The Kaigal Education and Environment Program was conceptualized in 2008 as an integrated approach combining education, conservation and sustainable livelihoods, rooted in social ecological principles. The program works in Chittoor district, along the fringes of the Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary. The communities here are marginalized mixed communities; many being scheduled castes/ tribes. The Yanadi tribal community is the predominant tribal group in this area. The underlying theory of change is that human communities are an interwoven part of the local ecology and sustainable interventions must evolve with and include the local communities whose right and responsibility it becomes to protect and conserve the local ecology they are a part of.
The case study attempts to describe this through three distinct axes of intervention – conservation, education and livelihood programs; however, it must be remembered that these are not independent. Cultural stability, economic independence and societal acceptance of these communities are dependent on all these three interventions working together.
Full paper can be read here.