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