However, that number seems to be dwindling progressively due to deforestation, human encroachment and illegal poaching. Upon realizing this, Mr. Khatau, a well known industrialist, a former Member of the National Board for Indian Wildlife and a great lover of wildlife, decided to create an organization with a group of like-minded men and women committed to the conservation of wildlife and nature.
Thus, The Corbett Foundation (TCF) was born on the Earth Day of 1994. TCF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that is fully dedicated to the cause of wildlife conservation. However, it believes that conservation requires a multi-faceted approach, and hence it is actively involved in spreading environmental awareness, providing primary healthcare of communities and engaging in tribal welfare through vocational training and sustainable development initiatives. TCF, apart from being a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is also an activity partner with the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. Through the tenacious and unfailing efforts of its team through the years, TCF has had a strong impact on wildlife conservation and betterment of the indigenous tribes that live in close association with the areas it works in – namely, Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Kaziranga tiger reserves, and around the Greater Rann of Kutch. When growing human population overlap with established wildlife territories, it results in increased man-animal conflict – common examples of this being the loss of livestock to predators and crop damage from wild herbivores. Such incidents result in vengeful feelings harbored by the villagers towards the wildlife, often leading them to poison waterholes or livestock carcasses, and sometimes they even attempt to kill the carnivores responsible. With the objective of alleviating this conflict situation, TCF launched the “Cattle Compensation Scheme” in 1995 to give ex-gratia financial assistance to the owners of the cattle killed by tigers or leopards in and around the buffer zone of CTR. WWF-India has been a partner in this scheme since 1997. The scheme was eventually renamed as the Interim Relief Scheme. From April 2011 to March 2013, the total amount disbursed as interim relief to the villagers was around INR 26 lakh. The image on the left highlights the areas which lie in association with Corbett National Park, the inhabitants of which can reap benefits from the Interim Relief Scheme. Ever since this scheme is in place, the revenge killings of tigers and leopards in the area have drastically reduced making this one of the most successful tiger conservation programmes being implemented by any NGO in India. In addition to the depredation of livestock, crop damage by wild herbivores is a serious problem too in the areas around the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). TCF realized that if this problem remains unsolved, it will hamper the conservation efforts. Thus, to prevent crop damage by wild animals, TCF pioneered the installation of Solar-powered Electric Fences around Ringora village which is located close to the core zone of CTR. Solar-powered fencing has since been adopted by the Forest Department as a measure to prevent crop damage by wild animals. TCF has always promoted the use of renewable energy. Between 2011 and 2012, TCF adopted 10 villages situated in the buffer zones of Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves, the inhabitants of which were surviving without any electricity, and provided solar-powered lanterns to all the households in these villages. TCF was the first NGO in Madhya Pradesh that was short-listed by the Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam (MPUVN) to be given 50% subsidy for installing a 10 kilowatt solar power plant to run its office in Kanha. TCF was felicitated MPUVN by awarding the ‘Akshay Urja Samman’ in recognition of its efforts in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Kutch Ecological Research Centre (KERC), a division of TCF in Gujarat, has launched a campaign to save the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered species on the brink of extinction in the State. Severe pressures of habitat loss due to industrialization and agricultural encroachment over the past few years have resulted in the drastic decline of this majestic bird’s population. Massive conservation awareness programmes and advocacy drives are being conducted by TCF in the surrounding schools and villages in support of the Indian Bustards. TCF has filed a petition appealing to the State Government of Gujarat and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, to take immediate action to preserve the habitat of this beautiful bird which soon might be lost to us forever. In India, livestock farming is the one of the primary sources of income for majority of the villagers. However, diseases, ailments and untreated wounds are major deterrents to livestock productivity. Vaccines and medicines are imperative for maintaining animal health, especially amongst herd animals. Communicable diseases are a predominant concern for cattle farmers, not only because they are highly infectious but also because they can be easily transmitted from one species to another. TCF, through its divisions in Kutch, Kanha and Bandhavgarh, promotes cattle welfare in villages with support from the Bombay Gow Rakshak Trust. In 2012 and 2013, KERC conducted a mass immunization programme wherein a total of around 40,000 cattle were vaccinated against Foot and Mouth Disease. During the same period, KERC treated a total of 9,567 cattle for various ailments. TCF has set up mobile veterinary clinics at Kutch, Kanha and Bandhavgarh, where skilled Livestock Inspectors work at the grassroots level to keep the cattle population healthy. The cattle are often de-wormed as well, and medicines for ailing animals are provided to their owners. TCF has collaborated with the Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) for immunizing the