Citizenship and campaigns to restore alliances for conservation

The Amche Mollem citizen’s movement, since 2020 has been driven by citizen action, positioning science and art alongside legal strategies in an effort to safeguard Goa’s irreplaceable biodiversity. The movement focuses on the need to protect the integrity of the 150 million year old Western Ghats from destruction related to three destructive infrastructure projects - a high tension transmission line, the doubling of a railway track, and a highway expansion which will further fragment this ecologically vulnerable region. In this talk, we will share how Goans, scientists, artists, lawyers and other citizens have built an extensive body of work breaking down and sharing complex scientific research, legal concepts, and explaining systems of governance to create space for inclusion. We will share some of the positive reinforcements of citizen participation apart from the legal outcomes; and the way in which we have created spaces for citizens to express their relationship to the natural world.

About the speakers

Nandini Velho works on the human-dimension of wildlife management as well as understanding rainforest dynamics in tropical forests. She works closely with citizens, local forest managers, policy makers and is engaged with on-ground outreach activities, including healthcare and logistical support of front-line forest staff, conservation education, citizenship efforts and writing in the popular medium.

Nishant Saldanha is an animation film-maker, independent comics artist known for his character Mr. Good Guy and one of the Amche Mollem Art Directors. His work was featured in the Best American Comics in 2019. He is passionate about photography, Goa and Bob Dylan.