Canopy Collective

The Monkey Matters working group is the newest addition to the Canopy. It aims to understand the different forms of relationship that humans have with monkeys and how it shapes relationality with other nonhumans and land use patterns. The project will work with different communities of Central Assam, living in the spaces of urban-rural continuum, and hopes to be a journey of collaborative knowledge production. It will bring tools like photovoice and art-based methods into political ecology research to capture interactions with monkeys in the moment, but also through introspection. These will be in addition to more traditional research methods. The group aims to bring into forefront the web of relationships beyond ‘conflict’ narratives that currently take centre stage in the region, while building ease and fun and monkeying around along the way. A core aim is to create replicable processes and tools which can be employed elsewhere to understand human-nonhuman relationships and work with the complexities that they entail. This could support communities to build responsible and resilient ways of engaging with their nonhuman neighbours and visitors. Group members- Anasuya Borah, Aashish Gokhale, Partha Sarathi, Gaurab Talukdar You can join the working group or connect with them through team@canopycollective.in

Blah Blah Blah presents 'Human- Crocodile Interactions: a Place-Based Relationality.' In our discussion, we delve into a tale of rationality, focusing on foundational ideas as follows: narrative discourse, strict aversion to mortality, Indigenous ways of being, place-based relationships, and public education and strategy. The talk uses narrative discourse to explain and divulge the lived history of the Larrakia people's relationship with Dunalaba (C. porosus) through the lens of place-based relational ontology in Australia. About the speaker: Lachie Saunders is an environmental educator and herpetologist, He volunteers at the local fire station as well. He uses localised knowledge and case studies as well as past instances to influence future decision-making for crocodile conservation in Australia. This study is going to be instrumental in changing perspectives and mindsets; it is part of his ongoing PhD at La Trobe University, Australia. Date: 18th October 2024 Time: 3.30 pm Time zone: Asia/Kolkata Video call link:  https://lnkd.in/dGcBxd3c Illustration by Arundhati Venkat

At the Green Hub Festival 2024, Canopy Collective joined in this celebration of nature and community! At We introduced our initiatives on snake bites in collaboration with DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance, the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru, and the Pakke Tiger Reserve Forest Department. Our focus was on the One Health approach—a collaborative effort for the well-being of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Our short animated film showcased the importance of snakes beyond their venom, weaving together local stories and wisdom. Living with Snakes, created by Green Hub Fellow Daiolang Paslein and a talented team of fellows and alumni, was also featured in this session. Inputs were then provided by Kime Rambia, Range Forest Officer Tippi and snake rescue experts Raju Boro and Hage Taposh. Wanmei Konyak, W Moba Konyak, and the BMC Changlangshu team highlighted their eco-restoration efforts. Nature educator H Eangba played an active role in our session, along with members of the Minleang Eco-Club. We also launched our joint booklet, Rooted in Place: Insights on Ground-Up Nature Education, and The Tale of Tangkung’s Tail by the Green School Gobuk Team. Deben Ata shared his enchanting stories and songs about elephants, culminating in a heartfelt finale with the soon-to-be-released Elephant Song. Our stall buzzed with creativity, featuring Women’s Storytellers, zines, a freely available Snake Pop-Up, postcards, and stickers. Special thanks to Nayantara Siruguri, Ishita Chigillipalli, Shradha Rathod, Arghadeep Baruah, Tahaj Hussain, Joyshree Gogoi, Abhilasha Sharma, Antara Gupta, Pooja Rathod, Shusaye Yobin and the entire Canopy Collective team for making this event a success!

Canopy Collective is thrilled to be part of the ORA Ideas Festival this October! Join us as we showcase "Storytellers of the Forest". A journey through narratives that reveal life-affirming moments between camp elephants and their keepers, while also highlighting the deep connections between women, nature, and culture. Stories—whether spoken, sung, or visualized—help us understand the intricate details of the world around us. #ORAideasFestival #StorytellersOfTheForest #CanopyCollective #WildlifeConservation #ArtAndNature #WomenInConservation

The brilliant Nandini Velho will be giving the second plenary talk at the Conservation Optimism Summit 2024. Come along and be supported, enabled, and inspired! Summit website - https://lnkd.in/eAMAJTFT Whova web portal - bit.ly/Whova_CO Ticket shop - bit.ly/CO24_Tickets #conservationoptimism #natureconservation #conservationoptimismsummit24

Thank you for sharing about our work Ravi Viswanathan. Looking forward to working with more people across the board.

