Meet Prachi Paranjpye, 28, conservation and social psychologist, researcher
What inspired you?
My parents love travelling and so I was bitten by the travel bug very early, traversing India with them. As a teenager it prompted me to intern with a tour company so I could travel as much as I wanted. During my trips, I realised that I felt happiest when I was out in the wilderness, in nature. As I became aware of conservation issues, I knew I wanted to work to protect forests. However, working in conservation is not a conventional path, and I assumed that I would only be able to do this part-time.
Prachi Paranjpye (left) interviewing a woman from a village near the Banni Grassland in Kutch, Gujarat.
I was also fascinated by the concept of understanding humans, so I did my bachelors in Psychology and masters in Social Psychology. The realisation that conservation is an anthropogenic issue, and that if we want to protect the planet we have to solve problems from a human perspective resulted in me combining my love for forests and my interest in understanding human behaviour and actions.
Tell us about your work?
I lead psychology research with the Wildlife Conservation Trust. Our team consists of economists, psychologists, and development specialists, and we work to understand communities living around natural ecosystems. We use data to understand communities and design interventions that can feed into policy changes. I look at the social psychological aspects such as group behaviour, attitude towards the forest/ ecosystems, and cultural aspects. I use qualitative as well as quantitative data. Our work on understanding forest dependencies of the communities around Bramhapuri near the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve has been one of our flagship projects. We have designed interventions such as a water heater that reduces fuelwood dependency using data collected in the landscape for about seven years. Our team works on behavioural change in locals. The key factor in the interventions designed by us is always what the community needs and not what we think they need.
Tell us a bit about your future plans.
In the short-term, it involves working on pan-India data that has been collected. I aim to look at local communities from a holistic perspective so that I can work on an intervention that does justice to them as well as the forest. I want to look at the process of conservation from a balanced perspective, where neither forests nor people will suffer.
A book that influenced you?
The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh, Goein by Dr. Rani Bang, The Adivasis Will Not Dance by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, Annihilation of Caste by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Climate Change is Racist: Race, Privilege and the Struggle for Climate Justice by Jeremy Williams, The Narmada Dammed by Dilip D’Souza.
Any documentaries that you would recommend?
Though not a documentary, I would highly recommend the movie ‘Sherni’.
A favourite quote?
Thomas Jefferson’s “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done,” keeps me going.
What gives you hope?
I feel hopeful when I see more conversations around sustainability, conservation, climate change and natural resources.
Advice for young people?
If you have not taken up physical science as a professional stream for education, it does not mean you can’t work for conservation. Conservation is multidisciplinary, there are many ways in which you can contribute.
This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue of Sanctuary Asia Cub magazine.
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