TITLE : Mountain Biodiversity, Land Use Dynamics, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge EDITORS : Prof. PS Ramakrishnan, UM Chandrashekara, C Elouard, CZ Guilmoto, RK Maikhuri, KS Rao, S Shankar and KG Saxena PUBLISHED BY : Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt.Ltd., 66 Janpath, New Delhi - 110001 YEAR OF PUBLICATION : 2000 PAGES : 354 (Sponsored by UNESCO)

The indigenous people or the tribal folk of India have long realized that man and nature form part of an indivisible whole, and therefore should live in partnership with each other. This basic premise of the traditional holistic wisdom has checked the devastation of their natural resource base, which is intrinsically linked to the livelihoods of the tribal people.
 
This traditional wisdom has another interesting dimension to it. This dimension is connected to a knowledge base which looks at process level linkages in the functioning of natural systems, through space and time, right from the sub-specific through species, functional groups, ecosystems, leading right up to the landscape levels.
 
The aim of ensuring community participation in their sustainable development while promoting ecological conservation has been the basis for UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme, launched in 1970.
  
Having identified biodiversity conservation as a priority activity, by the MAB Council in 1993, for the period 1996-2001, UNESCO has taken up a research initiative with the focus on biodiversity conservation within the context of traditional knowledge and ecosystem rehabilitation.
 
This UNESCO initiative has taken the shape of a book entitled "Biodiversity, Land Use Dynamics and Traditional Ecological Knowledge", edited by Professor P.S Ramakrishan of Jawaharlal Nehru University and his co-workers.
 
This new document has a wealth of information on the three study sites of Chinnar and Kodagu sites of Western Ghats in southern India and in the Nanda Devi region in the Central Himalaya. Linking natural and social processes in the context of biodiversity.
 
This volume should be of immense value to a wide variety of audience like the scientific community at large, policy planners, administrators plus governmental and non-governmental agencies concerned with environmental conservation linked with development.