Towards Conservation

Few months ago, while surfing the net, I came across the web site of Wildlife Conservation Society of India and had sent across a mail to them inquiring about any opportunities for voluntary work.

After several weeks, I got a response asking me to participate in a meeting aimed at exploring the activities that needed volunteers. One of the activities that were identified was towards sensitizing villagers against poaching.

The last Saturday (27th June), about four of us led by two very committed volunteers headed to Nagarahole forest range with a bunch of posters. The idea was to cover the villages bordering the national park and stick these posters in places where the message would reach as many people as possible.

At Hunsur (a place about 50 kms from Nagarahole) we met up with a person who has been with WCS(I) for a long time and has worked for several years in this area. He suggested the villages that we could start our campaign from and also cautioned us about the sensitivity of the issue.

He told us that the at some places the villagers may be hostile to any kind of anti-poaching message and also asked us to stay away from getting into discussions or arguments with the villagers. He also asked us skip a few villages on this trip since apparently there was a raid on the house of a villager on charges of poaching and he felt that in that village and the surroundings, there would be an antipathy towards the forest department and any conservation campaigns. So we decided to just stay away from those.

Since this was the first time for many of us in the group, we had decided to just cover a few villages. We started off at around 10.00am but nailing posters was not as easy as we thought it would be. We had to identify the right places; typically we chose schools, public utility buildings (like the local village panchayat office, the government medical center etc).

In most of the places, the villagers were pretty receptive and were curious to know about what we were doing. There were some who would complain about how elephants destroyed their crops and how meager, a compensation they get for it. But like we were advised, we did not get into any discussions and merely kept iterating that our campaign was about anti poaching and requested their support to end this menace.

We could complete about six villages before it was time to get back to Bangalore. We hope to continue with this effort in the coming months and cover many more villages that border the park. We also hope to screen documentaries at schools and thus spread awareness among both the children and adults on the damage caused due to poaching.

All in all, it was a learning experience for me. Having been city bred all my life, it was a welcome change to be able to get away from the city and spend time in helping out where I could in the area of conservation, however minuscule it may be.

Looking forward to doing my bit...

[Update 8-Jul-09: Over the weekend (4th, 5th), we covered 20 more villages. I am happy say that the effort is bearing fruit. Here is a message from one of the volunteers who is in touch with WCS..

Our ongoing activity is already paying back,

There have been three encounters in the areas where we have conducted these camps.

The informers have given us credible tip off about poachers which then passed on to FD has resulted in these encounter where three poachers have been injured.

In two cases the injured poachers have been arrested, and in one the injured poacher has fled.

Good news to all conservationists
]