Pratim Roy

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Pratim Roy (born 1964) is the founder-director and trustee of Keystone Foundation, a non-profit that has been working at the junction of biodiversity conservation, social enterprises & tribal livelihoods in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1993.^[1]

Roy founded the non-profit along with Snehlata Nath and Mathew John in Kotagiri town in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, India.^[2] Their initial work being some of the first ever studies done on traditional honey-hunting and beekeeping methods practiced by indigenous people in the southern Western Ghats, with a focus on Apis dorsata bees.^[3] The name 'Keystone Foundation' is inspired by the concept of 'keystone species' in wildlife habitats, which are crucial indicators of ecosystem health.

Education and career[edit]

Roy is a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. (2011-2012)^[4]. He has also completed an Advanced Certificate on environmental diplomacy at University of Geneva & Graduate Institute of International Development Studies, Geneva (2008)^[5].

Some of Keystone's committed donors^[6] include Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives, Axis Bank Foundation, HCL Foundation, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropy, Svalorna Indien Bangladesh, Both ENDS, and Misereor.

Roy is credited with the formulation of the Tribal Development Plan & Strategy^[7] for the World Bank in December 2004, which supported the Tamil Nadu Empowerment & Poverty Reduction Project. On August 15, 2006, he was invited by then President of India AP.J. Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan for an interactive session on development challenges in India.

In 2015, Roy set up the Nilgiris Field Learning Centre,^[8] a collaborative project between Keystone Foundation and Cornell University, which invites students from Cornell and tribal community members in the Nilgiris to work together on their own development project.

Since the setup of its first base (and now headquarters) in Kotagiri town, Keystone Foundation now has several field centres across the biosphere reserve, including Pillur, Coimbatore, Sathyamangalam^[9], Wayanad^[10], and Nilambur^[11]. Under Roy's leadership, the nonprofit also supported the launch of two social enterprises, the indigenous producers company Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited, and Last Forest Enterprises.

Awards and grants[edit]

In 2006, Roy won the Darwin Initiative Award from DEFRA on the project 'Bees, Biodiversity & Forest Livelihoods in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve',^[12][13] and subsequently conducted a global workshop at the same event in 2009. During that year, he also secured the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)^[14] for a two-year project on studying and preserving indigenous people and hill ecosystems.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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