The Biodiversity & Geospatial Lab conducts ecological monitoring, biodiversity research, and spatial analysis across the landscapes where 7WEAVES works. Its objective is to build a long-term, evidence-based understanding of biodiversity within forests, wetlands, and grasslands that are managed and inhabited by local communities. By integrating field ecology, geospatial technologies, and community-based knowledge systems, the Lab generates data that support conservation planning, landscape management, and ecological restoration.
Research Focus
Current research focuses on four key taxa - primates, birds, amphibians, and small forest cats - selected for their sensitivity to environmental change and their value as indicators of ecosystem health. Through long-term monitoring, the Lab examines how land-use practices, climate variability, and conservation interventions influence biodiversity across landscapes and through time.
The Lab also provides the biodiversity assessment component of the ETHNO Research Programme, helping to situate community knowledge, cultural practices, and traditional ecological management systems within their broader ecological context.
Holour Baat
Initiated in 2022, Holour Baat is a community-led Western Hoolock Gibbon conservation initiative in the Kamrup–Khasi Landscape. The project supports habitat connectivity, community stewardship, and long-term monitoring of gibbon populations and associated biodiversity. The Lab contributes scientific and technical expertise, including species monitoring, habitat assessment, and geospatial analysis, to evaluate conservation outcomes and inform adaptive management.
Deepor Beel Winter Birding Festival
Established in 2022, the Deepor Beel Winter Birding Festival is an annual biodiversity monitoring programme conducted at Deepor Beel, a Ramsar Wetland and Wildlife Sanctuary. The initiative combines citizen science participation with expert-led scientific surveys to monitor bird diversity, abundance, and seasonal trends. Designed around principles of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and community participation, the programme generates long-term datasets that contribute to wetland conservation, ecological research, and public engagement.
Research findings, maps, datasets, and project updates from the Biodiversity & Geospatial Lab will be made available through this platform.