A fun new project’s starting soon and our member Anasuya Borah has received the Inlaks RS Conservation Small Grant to officially begin monkeying around! We are excited for Monkey Matters to take off and eagerly wait for what it has in store. Head to the blog post to get a snippet of the project before we bring in more information to you soon.

Since May 2023, Tahaj Hussain and Joyshree Gogoi, former Responsible Tourism fellows at Green Hub, have been leading a nature education program called Green School in Gobuk, Arunachal Pradesh, along with their batchmate and friend Apping Libang. Their objective? To transform children's perspectives of nature by enhancing their lived experiences and connections with natural spaces around them. This year, in collaboration with Canopy Collective, they will be working with the women from local self-help groups in Gobuk -- known locally as "Meimei" or "elder sister" -- to empower them to be the new leaders of the initiative. They call this initiative the "Super Meimei Program", through which the Green School team will lead training and sharing sessions with the women on nature learning games and activities, creative learning methods, storytelling, and more. Starting this August, the Green School team, with Canopy Collective, will foster experiential learning through demo sessions, and organise open discussions and sharing sessions with the women to help them find simple, relatable, and meaningful ways to lead Green School on their own. With the hope that the women will be able to initiate their own sessions at Green School by January next year, we are excited to work together on what could be the first-ever nature education program in the district under the leadership of women from local self-help groups. 🌱✨ The Green School program is supported by Green Hub and Royal Enfield. Core team: Joyshree Gogoi, Tahaj Hussain, Nayantara Siruguri, Nandini Velho #CanopyCollective #SuperMeiMei #GreenSchool #GorgeousGobuk #NatureEducation #ResponsibleTourism #CommunityEmpowerment #SustainableFuture #UpperSiang #ArunachalPradesh #GreenHub

🌿 Canopy Collective: Pachyderm Partnerships Update 🐘 The Elephant Working Group's project, Pachyderm Partnerships, is dedicated to strengthening the bond between elephants and mahouts through "Positive Reinforcement Training". This innovative approach builds a trusting relationship between elephants and their caregivers. By fostering cooperation during medical procedures, the project aims to reduce stress for elephants and minimize the risk of attacks on mahouts. Additionally, the enrichment activities keep elephants active and happy, promoting the wellbeing and safety of both elephants and mahouts. Animal Behavior Specialist Chrissy Pratt had an insightful session with the mahouts at Pakke Tiger Reserve. Chrissy shared her experiences with captive elephants from around the world and discussed the upcoming Positive Reinforcement Training. Stay tuned as we continue to nurture these incredible partnerships and enhance the welfare of elephants and their devoted caregivers. Photo credits: Pooja Rathod and Shradha Rathod #CanopyCollective #PachydermPartnerships #PositiveReinforcementTraining #ElephantCare #Mahouts #WildlifeConservation #AnimalWelfare #PakkeTigerReserve #Elephation The team: Chrissy Pratt, Kime Rambia, Shradha Rathod, Pooja Rathod, and Pakke Tiger Reserve Forest Department.

🌿 Canopy Collective: Project NOSTRIL Update 🐘 The Elephant Working Group of the Canopy Collective is excited to share updates from our latest project, NOSTRIL: Applying Behavioral Insights to Drive Environmental Impacts. Conservation is largely about human behaviour change, whether it involves giving space to wild animals or maintaining collective interventions like the upkeep of fences. With NOSTRIL, we look at how people think, feel, and make decisions within tea estates to drive effective and scalable conservation efforts. Using a human behavioural science lens that integrates psychology, economics, and sociology, we aim to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time, especially to reduce human-elephant conflicts in tea estates. Our approach involves: 🔍 Applying insights to design actionable outreach material using relevant levers of behaviour change. 🤝 A participatory approach, gathering ideas from the target audience and combining them with ecological information about elephants in the region. 🎨 Collaborating with artists to create outreach material and refining it with input from local residents, the forest department, and tea estate management. These cycles are repeated repeatedly. This iterative process has led to a robust messaging plan, securing community buy-in and increasing the reach and effectiveness of our outreach material. Together, we aim to drive human behaviour change for the benefit of both people and elephants on tea estates. #CanopyCollective #ProjectNOSTRIL #BehaviouralScience #HumanElephantConflict #Conservation #TeaEstates #WildlifeProtection Team members: Arjun Kamdar Sangeeta Kumari Akanksha Datta Gupta Anushri Shah