domestic cattle population of the buffer zone villages of KTR. In the first phase covering three ranges of Garhi, Samnapur and Khapa, a total of 19,000 cattle have been vaccinated against communicable diseases. The future of India lies in the hands of its youth, and there is a pressing need to spread environmental awareness among the student community to make them realize the seriousness of the issues at hand. TCF actively organizes workshops, campaigns and meetings to help create environmentally-conscious populations of all ages. Through a variety of competitions and interactive sessions, students are sensitized whilst actively absorbing the information at hand. Commemorative days such as ‘World Water Day’ and ‘World Environment Day’ and ‘World Forestry Day’ are occasions which are celebrated with gusto in the schools of villages lying in and around Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh tiger reserves and Kutch due to TCFs involvement. The Earth Day is celebrated in collaboration with the Earth Day Network, and World Wetlands Day in accordance with the Ramsar Convention. Clean-up drives in the buffer zones of tiger reserves and along the coastline of Kutch are also the activities that TCF organizes and encourages. In 2009, TCF established a Centre on Global Warming at the outskirts of CTR. The Centre plays an important role in spreading awareness about climate change and global warming amongst hundreds of local school children and tourists every year. To establish a relationship of mutual trust between the organization and the people living in and around the tiger reserves, TCF launched the Rural Medical Outreach Programme (RMOP) in 1995. It was felt that if the local communities were to be won over to the cause of conservation, some reciprocal benefits would have to be provided to them. With this aim, TCF successfully runs the RMOP in over 200 villages across all its divisions. From 2011-13, TCF has provided treatment to more than 90,000 patients. Along with RMOP, TCF organizes vital healthcare awareness programmes for the benefit of the local villagers on occasions such as ‘World AIDS Day’, ‘World TB Day’, and ‘No-Tobacco Day’, etc. Information on public health and hygiene is shared with the villagers to enable them to lead a healthy lifestyle. Topics such as cancer, AIDS, malaria, ill-effects of to***co and alcohol consumption are discussed in detail. TCF also distributes First-Aid kits to the Forest Department check-posts situated in the tiger reserves as many of these check-posts are in remote forest areas and it is difficult for the forest department staff to access basic medical treatment facilities. Additionally, TCF constructed a check dam to harvest rainwater at Jatvandh, one of the villages covered under the RMOP in Kutch. The need for conservation of wildlife in India is often questioned because of the priority given to the issue of poverty of its people. With growing population, the pressure on the natural resources is increasing day by day. It is no longer viable for tribes living in close association with national parks to exploit the natural resources as they did 100 years ago. Facilities like basic education, health and livelihood are still at a nascent stage in this area. Their fight for survival, against all odds, is quite grim and at times creates a rift between them and the wildlife they have been co-sharing the habitat with. In an attempt to enable the tribes to earn a sustainable livelihood, TCF joined hands with Axis Bank Foundation and started a vocational training programme, called PUKAAR. This joint initiative is for the benefit of forest-dependent communities and tribes, and was launched in July 2012. The programme aims to provide vocational training to around 700 youths annually from the areas in and around tiger reserves of Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Kaziranga. The unemployed youth and women are trained in hospitality management, maintenance work, tribal handicraft skills, candle-making, incense-stick making, computer operations and repairs, sewing/tailoring, nursing and to-be naturalists and nature guides. The basic objective of this programme is to provide an alternate and sustainable livelihood option to the people of these areas, thereby reducing their dependency on these forests. Since ages, Kanha – the land of the tiger, has been inhabited by Baiga and Gond tribes. The life and the culture of these tribes are closely linked to the forests and the wildlife. A Tribal Museum was established by TCF in March 2013, which is one-of-its-kind initiative in Kanha region. The Museum designed and built as a traditional Baiga House, is a model of environmentally-conscious, responsible and sustainable tourism. This Museum is built entirely of local material and displays traditional Baiga and Gond handicrafts, implements, artifacts and photographs with pictorial information panels that provide interesting information about these tribes to the visitors. It also houses a curio shop that is managed by a Self Help Group (SHG) of Baiga tribes and which sells tribal handicrafts, the sale proceeds of which benefits the SHGs. TCF also helps in facilitating the sale of these handicrafts. In the 19 years of its existence, TCF has touched many lives and has made a positive impact on the people and wildlife of India. However, the crises that India’s tigers and its forests’ face are much larger of an issue, and unless more support and resources are pooled in, the future seems bleak. Everything cannot be left only for the ‘Government’ to handle. Every person of this country must take some action towards conserving the natural heritage that India is blessed with. However small this contribution might be, it will definitely help in shaping a brighter future for this country. India’s corporate sector has the necessary resources – monetary and know-how – and it needs to collaborate with like-minded organisations such as TCF in an effort to save our natural treasures. It is definitely feasible and attainable.
