diverse ecosystems and rich biocultural heritage, they often work in silos, limiting opportunities for more holistic and integrated conservation approaches. 

 

The GRAZIER initiative is a step towards bridging this gap – it is aimed at supporting pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in Ladakh, with a special focus on women and youth, to lead sustainable development and conservation. It employs an experimental, intersectional socio-ecological approach that moves beyond rigid dichotomies such as nature-culture, science-society, and research-praxis. By integrating diverse knowledge, fostering innovation and experimentation, and creating spaces for shared learning and “unlearning”, the initiative aims to cultivate dynamic, adaptive conservation perspectives that respond to the evolving needs of both people and landscapes.

 

Supported by Rural India Supporting Trust (AMP-Himalaya Project) and French National Institute of Sustainable Development (IRD). 

 

Team: 

Saloni Bhatia (interdisciplinary science)

Abeer Gupta (visual anthropology and material culture)

Stanzin Namgail (sociology and youth mobilisation)

Dilip Kumar Mekala (interdisciplinary practitioner, management & strategy) 

Ragav Verma (educator, project coordination)

Matthieu Salpeteur (ethnoecology and anthropology)

Kiran Asher (feminist ecology and social justice)