Project:Sandbox

Introduction
The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) was established in 1996 by (list founders here) primarily as a research institution and a think tank to curtail the decline of biological diversity and natural ecosystems in India, improve policies and governance related to conservation and management of natural resources, and promote sustainable and equitable use of biological resources. ATREE seeks to accomplish this goal by generating new knowledge, improving policy and governance related to management of biodiversity, and developing social and human capital to address our most pressing environmental challenges.

ATREE strives to guide governments and help frame policies based on its in-depth scientific and social understanding of varied and oftentimes interlinked environmental issues. ATREE has consistently ranked among the top Environmental Policy Think Tanks.

The programmatic activities of ATREE are led by 20 Fellows with diverse expertise in conservation and sustainability sciences as well as about 70 research and technical staff with nearly 50 doctoral students at any given point. ATREE is headquartered at Bengaluru, with region-specific nodal offices/outreach centres in the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu), Biligiriranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka), Male Mahadeshwara Hills (Karanataka), Alappuzha (Kerala), and Gangtok (Sikkim).

Vision
ATREE strives to conserve India’s biological diversity; protect the environment; and promote equitable, just, and sustainable development in India by combining the principles of natural and social sciences. According to the (current administrative head maybe?), “What makes ATREE a decidedly different species is the recognition that environmental issues are also human issues and the pursuit of the social justice ideal. The presence of social sciences in its repertoire, therefore, adds further dimension - one of deep engagement in societal discourse. Alongside this integration, ATREE has actively endeavoured to ‘to redeploy the tools of science in imagining, defining, and moving toward sustainable ways for the human enterprise to persist—both with and within natural systems.’' ATREE's work is guided by the understanding that social and natural systems are inextricably linked and therefore knowledge generation needed to be interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary, and also both scientifically rigorous and socially relevant.

Mission
ATREE’s mission is to generate rigorous interdisciplinary knowledge for achieving environmental conservation and sustainable development, to enable the use of this knowledge by policy makers and society, and to train the next generation of environmental leaders.

Community Conservation Centres
A unique and collaborative effort to generate knowledge on conservation that is location and community-specific. The CCC programme has helped foster what is now a deeply valuable and long standing relationship with the often marginalised communities of these geographies. The CCC’s support long-term ecological monitoring,  doctoral and other research collaboration with communities on conservation and sustainable livelihoods Interactions with local governance institutions, conservation education programmes and activities of other research organizations.

ATREE maintains five CCCs in the Western Ghats stretch, ranging in character from peri-urban to Protected Area forest to Ramsar wetlands sited at Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Karnataka; Agasthyamalai (Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve), Tamil Nadu; Vembanad Community Environmental Resource Centre, Alappuzha, Kerala; Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Karnataka; Kanakapura, Karnataka

The Academy
The Academy for Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies was established within ATREE in 2008 to train the next generation of environmental leaders. The Academy conducts an interdisciplinary PhD programme for students from backgrounds as diverse as economics, management, wildlife biology and sociology among others. Faculty at the Academy also hail from interdisciplinary backgrounds.

ATREE’s Academy for Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies, established 10 years ago, is a pioneering and innovative knowledge initiative and is the first of its kind in Asia.

ATREE’s Academy operationalizes interdisciplinary science in its courses and training. The PhD programme accepts students from any discipline, unlike most universities, while encouraging affirmative action applicants. Through institutional partnerships with Google and the India Biodiversity Portal, the Academy promotes

the use of open-source software and citizen science. Finally, the Academy’s access to ATREE’s Community Conservation Centres in the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalaya and field sites across India provides students and trainees with opportunities for learning from communities and field experiences.

The Academy is supported by the network of field stations and Community Conservation Centres across the country. The Academy’s policies are set by the Academic Committee and its vision is steered by the Academic Advisory Committee of ATREE’s Board of Trustees.

The Academy accepts students from any disciplinary background and recruits 10-12 students every alternate year and currently has 53 students. For the PhD programme, the Academy leverages the conceptual and applied interests of its faculty to offer courses over three semesters which includes foundational coursework in the theory and practice of natural and social sciences. The doctoral programme integrates natural and social sciences in its teachings and provides a platform for innovative research bridging links between the environment and society.

