Public Service Bold Ideas to Actions

[Music]

do not cut down the forest with its

tigers

and do not punish the tigers from its

forest the

tiger parishes without the forest and

the forest parishes without his titles

these are the angel words from the

mahabharata

however from the 1950s to the present

tigers in our country have gone down

from thirty thousand to barely three

thousand

today nearly ten percent of its total

tiger

population is in chandrapur district

alone

with the area being fifty percent of the

forest cover

villages in chandrapura are dependent on

the forest resource for the living

with such close man animal contact and

influencement of animals natural habitat

this area is not without danger last

year

we witnessed 27 human deaths due to

wildlife

the highest in any country are animals

only the real enemy no

it’s because of the lack of

understanding and co-existence

and that is what we have set out to

change my name is guru rasad

i am the deputy director for one of the

many reserve forest india called taroba

since china my travel occurs forests of

karnataka

across region have fed my passion for

wildlife and nature

i witnessed my first tiger in a zoo on

one such journey

and one thing that took was that

wildlife should not be in enclosures

they have the right to be free in what

is really their home

more than us let me tell you something

about taro under a tigerism

is a protected forest area spread across

one lakh thirty thousand hectare forest

land exclusively for tiger conservation

one of the most beautiful bamboo forest

regions in the whole of the central

indian landscape

announces 115 tigers out of the

entire 200 plus tigers of chandrapuri

district

children toronto is considered the best

place for tiger sightings

the rava forest are not only the homes

for these animals

but there’s also the lifeline for more

than 1.5 lakh people living in an

unknown

region they are dependent on the forest

for direct and india and benefits

and collection of resources for dying

needs

thus both people and animals are

dependent on the same resources for

survival

people go to college even medicinal

herbs

some even use the land for poaching

wildlife it is this infringement that

has led to the conflict among

man animal and environment

so what is the solution to try and

resolve this constant conflict the core

and buffer

zones were introduced the core zone is

the land

declared for having least amount of

human interference

allowing animals to live freely in their

natural habitat

but people from adjourning villages were

still dependent on the resource of the

zone for their dining needs

due to this specialized buffer zone was

created with the objective to reduce

dependency of the people on the forest

and at the same time generate alternate

livelihood for these local villages

let me tell you how we helped bring such

a change

eco tourism in buffalo zone became a

great source of income for local

villagers

last year we went from 6 to 13 buffer

tourism gates

and exclusive two nights of fire gates

welcoming tourists from

across the world this is the highest

number in

any park in the whole country and on or

solely managed by locals here at taraba

within this one year other activities

like boating

kayaking cycling night rocket stick

night machine nature train etc were all

started by involving local news

the locals even started homestead

facilities for visiting tourists

we subsidized many households to help

them promote ecotourism and encourage

students to stay and enjoy the local

culture

due to these eco-tourism activities in

buffer zone

more than thousand local youths from 20

different villages are getting regular

income

prior to this pochi agriculture

and other forest land dependent

activities were their

only means of livelihood now

they themselves are the protectors of

our forest

apart from ecotourism since last two

years

tarawa forest administration has

facilitated the training

selection and placement of local youths

in various companies

even the local women have the

opportunity of generating income

thanks to the training provided to them

institute preparation of incentives

running camping sites butterfly garden

and diorama

all of this has provided 170 women and

over 200 youths with means of regular

income

reducing the dependence on the forest

land

however living in such close proximity

encounters between humans and animals

are inevitable in the buffer villages

crop damage human injuries underwater

human tests for wild animals are the

major challenge for the department to

handle

with 1.5 large human population

and nearly twenty thousand animal

population

a strength of mere two hundred first

person was not sufficient

to quote an example in 2018 we witnessed

five deaths in one month from a single

buffer village they were all killed by a

leopard

and one of those five was a ten-year-old

boy

so we decided to involve local villages

themselves to combat raising man-animal

conflict

200 local youths from 40 sensitive

villages were selected

and trained to understand and mitigate

wildlife conflict in these villages

known as primary response teams these

local youths

are at the forefront in reducing these

male animal conflicts

taraba foundation also offers them an

honorarium for all their efforts

thousands of subsidized lpg connections

and solar fencings were also provided

through village inco development

committees

these developments have built a great

relationship between administration

and local leaders they have witnessed

cooperation

willingness to protect and exploit the

forest resources

and a renewed sense of respect for

animals and the wildlife of the forest

land

many are willing to share information

about wildlife coaching

helping us to detect the cases better

and last year

with the help of primary response teams

nearly 200

hectare of forest land encouragement

were made free for wildlife movement

we know forests are the limited natural

resource

every human being on this earth is

directly or indirectly dependent on it

but that does not make us the sole

stakeholders

the forest equally belong to the animals

and the wildlife that the land sustained

it is our duty and responsibility to

conserve nature

but also help the local light holder

sustained without further damage

it is our responsibility to ensure the

continuity of this peaceful coexistence

i want to leave you with an image an

image

that depicts a world without this

conflict between man

and animal a world where man’s creed is

not linked to the loss of environment

a world where we can build live

and let you harmonize you thank you

[Music]

[Applause]

you