YEAR: 2011 -12
DATE: JUNE & JULY 2011
OBJECTIVE: To support, encourage and motivate the forest watchers in saving our forests by recognition, appreciation and support for their work.
PERSPECTIVE: With the need to conserve our forests becoming important and complex with the passing days, it becomes equally important to strengthen ourselves to protect them. The Forest department staff frame the first protectors of these precious and essential natural resources and they are to be supported in every way. Among these staff, the forest watchers are the lowest among the ranks but the most important and front end warriors when it comes to saving the forests and wildlife. These watcher posts can be basically classified as Permanent watcher (PW), Petty Cash Payment (PCP) or Monthly Rated (MR) watchers. Majority of them are either temporary PCP or MR based, some of whom have covered more than 25 years of forest service. These watchers spend their life in remote Antipoaching camps that are situated deep inside the forests. With a duty extending 24 x 7, these watchers put their lives at stake to protect the natural resources.
Duty in the forest is highly risky for these watchers with danger to life from wild animals, poachers, smugglers and forest fires. Fighting the poachers and smugglers bare handed, dealing with NTPF (Non Timber Forest Products) collectors and cattle grazers and putting off forest fires during summer which almost all of them are human induced, often puts them into conflicts with their own neighbours as these watchers are recruited from villages and tribal settlements that border the forests. Getting paid a mere Rs. 160 per day, with a non permanent, risky job, leading life is rather a day to day challenge for these hard core protectors. Staying away from family for months together, their
interest, motivation and commitments are the only things that drive them in doing their duties.
So, as a first step to support them, we started this program of issuing rain coats which not only helps them in doing their duty comfortably in the rains, but also be encouraged by the fact that their work is being recognized and supported.
WHERE TO DISTRIBUTE THE RAINCOATS?
We initially had the thought of distributing the raincoats at the two major Tiger reserves, Bandipur and Nagarahole, but these two reserves get enough grants and support both from the government and many NGOs working in and around them. Other reserved forests and wildlife sanctuaries like Brahmagiri, Pushpagiri, Talacauveri, which form a major part of the Nilgiri biosphere are equally neglected maybe with the fact that they are not Tiger reserves. These sanctuaries are home for several rare species endemic to the Western Ghats like the Lion Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Languor, Malabar large spotted civet, several of the Laughing thrushes, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Giant flying squirrel, Nilgiri Marten, Malabar Banded Peacock and also are home for more than 60% of the elephant population in our state.
This region is also the birth place of the sacred river Cauvery and many other small streams like the Ramatirtha, Lakshmanatirtha which in their course of flow feed lakhs of acres of farm land and provide drinking water for millions of people.
These factors make these ranges as important and essential as any tiger reserve and we concluded on these ranges for our program. These forests receive heavy rains from the South east monsoons that hit every year during the months of May to September and it’s a rather herculean task to patrol in that weather. Hence it was an essential location for us to give rain coats to watchers in these areas.
COLLECTION OF FUNDS:
We started this program with very small expectations as it was our very first one but were overwhelmed by the response and support by friends and concerned individuals. We are not sure whether it was a mark of trust on us or the concern people had about our watchers, but all in all it was a grand success that we managed to collect a decent amount enough to buy a raincoat for watchers in all the three sanctuaries, Brahmagiri, Pushpagiri and Talacauveri. From contributions through friends and donors we collected a total amount of Rs. 27, 850.00 (Twenty seven thousand eight hundred and fifty)
List of contributors supporting the program:
Yashwanth B N
Guruprasad Timmapur
Pradeep
Anand Bheemaraju
Rohan Aradhya
Sunil Gaikwad
Vandana Radhakrishna Bhat
Ajith Bhat
Neeshath EK
Bharathram N
Harsha
Vishwadutta
Jayaprakash
Kiran B Goudar
Vijay Srinath
Prabhanjana
Sudhindra A
Ambareesh Karanth
Parvathy S.N
Pramod Mahajan
Krishna Dasappanavar
Vishal
Abhiram Iyer
Santhosh S L
At the beginning of the campaign, we had enquired on the Toad rain suits price to be around the range of Rs. 600 to Rs. 650. But with the available funds, we could manage only one of the three forest ranges. After negotiation and enquiring around we settled on the Single breasted type rain coats available at the rate of Rs. 310 which enabled us to complete all the three forest ranges. These coats are more convenient to wear and also to carry additional baggage in the forest, protecting it from rain.
DISTRIBUTION:
The raincoats were distributed for department personnel below the guard level. Watchers belonging to PCP, MR and permanent divisions and forest guards serving in 20 antipoaching camps of the three wildlife sanctuaries have been benefitted by this program. The distribution was carried out in two stages. During the first stage, raincoats were distributed at Brahmagiri Wildlife sanctuary – Srimangala and Makuta forest ranges on the 25th and 26th of June 2011. Totally 21 forest personnel were included during this phase.
We carried out the second phase of distribution at the Talacauveri and the Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuaries on the 8th and 9th of July 2011. 67 forest personnel of the two ranges were covered in this phase to finish the distribution. The complete transport cost for the distribution was borne by ‘Wildlife Conservation Society - India Program’, who have supported us in all aspects through out this raincoat distribution task.
Total number of watcher benefited (PCP+MR+PW): 76
Total no. of guards: 12
Total number of raincoat distributed: 88
CONCLUSION:
It was a wonderful program for us, distributing the rain coats to these watchers. We are hopeful that this small contribution from all of us to the watchers would indeed raise their spirits that there are people out there who rightly recognize their work and are always on their side to support, motivate and encourage them in their and our endeavour to protect our threatened forests and wildlife.
• First of all we would like to thank all our contributors who trusted us and helped this program to be a grand success beyond expectation. We are hopeful that atleast a few among you would take initiative and join us in future conservation activities.
• We thank Mr.Motappa, DCF, Madikeri Forest Division, Mr. Srinivas Nayak, RFO, Srimangala range, Mr. Narasimha Shetty, RFO, Makuta range, Mr. Uttappa, RFO, Talacauveri range and Mr. Paul Antony, RFO, Pushpagiri range and all the department staff who have supported us in this program and has provided all the facilities to make it a success.
• We sincerely thank Mr. Sanjay Gubbi, Asst. Director, Wildlife Conservation Society – India Program and his staff for the constant guidance, support and encouragement for all our activities.
DATE: JUNE & JULY 2011
OBJECTIVE: To support, encourage and motivate the forest watchers in saving our forests by recognition, appreciation and support for their work.
PERSPECTIVE: With the need to conserve our forests becoming important and complex with the passing days, it becomes equally important to strengthen ourselves to protect them. The Forest department staff frame the first protectors of these precious and essential natural resources and they are to be supported in every way. Among these staff, the forest watchers are the lowest among the ranks but the most important and front end warriors when it comes to saving the forests and wildlife. These watcher posts can be basically classified as Permanent watcher (PW), Petty Cash Payment (PCP) or Monthly Rated (MR) watchers. Majority of them are either temporary PCP or MR based, some of whom have covered more than 25 years of forest service. These watchers spend their life in remote Antipoaching camps that are situated deep inside the forests. With a duty extending 24 x 7, these watchers put their lives at stake to protect the natural resources.
Duty in the forest is highly risky for these watchers with danger to life from wild animals, poachers, smugglers and forest fires. Fighting the poachers and smugglers bare handed, dealing with NTPF (Non Timber Forest Products) collectors and cattle grazers and putting off forest fires during summer which almost all of them are human induced, often puts them into conflicts with their own neighbours as these watchers are recruited from villages and tribal settlements that border the forests. Getting paid a mere Rs. 160 per day, with a non permanent, risky job, leading life is rather a day to day challenge for these hard core protectors. Staying away from family for months together, their
interest, motivation and commitments are the only things that drive them in doing their duties.
So, as a first step to support them, we started this program of issuing rain coats which not only helps them in doing their duty comfortably in the rains, but also be encouraged by the fact that their work is being recognized and supported.
WHERE TO DISTRIBUTE THE RAINCOATS?
We initially had the thought of distributing the raincoats at the two major Tiger reserves, Bandipur and Nagarahole, but these two reserves get enough grants and support both from the government and many NGOs working in and around them. Other reserved forests and wildlife sanctuaries like Brahmagiri, Pushpagiri, Talacauveri, which form a major part of the Nilgiri biosphere are equally neglected maybe with the fact that they are not Tiger reserves. These sanctuaries are home for several rare species endemic to the Western Ghats like the Lion Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Languor, Malabar large spotted civet, several of the Laughing thrushes, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Giant flying squirrel, Nilgiri Marten, Malabar Banded Peacock and also are home for more than 60% of the elephant population in our state.This region is also the birth place of the sacred river Cauvery and many other small streams like the Ramatirtha, Lakshmanatirtha which in their course of flow feed lakhs of acres of farm land and provide drinking water for millions of people.
These factors make these ranges as important and essential as any tiger reserve and we concluded on these ranges for our program. These forests receive heavy rains from the South east monsoons that hit every year during the months of May to September and it’s a rather herculean task to patrol in that weather. Hence it was an essential location for us to give rain coats to watchers in these areas.
COLLECTION OF FUNDS:
We started this program with very small expectations as it was our very first one but were overwhelmed by the response and support by friends and concerned individuals. We are not sure whether it was a mark of trust on us or the concern people had about our watchers, but all in all it was a grand success that we managed to collect a decent amount enough to buy a raincoat for watchers in all the three sanctuaries, Brahmagiri, Pushpagiri and Talacauveri. From contributions through friends and donors we collected a total amount of Rs. 27, 850.00 (Twenty seven thousand eight hundred and fifty)
List of contributors supporting the program:
Yashwanth B N
Guruprasad Timmapur
Pradeep
Anand Bheemaraju
Rohan Aradhya
Sunil Gaikwad
Vandana Radhakrishna Bhat
Ajith Bhat
Neeshath EK
Bharathram N
Harsha
Vishwadutta
Jayaprakash
Kiran B Goudar
Vijay Srinath
Prabhanjana
Sudhindra A
Ambareesh Karanth
Parvathy S.N
Pramod Mahajan
Krishna Dasappanavar
Vishal
Abhiram Iyer
Santhosh S L
At the beginning of the campaign, we had enquired on the Toad rain suits price to be around the range of Rs. 600 to Rs. 650. But with the available funds, we could manage only one of the three forest ranges. After negotiation and enquiring around we settled on the Single breasted type rain coats available at the rate of Rs. 310 which enabled us to complete all the three forest ranges. These coats are more convenient to wear and also to carry additional baggage in the forest, protecting it from rain.
DISTRIBUTION:
The raincoats were distributed for department personnel below the guard level. Watchers belonging to PCP, MR and permanent divisions and forest guards serving in 20 antipoaching camps of the three wildlife sanctuaries have been benefitted by this program. The distribution was carried out in two stages. During the first stage, raincoats were distributed at Brahmagiri Wildlife sanctuary – Srimangala and Makuta forest ranges on the 25th and 26th of June 2011. Totally 21 forest personnel were included during this phase.We carried out the second phase of distribution at the Talacauveri and the Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuaries on the 8th and 9th of July 2011. 67 forest personnel of the two ranges were covered in this phase to finish the distribution. The complete transport cost for the distribution was borne by ‘Wildlife Conservation Society - India Program’, who have supported us in all aspects through out this raincoat distribution task.
Total number of watcher benefited (PCP+MR+PW): 76
Total no. of guards: 12
Total number of raincoat distributed: 88
CONCLUSION:
It was a wonderful program for us, distributing the rain coats to these watchers. We are hopeful that this small contribution from all of us to the watchers would indeed raise their spirits that there are people out there who rightly recognize their work and are always on their side to support, motivate and encourage them in their and our endeavour to protect our threatened forests and wildlife.
• First of all we would like to thank all our contributors who trusted us and helped this program to be a grand success beyond expectation. We are hopeful that atleast a few among you would take initiative and join us in future conservation activities.
• We thank Mr.Motappa, DCF, Madikeri Forest Division, Mr. Srinivas Nayak, RFO, Srimangala range, Mr. Narasimha Shetty, RFO, Makuta range, Mr. Uttappa, RFO, Talacauveri range and Mr. Paul Antony, RFO, Pushpagiri range and all the department staff who have supported us in this program and has provided all the facilities to make it a success.