In addition to its flagship PhD programme, the Academy offers training workshops for diverse stakeholders in the areas of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Emerging Zoonotic Diseases
Emerging zoonotic diseases can be defined as those that have increased in occurrence or incidence in the last two decades. HIV, SARS, MERS, Avian flu, Swine Flu, COVID 19 belong to this category. Most infectious diseases known to us are of zoonotic origin (approximately 60%). These diseases are a direct result of our manner of food production which most often involves the encroachment of natural buffer zones.

ATREE has generated significant knowledge in this area. A  large-scale collaborative study of Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) provided a clear understanding of the risk factors for its emergence in tropical forest communities. It was found that landscapes that contained diverse forest-plantation with high coverage of moist evergreen forest and plantation, high indigenous cattle density, and low coverage of dry deciduous forest had higher risk potential for human KFD. Models then devised predicted new hotspots of outbreaks in 2019, indicating for spatial targeting of intervention. The study identified new hotspots for the KFD outbreak much before the actual incidence, providing sufficient time for suitable action in the wake of the crisis.

ATREE’s expertise in this area also extends to work done on understanding the dynamics of rabies transmission in India. The study generated robust estimates of the minimum incidence of rabies in free-ranging dogs in a large metropolis, Pune city. A citywide passive surveillance program, testing 700 dogs over a 3 year period, revealed that 386 animals were found to be rabid. A whole-genome sequencing study of these samples supported our hypothesis that the rabies virus is enzootic in high-density urban populations, with some strains circulating within the population for more than 25 years.

Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation
An important focus of this Centre has been understanding the dynamics of rabies transmission in multi-host systems, which has for the first time in India generated robust estimates of the minimum incidence of rabies in free-ranging dogs in a large metropolis, Pune city. Through a citywide passive surveillance program, 700 dogs were tested over a 3-year period, of which 386 animals were found to be rabid. Further, a whole-genome sequencing study of these samples established that the rabies virus is enzootic in high-density urban populations, with some strains circulating within the population for more than 25 years. Another large-scale collaborative study at the Centre provided a clear understanding of the risk factors for the emergence of Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) in tropical forest communities. This study found that landscapes at higher risk for human KFD contained diverse forest-plantation mosaics with high coverage of moist evergreen forest and plantation, high indigenous cattle density, and low coverage of dry deciduous forest. Thus, this study identified new hotspots for the KFD outbreak much before the actual incidence, providing sufficient time for suitable action in the wake of the crisis.

The Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation
The Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation, was established at ATREE in September 2019 to transform research into societal impact. The Centre currently has 3 main thrusts:

●	Green Cities: Creating more circular urban water resource systems to enable climate-resilient cities

●	Invasive Species: Creating win- win value propositions for local rural communities and their natural environment, by enabling the removal of invasive species and transforming them into livelihood generating products.

●	Food Futures: Creating win-win value propositions for smallholder farmers to not only make regenerative agriculture more economically feasible, but also enabling equitable water distribution for the region.

ATREE EH-NE
The ATREE Eastern Himalayas-NE India (ATREE EH-NE) Regional Office began with research and interventions in forest villages around protected areas in Darjeeling district, focused on enhancing livelihoods of forest villagers while also addressing conservation goals in the landscape. Over the last decade, many projects have been executed across Sikkim Himalayas and the other states of the North East — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Today, ATREE has a direct presence in the Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas, and works with a range of partners in the other states of north east India. The office is now based out of Gangtok, Sikkim.

ATREE EH-NE has accumulated more than twenty years of experience in knowledge generation, regional capacity development, and sustainable livelihoods promotion in the Sikkim Himalayas and North Bengal.

The Centre  also has a long-term record of engagement with conservation planning and management in neighboring Assam. This history underpins ATREE’s strategy for addressing critical needs in knowledge generation and outreach for the entire NE region.

Some of the thematic areas of work at the Centre include: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Climate Change; Water; Ecosystem Services and Resilience; Agriculture in forest-agriculture interfaces and Tea; and Crosscutting themes: Governance, Livelihoods, Capacity-building and Policy engagements. This Centre is also working toward establishing a Centre of Excellence with a goal to enhance human well-being through biodiversity conservation and water management.