Message from outgoing President | Dr. Ramesh Krishnamurthy
In Focus: Sikkim Himalaya
The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is one of the Himalayas' most enigmatic species. They are the true pandas, belonging to the unique family, Ailuridae – an evolutionary relic that diverged millions of years ago. This evolutionary distinctiveness, coupled with their endangered status, has placed them high on the EDGE (Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered) list. Protecting the Red Panda means preserving not just an animal, but an entire lineage without parallel.

In Focus: Trans Himalaya - Tibetan Plateau
Ophiocordyceps sinensis popularly known as caterpillar fungus is a perfect case of globally threatened yet less known and ignored species under Non-Wood/Timber Forest Product (NW/TFP). It is an entomopathogenic fungus endemic to alpine meadows of Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas spanning from Bhutan to China to India and Nepal. Known for its aphrodisiac and immunity booster properties it has high market demand and value.

Perched at the northwestern edge of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), Ladakh dazzles with its dramatic high-altitude desert vistas—a realm of rugged peaks, sparse vegetation, and a stunningly unique biodiversity. The region’s severe climate, strategic position, and rapid socioeconomic changes combine to create a complex web of conservation challenges that threaten this fragile ecosystem. In this article, we delve into the general characteristics of Ladakh’s landscape, unravel the pressing conservation issues it faces, and consider innovative solutions to help protect this extraordinary environment for generations to come.

Ramesh Krishnamurthy | President, IRALE
IRALE as an organisation is growing and has already seen few significant milestones. As I look back on this incredible year (2023-2024), seeing how much we have moved forward together is highly inspiring, credit to the entire IRALE family, especially the young folks who keep reassuring that we can stay together and contribute positively for the larger good. IRALE is a small, but growing organisation, demonstrating the potential to promote science of landscape ecology and develop capacity through its members.

In Focus: 59th Global Meeting of ATBC and 11th IALE WC Members in Action PAGE 05 Achievements PAGE 08 It has been a long journey for IRALE to have reached a position of a force within India as well as among the international peers. I am very pleased to see the growth of the organisation and the ability to dispense various responsibilities in such a short time. IRALE is a small but a growing organisation and has gained the ability to engage itself in promoting science and developing capacity through its members.

In Focus: Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation
Meera Makwana | The Corbett Foundation Vaishal I Vasudeva | University Of British Columbia
“Innovation happens when people have the opportunities to throw ideas around together” (Gotian 2021). Collaborations, whether within a country or internationally, enable better problem solving and implementation strategies (Horgan et al. 2022). In their recent article Maher and Noorden 2021 talk about a rise in collaborative research during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Focus: Landscape Planning Process and Tools
Based on webinar by Ramesh Krishnamurthy | Wildlife Institute of India summarised by Vaishali Vasudeva | IRALE
Landscape ecology has existed for a long time in practice and as a scientific discipline since 1930s. Investigating problems and developing understanding about several important issues today can be better achieved at a landscape scale than regional or local scales e.g., Human Wildlife Conflict, Biodiversity Conservation, and Wildlife Population Management are some such issues.

IRALE EVENTS: Talk Series Experiences from Periyar-Agasthyamalai Landscape
Talk by Dr. Anil Bhardwaj | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Summarised by Raeesha Rahman | IUCN India
Practice of conservation in India has existed since the medieval times. These conservation and management techniques have evolved with continued scientific findings over time. The concept of landscape level conservation came into practice through several species specific conservation initiatives and pilot projects. Landscape in itself means a holistic continuous entity encompassing wide range of land uses, cultural and traditional concoction, different administration mechanisms and varying flora and fauna.

In Focus: Indicators of Ecosystem Integrity
Indicator approach for assessing Ecosystem Integrity of Riverscapes
Vaishali Vasudeva | University of British Columbia
Rivers are complex systems with a four-dimensional structure. They exhibit a variety of habitats due to natural variation in geology, climate, and topography along its length. This results in occurrence of unique species assemblages (flora and fauna) along the rivers.

In Focus: Landscape Connectivity
Vaishali Vasudeva | University of British Columbia
Meera Makwana | Wildlife Institute of India
One of the main reasons for species loss and population decline is the loss of habitat or decline in the quality of habitat available to the species. Vast areas of intact, undisturbed habitat are no longer available which affects processes like animal migration and dispersal. Restoring habitats and their connectivity by building or restoring corridors is one of the main priorities in wildlife conservation.

In Focus: The Islands
Ramesh Krishnamurthy | Wildlife Institute of India
News PAGE 05 Introduction: India’s two important island groups are (1) Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and (2) Lakshadweep Islands (Amindivi, Laccadive and Minicoy) in the Arabian Sea. Together they form the tenth biogeographic zone, the Islands.

In Focus: The Coasts
Amrita Neelakantan | Network for Conserving Central India
News PAGE 06 Introduction: The coasts of India span 5700 kilometres across 66 districts in 10 states and union territories, following the path, down from the Bay of Bengal to around the southern tip of Kanyakumari and back up to northern-most Gujarat.

In Focus: The North-East | North-eastern India is replete with high biodiversity, geographic complexity and world-known distinct cultural identities. Commonly known as “The Seven Sisters”, the north-east includes Indian states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – but this was prior to Sikkim being included in the region.

The Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas and represent a geomorphic unit of immense importance with unique diversity, biophysical characteristics and ecological functioning. The chain of mountains runs parallel to India’s western coast and are around 30 to 50 kilometres inland spanning states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.

A vast semi-arid region south of the Gangetic plains is the Deccan Plateau, quite simply the largest biogeographic unit of peninsular India. The highlands of the plateau are covered with different types of forests that provided for the people of these lands. The Deccan plateau includes the region lying south of the Satpura range and extends up to the southern tip of peninsular India.

Indian Regional Association for Landscape Ecology (IRALE) organized its first annual symposium successfully from 3rd to 5th October 2021 in virtual mode on the theme “Landscape Health and Resilience”. The symposium registered the presence and inputs of many distinguished personalities of national and international repute and participation by diverse presenters and attendees.

Landscape is part of the Earth that can be viewed at one time from one place. However, depending on varied scientific and cultural backgrounds, it is defined in multiple ways. Essentially landscape is a spatial mosaic of interacting biophysical and socio-economic entities, which are result of natural settings and/or policy interventions.

The discipline of landscape ecology was envisioned as the integration of ecological and geographical disciplines. The term coined by the German geographer Carl Troll in 1939 was defined as ‘‘the study of the main complex causal relationships between the life communities and their environment.’’

Global environmental concerns and public health issues have placed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an important instrument for well-being of nature and people.

Nature is an integrated system. Human, though being a tiny part of the earth, tends to monopolize the natural resources. Even conservation agendas largely remain utilitarian and have human welfare perspectives. Therefore, there has been plethora of approaches to conserve nature and to benefit societies across the globe.

Indian Regional Association for Landscape Ecology (IRALE, also called as IALE India or India IALE) is a recognized national chapter of International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE).