communications towards wildlife conservation

Conservation Education - Approaches and Ideas from a national network

2011-02-17T11:52:00.000+05:30

This post shares a piece that finds space in the newsletter of the Nilgiri Natural History Society (NNHS) ~ http://nnhs.in/

A succinct introduction to Keystone Foundation (KF), Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) and the Nilgiri Natural History Society (NNHS) marked the beginning of the 3^rd retreat of the Conservation Education group. This group, an informal network of people, organizes annual retreats for members to deliberate on their experiences with conservation education. Attempts are made to conduct these retreats at locations where participants can also put in time and learn from actions of the host organization. KF was the host for the October 2010 retreat

NBR, at the current juncture, is bereft of a legal status and as a corollary is managed by multiple agencies. This does not help towards its conservation. However with the Western Ghats Expert Panel appointed by the government the anomaly stands a good chance of being addressed. KF has a significant presence in the NBR by virtue of their presence that exceeds a decade and programs which include capacity-building, documentation, action-research, advocacy, awareness and networking. Discussions on KFs efforts were well received by the participants; these focused on their programs on bee-keeping and conservation-education. The later in particular is a novel concept that has elders share their knowledge on medicinal plants and other wildlife as also myths and legends with younger folk in and around their villages. Oral knowledge is thus transferred to the next generation that follows a lifestyle very different from that of their grand-parents.

As a first the group members had invited an expert to share views on education, Dr. Vasavi from National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), who gave an interesting talk on ‘Elements towards Ecologies of Knowledge’. She shared of issues confronting rural India that ranged from education to challenges faced by youth and also pointed out to the dichotomy between the rush for primary education and disillusion with higher education. The talk outlined 3 pronged crises one encounters today; ecological, economic and social as also brought out the overlaps and interlinks in issues confronting conservation, education and rural India.

Members faced challenges when interacting with different segments of the society and a session had been planned on ‘Communication strategies for different audiences’. As participants shared their experiences from diverse situations across the country their co-participants chipped in with questions and comments. These deliberations touched issues that include:

1. Communications; dire need to pay more attention to, which could also lead to separate strategy for each section of the audience.

2. Investing in time; for nurturing relationships and trust as also to understand the nuances associated with location and stakeholders.

3. Marketing; need to sell the concept of conservation education and potential role media could play therein.

Blogs are an interesting tool for communication and the participants planned for a session on blogs in lieu of one that could not be held due to unavoidable circumstances. Existing blog of a member was discussed threadbare during the session at the end of which a fresh blog was created for another member while most of those present seemed to agree that blog could play a pivot in process documentation of their efforts. Questions on creation and maintenance of a blog were discussed; these included:

1. Upload; Can all files be uploaded on a blog; be they image files, music files or video files?

2. Comments; Could comments could be made by anybody? Was it possible to control them? Are they are seen by all visitors to blog?

3. Presentation; Can template of the blog be changed? How many posts can be seen on the home page? What kind of external products can be put on the blog?

The retreat did not restrict itself to KF campus. Participants went for an early-morning walk to Longwood Shola, a Reserve Forest (RF) in Kotagiri (located within tea-estates, plantations, villages) and besides other species also visited by gaurs and leopards. Another enthusing walk was to Sullivan’s cottage; a monument that boasts of an interesting collection of artifacts depicting the history of Nilgiris and the movement to conserve the landscape. Visit to Bee Museum - Green Shop at Ooty was also organized where besides film-screening and the impressive posters and interactive material participants put in time to make purchases from the Green Shop.

The penultimate session sought feedback on the 2010 retreat and suggestions on 2011 retreat.

Some feedback on 2010 retreat:

1. Host agency staff gets to interact with Conservation Education network personnel attending the meeting; this is one off-shoot of having meetings at separate locations.

2. KF’s work and sessions with elders were innovative and well organized.

3. The retreat inspired and enabled to interact with like-minded people and gain access to resources which otherwise would be difficult

Some suggestions for 2011 retreat:

1. Further deliberations on ‘Communication strategies’ and ‘Ecologies of Knowledge’.

2. Field visits to Conservation Education projects in action.

3. Action based learning depending on the venue.

Thanking all group members and Keystone Foundation.

Conservation Education Network.

2011-02-17T11:44:00.000+05:30

This post shares a piece that finds space on the International Zoo Educators (IZE) site ~

http://www.izea.net/world/South%20Asia%20Conservation%20Education%20Network%20Retreat-October%202010.pdf

The Network.

Conservation Education Network is an assemblage of people working on conservation education to interact and share experiences, concerns, assess strengths – weaknesses and explore avenues for collaborations. An open network, it believes in learning for life using hands, heart and mind. Members are teachers, non government organization personnel, trainers and consultants who interact frequently by way of email as also meet each year for annual-retreats to deliberate on their experiences and perceptions. These retreats are organized at separate locations each year to enable the participants to get an exposure and as a corollary present an opportunity to learn from

A. Programs undertaken by the host organization.

B. Natural values offered by the landscape.

1^st retreat was organized at Navdarshanam (Tamil Nadu, India) and gave the members space to introduce themselves and their actions. I have fond memories of the campus that followed a rule by which electricity could be consumed only to the extent generated on the campus and as a result participants were not allowed to put the projector to use. A pertinent lesson of the need to conserve resources in day-to-day lives and practice what one preached. One presentation that I found of great interest also shared the concept and benefits of allotting time for participants to reflect and ruminate in course of conservation education programs. This was pertinent for them to not only absorb the program actions but also think ahead on the lines.

2^nd retreat was organized at Auroville (Tamil Nadu, India). The location provided enough fodder for thought as participants were exposed to invigorating actions that included restoration ecology program which had transformed a landscape bereft of shade and water to a forest thriving with porcupines and civets. Also eye-opening was visit to a school where solar energy, waste-segregation and recycling had been take up with students involved at each stage; hands-on learning.

Hosts and landscape.

Introduction to the host organization Keystone Foundation set up the stage for the 3^rd retreat during October 2010. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Nilgiri Natural History Society were an integral part of this introduction. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is a fascinating ecosystem of the hill ranges of Nilgiris and its surrounding environments covering a tract of over 5,000 square kilometers. It spans the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and includes protected areas. Formed by members of Keystone Foundation the Nilgiri Natural History Society endeavors to redefine life, nature and humanity through an ecologically sound and socially responsible value system.

Keystone Foundation’s programs include livelihoods, conservation, culture and people, environmental governance and organic market development. Their projects in and around the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve include Shola restoration, honey collection–marketing and conservation education. There was a talk on bees and honey collection. Of particular interest to me were the sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) that came to Keystone Campus at Kotagiri (Tamil Nadu, India) for honey. One of them was seen running away with 2 bee and honey bearing slides, one in each arm. Bee-boxes, which house these slides, have since been shifted but bears still visit the campus! Session on their conservation education program that focused on ‘barefoot educators’ was intriguing as well. An appealing concept, it had elders share their knowledge on medicinal plants and other wildlife as also myths - legends with younger folk in and around their villages. Oral knowledge is thus transferred to the young generation that is not as connected to the natural values of the landscape as their grand-parents. The session came to an end with elders (who had come all the way to Kotagiri) inviting the participants to their villages!

Participants went for an enthusing walk to Longwood Shola; a Reserve Forest and an Important Bird Area (Birdlife International 2010) in Kotagiri. This patch of 100 – 150 acres, located amidst tea-estates, plantations and villages, besides other species is also visited by the mega-fauna like gaur (Bos gaurus) and leopard (Panthera pardus). Organizations in Kotagiri put in time and effort towards this forest that also acts as a prime and perennial water-source for 15 villages downstream. While most Sholas currently do not boast of trees as tall; this small patch gives an idea of what the Nilgiris once were!

Visit to Bee Museum - Green Shop at Ootacamund was also organized. Participants initially saw a film by Keystone Foundation on the practice of honey collection in the landscape and its being rooted in the cultural practices titled ‘Honey hunters of the Blue mountains’. This was complimented by a talk on varied aspects of the practice of honey-collection in the landscape. The museum also hosts an impressive display of posters and interactive material on wildlife species that occur in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Participants then moved on to make purchases from the Green Shop that stores forest-honey, embroidered products by women from Toda community, products from bees-wax and other items.

Deliberations on Conservation education.

In the paragraphs below I share discussions participants had on select topics. The idea was to share experiences, agree–disagree, learn from each other and widen horizons and not to necessarily reach a definite conclusion.

Expert views.

Dr Vasavi was invited as an expert on education and her interesting talk was titled ‘Elements towards ecologies of Knowledge’. It outlined the 3 pronged crises one encounters today; ecological, economic and social as also brought out the overlaps and interlinks in issues confronting conservation, education and culture. Her talk had me put across a question that has been on my radar for a while now. Why conservation education is accorded low priority even within conservation circles; this also by people who otherwise talk of it being pertinent for conservation. Her take on this was different from what little I had discussed on this. According to her most conservation practitioners today hail from a segment of the society that espouses a very urban mindset and for whom forests are still distant. Wildlife as a consequence espouses values of glamour and exotica. As a result of this higher weightage is accorded to being with and around wildlife as opposed to indulging in education and awareness action with other segments of the society.

Curriculum.

An issue deliberated more than once was the fashion in which conservation education should be a part of the academic curriculum. Either it could be a separate subject in itself or by way of ‘greening’ of existing curriculum. Making conservation education a separate subject confers upon it desired space and design while the argument against making it a separate subject is the often quoted line that students (and their teachers) are already bogged down with a subject too many and the fresh subject (for them) is akin to an additional task forced upon them. The parallel fear being that of it being reduced to marks - grades by virtue of being a part of the system. Greening of all subjects, in other words inculcating issues environment related issues across the board, overcomes some of these issues but the argument against this approach is perhaps more severe. Larger politics of education have tuned it towards development read as dams, markets, shares, job-worthiness etc. This development by its very character has no space for nature for its own sake and conservation as a corollary will be such as suits the development paradigm of the day. Gruenewald (2004) goes a step ahead to challenge that environmental education will be ineffective in advancing its own goal of creating an environmentally or ecologically literate (Orr, 1992) citizenry as long as it continues to discipline itself within the norms of general education.

As an off-shoot of the deliberations above a discussion took shape on conservation education books for children. I harbour a feeling that the impact authors and publishers of these books claim is highly over-rated. Resource material including books are a crucial component of conservation education programs but to state that text-books for conservation education necessarily bring in desired impact appears somewhat far-fetched. I wonder if publishing the book is an end in itself or focus and energies on feedback from teachers, interactions with teachers and students who would work with these books form integral constituents of the process that brings out these books. As I write I recall a function we had at Baghmara (Meghalaya, India) where one of the actions was to distribute books in Garo language. These books lay in the store-room of our partner agency for a couple of years. This may be an aberration but these books in no way replace the role that interactions play.

Communications.

Members faced challenges when interacting with different segments of the society and a session had been planned on ‘Communication strategies for different audiences’. Segments discussed included youth-associations, students, teachers, forest-department staff, personnel from non-government organizations, members of self-help groups, religious-bodies and volunteers. As participants shared their experiences from diverse situations across the country their co-participants chipped in with questions and comments. These deliberations touched issues that include:

A. Communications; dire need to pay more attention to, which could also lead to separate strategy for each section of the audience.

B. Investing in time; for nurturing relationships and trust as also to understand the nuances associated with location and stakeholders.

C. Marketing; need to sell the concept of conservation education.

D. Explore fresh avenues; possibilities of roles media could play to strengthen the cause or impact one to one interactions would have.

Blogs are an interesting tool for communication and the participants planned for a session on blogs in lieu of one that could not be held due to unavoidable circumstances. Blog of a member was discussed threadbare during the session at the end of which a fresh blog was created for another member. Most of those present seemed to agree that blog could play a pivot in process-documentation of their efforts. Questions on creation and maintenance of a blog were discussed; these include:

A. Upload; can all files be uploaded on a blog; be they image files, music files or video files?

B. Access; can access to blog be restricted? Do search engines pick up blog posts?

C. Comments; could comments could be made by anybody? Was it possible to control them? Are they are seen by all visitors to blog?

D. Presentation; can template of the blog be changed? How many posts can be seen on the home page?

E. External products; what kind of external products are put on a blog? What is their utility? Are they free?

Values.

Another question I had was on Keystone Foundation’s program that concerns bee-keeping and honey-marketing. Genesis of this lay in my discussion with colleagues earlier during the year where we discussed conserving nature for nature’s sake, with the belief that all living beings had an equal right to life, and Saneesh’s (Keystone Foundation personnel and group-member) talk during the 2^nd retreat. He had shared of the dilemma he faced when elders asked him why he tells them not to hunt other wildlife species when he helps them in extracting and selling honey from bees; wild bees. I wondered if these are double-standards espoused by us conservation practitioners. Are we going to help the elders if their cultural practices consist of extracting tiger (Panthera tigris) skin for example? Are we deciding (for ourselves and others) what we will conserve and what we will consume?

Feedback on 2010 and suggestions for 2011 retreat.

The penultimate day had a session where participants put in their views on their experiences at the 3^rd and their expectations from the 4^th retreat.

A. Talk by the invited expert was considered inspiring and discussion on communication strategies very relevant; it was suggested that the topics take a step ahead in the forthcoming retreat.

B. Keystone Foundation’s programs were deemed innovative and well organized and it was also observed that as an off-shoot of organizing retreat the host agency personnel got to interact with network members.

C. The retreat was also regarded as an eye-opener that enabled one to interact with like-minded people and gain access to resources that otherwise would be difficult.

D. Suggestions came forth to include field visits to conservation education projects in action as also activity based learning program depending on the venue of the next retreat.

Links.

Bee museum; http://nnhs.in/beemuseum/

Blog discussed; http://mizoram-samrakshan.blogspot.com/

Keystone foundation; http://keystone-foundation.org/

Longwood Shola; http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=18394

Nilgiri Natural History Society; http://nnhs.in/

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve; http://www.nilgiribiospherereserve.com/

Shola; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shola

Sullivan’s cottage; http://www.sullivanmemorial.org/

References.

BirdLife International. 2010. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Longwood Shola - Kothagiri. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 04/12/2010

Gruenewald, David A. 2004. A Foucauldian Analysis of Environmental Education : Toward the Socioecological Challenge of the Earth Charter; Curriculum Inquiry 34:1, 71 -107.

Orr, D. 1992. Ecological literacy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Acknowledgements.

Saneesh.

Sunita.

Sarah.

Keystone Foundation.

Other participants.

Author.

Name: Nimesh Ved; Email: Nimesh.ved@gmail.com

Migrant Watch

2011-01-09T22:38:00.000+05:30

Migrant Watch the citizen-science program I am happily a part of has put up a note on our Kestrel sightings in Saiha on their blog here.

Thanking Migrant Watch.

Maraland

2011-01-09T22:30:00.002+05:30

This post shares a 'thanking - note' written for Maraland dot net. They have been very encouraging (specially over the blog) and have shared a translated version of this note and more on their very interesting website here. Thanks once again; very touched specially your email (sharing part of it here) "We hope that we will realize the importance of preserving the flora and fauna of our land before it gets destroyed by our own actions. May the flame of preserving them started by your team keep burning in our land! "

----------

Hi,

At the onset I would like to thank you for your kind words.

Three years at Saiha that began during September 2007 have been an experience very close to me and yet very difficult to put in words (despite the blog!). My colleagues had been here earlier to conduct a baseline survey of the mammals and birds occuring in the region. This exercise they undertook with the Environment and Forest department of the Mara Autonomous District Council. The survey brought out hunting / people’s perception as the major threat to the amazing biodiversity this region harbours. I came in and we initiated a program that primarily focussed on conservation education / awareness.

We undertook actions with school going children, their teachers, MTP members, Village Council members and forest department personnel in the initial stages at Saiha, Tuipang and Phura. Film screenings on laptop computers, power point presentations on wildlife in Mizoram, discussions on beliefs concerning wildlife in South Mizoram, Hoolock Gibbons in Maraland and other actions were undertaken. As the partnerships flowered we began contributing to newletter bought out by KTP – Epatha and attended and shared our experiences at events organized by MTP and MSO. Also on the plate were undertaking surveys with forest department and participating in trainings for forest department personnel. We undertook documentation of these invigorating experiences and shared it online.

Towards the second half of our stay the actions spread to Chakhang and we also worked with the Lawngtlai Forest Division. The later enabled me to visit Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary and Blue Mountain National Park, something that I waiting long for. Some species we came across (Sarivaithun or the Yellow bellied weasel being one) we wrote of in journals and also shared our experiences in magazines.

Personally it has been a very satisfying experience but I still wish that people in Maraland shower the kindness they bestowed on me to the wildlife here. Hunting / trapping wildlife and keeping them as pets need to be done away with if people from Maraland want to retain the amazing forests their lands harbour. They are the chosen ones in that such forests do not occur in other parts of the state (or even beyond) and now they can choose if they want to retain them for their children and grand-children.

I ponder a little as I write this and realize that I will never be able to sufficiently thank people in Maraland for the sharing their time, knowledge, meals, rooms and warmth and the experiences here I shall cherish for long; sitting at Palak Dil in alluring silence, walking the forests of south of Lomasu – absolutely stunned, walking the stairs down from our home to the New Saiha market, watching football action on the helipad .......

Also, please feel free to use text / images from the blog; Maraland.Net doing so will only help the cause of the blog.

Warm regards,

Nimesh.

Blog: http://mizoram-samrakshan.blogspot.com/

Kestrels

2010-11-16T08:29:00.006+05:30

Saiha has provided us with fairly regular sightings of select avian migrants very near to our base. Wagtails and kestrels cornering the lions share; kestrels initially had me confused with the Oriental Hobby (Falco severus). However during the previous year I had been able to take a picture of the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) on the mobile phone tower; both the Airtel tower and our Cannon camera were then fresh. Common Kestrel was also one of my initial “uploads” on Migrant Watch. This citizen science project too I joined during the previous year and Suhel has since been a big help. This year, last fortnight to be precise, has presented sights of the kestrel that have been, well to put simply, a beautiful experience.

Last year’s mobile phone tower is still preferred by it (don’t know if it is the same individual though!) but it apparently likes resting behind one of the drums on the mobile tower. These drums on the tower remind me of a rubber stuck on a new pencil. We saw it arrive and stay put for at least 25 minutes; this was around 4.00 pm. A couple of times during this it opened up one wing but stayed at the same spot. The next day we say it take a sudden flight away from the very tower at about 1.00 pm; apparently scared by a helicopter that flew in not very far from the tower towards the helipad. This perching at a height of Common Kestrels has been stated by Rishad Naoroji in his Birds of Prey of the Indian Sub Continent “Seen at regular intervals perched singly in staked-out, readily defended foraging territories on relatively low, bare or sparsely foliaged trees, posts, fences, telegraph poles and wires, communication pylons, stacks of harvested grass or crop, rocks, and even sand dunes if higher perches unavailable, from where hunting sorties are launched”.

We were walking the path that skirts the Tourist Lodge at Saiha and snakes towards the wild growth that overlooks Saiha Tlangkawn at around 3.30 to 4.00 pm. I suddenly saw a bird, yellow-beak and yellowish-streaks on a whitish plumage take off; it was then perched about 15 feet high on a tree and faced the valley. It took me a while to understand that this too was the Common Kestrel. Apparently disturbed by my ungraceful intrusion it took-off for the growth on the other side of the valley. They apparently are regular winter visitors in these parts; Anwaruddin Choudhury to affirms this in his “A Pocket Guide to the Birds of Mizoram”.

The first sightings of the current year was when we saw 2 of them at around 4.00 pm for about 15 minutes. They took small-dives, opened up claws, (almost!) turned on their sides and caught insects. It was fun to put binoculars to use and see the small insects disappear amidst this ‘dance’ of the kestrels. They were not trying to attack each other that I am more or less clear but whether they tried to attract each other in the process is unclear to the novice in me. As I write I recall Rudyard Kipling's eloquent narrative of the dance of elephants in his Toomai of the Elephants.

View of Saiha Tlangkawn

View of Saiha Assam Rifle Campus

Roshni has heard them on more than one occasion as if giving a morning alarm with the cock in the neighbourhood; around 6.00 to 6.30 am. The bird could not be far if we heard it from our winter closed windows. During one of her walks to the Tourist Lodge she saw it fly in her direction and get almost stationary at a height that was comfortable for it to get into position and her to observe and identify it. “The kestrel is a hawk about the size of a pigeon. There is only one bird which can really remain quite stationary, in the air, even when its wings do not move, and that is the kestrel. ” this is how it is referred to by Salim Ali and Laeeq Futehally in their “About Indian Birds”.

We went up to the helipad the other day at around 3.30 pm and saw 4 kestrels. They moved, not in circles, but came back to the same point in a while and in the process came quite close to us. This point was just as the valley depression began and not far from the Circuit House.

As we returned from the helipad we saw a flock of about 20 birds at a distance. When Roshni pointed towards them I proudly exclaimed “yeh to koi aur hain, kestrel nahin ho sakte” only to be proved wrong as I looked up with the binoculars. They appeared smaller in size than the kestrels we otherwise see and I wondered if distance was the factor. About 20 to 25 of them, moving, almost in circles, about 30 feet above the ground. There was a fire in the Assam Rifle campus and they apparently were enjoying insects that came out or flew away from the fire. Assam Rifles Campus at Saiha overlooks a valley distinct from the one mentioned above. 2 of the group left group to perch on a tree and this they did more than once in the course of about 25 minutes that we observed the group. These were crows and from previous experience here I assume them to be Large Billed Crows (Corvus macrorhynchos). When we left we saw the flock had scattered while the 2 crows still were present. It was a wonderful evening; just to see the kestrels moving all around in joy like children coming out of a school!

Before this evening I understood that we had the Common Kestrel visit us in winters. A little confused as to whether we also have the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) here I checked up Rishad Naoroji’s “Birds of Prey of the Indian Sub-Continent” again. While the details in the book have ever overwhelmed me I checked up what he says of Lesser Kestrel and found some of our observations to be in consonance with his notes. “Essentially insectivorous, highly social and flocking species”; “Taking prey (mostly insects) more often on the wing than the Common Kestrel, otherwise hunts similarly but mostly in small groups or large loose flocks, 10 m to 15 m above the ground”; “In Africa catches insects disturbed by grass fires in the air or descends to the ground to take them on foot”.

Last evening I checked up sites having recordings of bird-calls online to check up and compare the calls of Common Kestrel and Lesser Kestrel. Hearing each of them a couple of times led me to confirm that the call we both are familiar with belongs to the Common Kestrel. However today, (15^th November 2010, 1.45 pm), as I sat to punch in the words from my note-book we heard the call of the Lesser Kestrel!

Saiha, these days, plays host to both these kestrels ~

Thanks to Suhel and Migrant Watch.

Conservation Education ~ Retreat At Kotagiri

2010-11-14T19:45:00.000+05:30

At the recently organized Retreat of the Conservation Education Network I agreed to be a part of the team that would draft the report along with Sarah and Sunita. This post shares that report.

Conservation Education Network

Third Annual Retreat

October 20, 21, 22 - 2010

Keystone Foundation Campus

Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu

Conservationeducation@googlegroups.com

DAY 1

Ø Orientation to the retreat

Ø Introduction to Keystone Foundation, overview of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and Nilgiri Natural History Society

Ø Tour of Keystone Foundation campus

Ø Introduction to bees and beekeeping

DAY 2

Ø Longwood Shola

Ø Interactions with village elders on their practice of sharing knowledge with children

Ø Communications with different segments of society

Ø Visit to Bee Museum - Green Shop

DAY 3

Ø Sullivan’s cottage

Ø Talk on Elements towards Ecologies of Knowledge - A macro perspective of education in context of changes taking place in the society.

Ø Feedback, way-ahead and wrap-

Ø Painting and Dancing

The stage was set with orientation to the retreat after which Pratim gave a succinct introduction to Keystone Foundation, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the Nilgiri Natural History Society. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve at the current juncture is bereft of a legal status and is managed by multiple agencies. However with the Western Ghats Expert Panel currently in place it stands a good chance of gaining legal status. Keystone Foundation’s programs include capacity-building, documentation, action-research, advocacy and networking. Their projects in and around the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve include Shola restoration, honey collection – marketing and environment education. Discussion that followed began with the state of education in different schools functioning in the landscape and moved on to ‘greening’ of education. Questions raised and debated included: Should local issues be incorporated in a curriculum? How can conservation education be ‘that something’ which creates an ethic in students as opposed to just being another boring school subject? Which approach works better in conservation education; integration with existing subjects or adding it on as a separate subject itself?

Robert shared his experiences with bees and this session was very well-received by participants. In India, bees are cultivated for honey and pollination services are secondary, although beekeepers can also make money from this. Of the bees found in India Apis cerana, the Asian Honeybee, is considered more suitable for cultivation for several reasons. Some of them being; it is a native species and as a corollary can adapt to the vegetation in the landscape, it is a generalist feeder which does not require investment in specialized tools and equipment like other species and it is also less aggressive. Robert shared of his learning having emerged primarily from his experiences with local people he worked with. During the interactions in the latter half of his session participants posed questions on questions ranging from design of bee-hives to the affects of pesticides, genetically modified crops, and cell phone radiation on bees.

Participants went for an enthusing walk to Longwood Shola; a Reserve Forest in Kotagiri. This patch of 100 – 150 acres is located within tea-estates, plantations and villages and besides other species was also visited by the gaur. Besides the entrance gate is a large board which enlists species one may encounter in course of the walk. Sumin shared that while most Sholas now do not boast of trees as tall as those that occur here the small forest gives an idea of what the Nilgiris once were. He added that organizations in Kotagiri put in time and effort to maintain this forest that also acted as a prime and perennial water source for 15 villages downstream. Walks like these do provide impetus to the rest of the day.

Interactions with village elders, associated with Keystone Foundation and working in different parts of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve then took place. Saneesh has been instrumental in planning and implementing this session. They talked of different activities they undertook and also shared of select experiences they had had in the process while Saneesh complimented the talk with pictures of the very actions. Some of their invigorating experiences are

Ø Sharing knowledge concerning plants with children; a part of the latter’s heritage

Ø Teaching children about medicinal qualities of various plants

Ø Telling children of the legends and myths of the landscape

Ø Publishing a village newspaper that also talks of plants that are flowering and birds that are laying eggs

As they listened open-eyed participants were invited for visits to these places to know more of these actions.

Visit to Bee Museum - Green Shop at Ooty was then organized. Participants initially saw a film by Keystone Foundation on the practice of honey bee collection in the landscape and its being a part of the local culture. Pushpinder then explained the different aspects of the practice of honey collection in the landscape. The museum also hosts an impressive display of posters and interactive material on wildlife in the landscape. Participants then moved on to make purchases from the Green Shop.

An interactive session on Communication Strategies for different audiences and situation then took place at the Bee Museum itself. This was moderated by Nimesh. Participants worked in diverse situations across the country and shared their experiences while co-participants chipped in with questions and comments. These deliberations touched various aspects of conservation education like

Ø The need to pay more attention to communications

Ø Role of separate strategy for each section of the audience

Ø Possibility of apprenticeship or one-on-one mentoring

Ø Exploring interactions between 2 individuals from distinct backgrounds

Ø Importance of building relationships and trust

Ø Role media could play and how one could deal with it

Ø Need to be based at and get and understanding of the place one is working at

Ø Selling the concept of conservation education

Participants took a walk to Sullivan’s cottage. Mr. Sullivan was the Ooty collector during the days of British Raj and the person to suggest tea plantations for the landscape. The cottage has an interesting collection of artifacts depicting the history of Nilgiris and the movement to conserve the landscape.

Dr. Vasavi from National Institute of Advanced Studies gave the participants an interesting talk on Elements towards Ecologies of Knowledge. Her talk covered issues ranging from education in rural India to challenges faced by youth in rural India. She outlined the three pronged crises we encountered today; ecological, economic and social and also pointed out to the dichotomy between the rush for primary education and disillusion with higher education. The focus of the talk on overlaps and interlinks in conservation, education and rural India was to help participants look at conservation education with a fresh perspective. Questions put across after her talk included seeking her views on how pertinent is scale in interventions concerning conservation in rural India? Within conservation why is conservation education accorded low priority even by those who publicly accept its import? What kinds of networks exist that participants could be a part of?

Session on creating and using a blog. Nimesh moderated a session on creation of a blog. He presented his blog and led the group through the steps of blog-publishing. Select add-ons or products that that a blog could have were also discussed. As a part of the session Rama created a blog for herself. Questions that rose in this session included; Can we have a common blog for the group? Is it possible to upload video clips on the blog? How can the comments on blog be moderated?

Time was the reason discussion could not be initiated on vision statement for the Conservation Education group and participants were of the view that the exercise should not be rushed. It was decided that a Vision statement could be evolved over email exchanges.

Pushpinder provided paint material along with examples that could be followed by novices. Many participants attempted painting bags including some who put in lot of energies and may have re-discovered their love for art. The Kurumba group that came to the Keystone campus danced and sang around a fire lit on the lawns. The music of small horn-flutes and drums accompanied by their graceful movements had most participants break into a dance.

Some feedback on 2010 retreat

Ø Advice on cultivation was a big help

Ø Found Dr. Vasavi’s talk inspiring and was thankful for opportunity to participate in the retreat.

Ø Host agency staff gets to interact with Conservation Education network personnel attending the meeting, this is one off-shoot of having meetings at separate locations

Ø Keystone Foundation’s work and sessions with elders were innovative and well organized

Ø The retreat inspired and enabled to interact with like-minded people and gain access to resources which otherwise would be difficult

Ø The retreat was an eye-opener

Some suggestions for 2011 retreat

Ø Communication strategies – addressing different segments of society

Ø Ecologies of Knowledge - further deliberations

Ø Evaluation and Monitoring of conservation education programs

Ø Field visits to Conservation Education projects in action

Ø Innovations in Conservation Education

Ø Action based learning depending on the venue

Ø Wildlife rescue

Ø Sharing of actions undertaken by participants

Participants

Ø Abhilash, Keystone Foundation

Ø Annie, Kotagiri

Ø Kuttan, Keystone Foundation

Ø Lakshmanan, ISHA Home School

Ø Lourdes, Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants

Ø Mahadesh, Keystone Foundation

Ø Nimesh, Samrakshan Trust

Ø Pushpinder, Keystone Foundation

Ø Rama, Ankola

Ø Rasingam, Keystone Foundation

Ø Sakthivel, Keystone Foundation

Ø Saneesh, Keystone Foundation

Ø Sarah, Intern - Vanastree

Ø Sharmila, Kalpavriksh

Ø Shivanna, Keystone Foundation

Ø Skanda, ATREE

Ø Sudhakar, Keystone Foundation

Ø Sujatha, Kalpavriksh

Ø Sumin, Keystone

Ø Sumithra, Keystone Foundation

Ø Sunita Rao, Vanastree, ATREE

Ø Tanuja, Nature Conservation Foundation

Thanks are due to Sunita, Sarah, Saneesh, Keystone Foundation and the entire group at Kotagiri.

Helping Hoolocks

2010-10-27T12:44:00.000+05:30

The National Green Corps (NGC) has come out with a publication “Young in Green Action – Inspiring stories from the National Green Corps’.

We have made efforts to work with existing Eco Clubs in the region and our efforts at Saiha have been stated in here as a case study from Mizoram “Helping Hoolocks”.

Further information on the publication is up at ~ http://www.paryavaranmitra.in/NGCcasestudy.htm

Glad to share the text and images below.

It all started with the exhibition. In 2008, the Don Bosco School in Saiha hosted the annual science exhibition organized by the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) of Mizoram. ‘Conservation of Natural Resources’ was the theme of the exhibition. Under this theme, the NGO, eco-club students and the teacher in-charge of the school decided to focus on the conservation of Hoolock Gibbons, in consultation with Samrakshan Trust, an ngo. For this purpose, eco club members had to collect information on Gibbon species. Under guidance of Samrakshan Trust a survey was undertaken on Hoolock gibbons in Saiha town.

The Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) is the only ape species found in India and restricted to the forests of North East. The arboreal ape is classified as endangered. It has been on the list of the world’s most endangered 25 primates since 2006. Primarily a vegetarian species, Hoolocks are today threatened due to many reasons, habitat destruction and fragmentation being the major. The main reason for habitat destruction and fragmentation in Mizoram is stated to be the traditional method of jhum cultivation practised by the local population that has led to the decline of Hoolock gibbons. Besides habitat destruction killing of these animals for meat, blood and bones is another reason for their sharp decline.

Samrakshan Trust is promoting education for conservation of the Hoolock Gibbons. The trust works with a number of target groups including village councils, local NGOs and the Don Bosco on this issue. The Trust works closely with teachers of Don Bosco School. The teachers in turn engage in activity based conservation education with students to save Hoolock Gibbons. So some of the information on the primate has been collected from the trust reports. In order to assess people’s awareness and perception and awareness of this rare species, eco club students have carried out a survey. They have developed an objective based multiple choice questionnaire for this purpose. Some of the questions include details of the colour of primate; primary habitat (for example, forests or habitations); the average life span and group size of the primate; number of young ones the female gives birth at a time, movement of primates through the forest and their eating habits. Students under the guidance of their teacher in-charge Biswajit Singha and Nimesh Ved from Samrakshan Trust interviewed 50 individuals picked up from various locations in the town. The survey was undertaken in two languages; English and Mizo (local language). Analysis of the findings, to the surprise of the students, reflected that most people were aware that the primate was under threat and that its population had reduced. The belief that the consumption of blood and meat of the Gibbon cures diseases, though myth, had resulted in the hunting of the animal resulting in its decline.

Students put the information gathered from the Trust and their survey report together and set up an exhibit, which included graphs, photos, tables and important facts and information. This was a popular exhibit in the annual science exhibition organized by the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) of Mizoram. The exhibition was attended by students of 30 schools, thus spreading the awareness on Gibbons and their conservation to larger student population.

This initiative demonstrates how students can be tutored to become young conservation researchers. Conveying the Gibbon facts after a good amount of research and analysis of the results only demonstrates the importance of systematic process employed by the eco club teacher in-charge with the help of the Trust which is noteworthy.

Wildlife Week 2010

2010-10-14T19:05:00.002+05:30

We participated in Wildlife Week 2010 Action with the forest department. This was at the district headquarters of Lawngtlai and 3 villages near the Blue Mountain National Park; Bualpui, Lungpher and Cheural. The beautiful views the trip offered cemented my desire to put in time at the Phawngpui National Park; as it is also referred to. Frequent mention of bears (savawm) during the trip did come as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one; From my interactions I am given to understand that both the Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) and the Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) occur in these forests.

Rains did remind us of the extended monsoons that we have enjoyed this year. Rainbow over the rolling South Mizoram hills and the view of Kolodyne (Kaladan) warranted breaks in the drive. We were on our way to participate in the program at the Lawngtlai College. The wagtails (Lailen) that gave us company during our travels during the week were fun. They flew ahead of our vehicle, about 3 to 4 feet above the ground. Their flight was along the curves of the road and at a safe distance from the vehicle. One occasion had 3 of them flying in unison for a while after which they veered off the road, one by one. Streams along the roads presented higher chances of them being sighted when compared to other spots!

Pu Tlana seen above talking on Wildlife in Mizoram at the College is the Divisional Forest Officer at Lawngtlai. Has an enviable collection of images from various wildlife rich areas in Mizoram. To him, Environment and forest department of Mizoram and Lawngtlai college we are thankful for the event. Their campus at Lawngtlai is wonderful; a Red Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista petaurista) or the A-bai (Biang) was recently sighted and photographed. The photograph made me believe that mortals like me too could see the species in wild!

The above slide formed a part of my presentation at the College. I had put in images depicting our actions in the initial slides and issues that I understand plague wildlife in these parts in the later slides. I was also eager to use fresh images. This slide in particular was to question the practice of having trophies (from wildlife derivatives) in houses in today's times ! While my questions on identification of the Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak) (Sakhi) and the tortoise (Satel) met with immediate responses the discussions on other 2 images were interesting. Students of course were able to identify each of them correctly. With my presentation began the rains and it was fun to speak out loudly to be audible over the back ground music that the water pouring on tin roof composed!

We had fun setting up the projector, speakers, laptop for film-screening and presentation in the Community Hall at Cheural. We put up posters and also screened Kalyan Varma's film - A Hunter's Tale. This film based in Arunachal Pradesh depicts wildlife that also occurs in these parts. The presentation had people asking details of compensation on account of damage caused by wildlife!

We had a separate session at Cheural for our young friends during which they had a good time ! Cartoon sequences talking of wildlife (in Mizo) and messages on wildlife by popular Mizo artists that Pu Tlana showcased were a BIT HIT !

Some of these young friends then came to surrender their catapults. It was indeed touching with even the unfinished ones being handed over ! With 2 of them I put in some time to understand how they make and use them. Catapults are a major reason for birds in these parts being shy! During my walk early morning I had come across Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata), Golden-fronted Leafbird (Chloropsis aurifrons) and Rufous-fronted Babbler (Stachyris rufifrons) !

At Lungpher where we then went we enjoyed with the children to the extent that we forgot to make use of our cameras! Their father told me of Saza and Sathar not being very difficult to sight around the cliffs; and of their also being hunted ! These are the Serow (Naemorhedus sumatraensis) and Goral (Naemorhedus goral)!

At Bualpui too a large number of students participated in the program ! We had presentations as also screened the film again. This time however we had lots of questions for the participants!

We returned to Saiha but not before feeling overwhelmed with the love and affection we got during the trip. People went out of their way to make us comfortable; like at the meal above. For these amazing times we shall never be able to thank our hosts and others we got to be with enough!

Roshni's blog has more on these amazing times here.

Moghiyas

2010-09-27T23:17:00.002+05:30

Recent trips to Agraa and Sawai Madhopur encouraged me to re-look at the survey we had undertaken on Moghiyas. As I recalled the amazing adventure that the assignment then presented I saw our day-long bike rides on our Rajdoot in forested Sheopur, wonderful evening meals cooked slowly over wood and sleeping on cots at roadside Dhabas! I turned the pages, bearing notes of my trips, which have since acquired a slightly yellow tinge. As I punched keys I found my revised sensibilities and awareness give an interesting flavour to the information collected. ‘Self indulgence’, I heard a soft voice say; but a louder one supported me, ‘what the heck, go ahead’!

Enthused, I checked up the online information on Moghiyas and was reminded of similar effort few years ago that had yielded limited entries, prominent about them being a farm at Hatod (bordering Madhav National Park) in Shivpuri district. Today while the search results threw up manifold items in terms of numbers the content primarily is driven by Dharmendra’s efforts in and around the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. Dharmendra has been associated with Tiger Watch and has undertaken appreciable efforts towards curbing poaching in the landscape. What left me with surprise was that while considerable dialogues have taken place on relocation of lions and cheetahs (2 of India’s more ambitious wildlife projects), cattle and other prey base, habitat for all these species and potential rehabilitation of further villages from the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary very little has been said on Moghiyas. I understand a plan for conservation of these large carnivores and their prey-base in the landscape warrants sustainable humane action with Moghiyas and as a corollary makes it imperative to develop an informed opinion on their lifestyles, socio-cultural practices and history. This could entail engaging in deliberations with members of the tribe; deliberations that focus not only poaching but their lives beyond poaching; impact not only on success of these 2 projects but on the wildlife in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary and other wildlife rich areas in the vicinity.

M K Ranjitsinh & Y V Jhala in ‘Assessing the potential for reintroducing the cheetah in India, 2010’ state of this landscape “On its south-eastern side of the boundary, Kuno forms a contiguous forest landscape with patchy connectivity to Panna Tiger Reserve through the Shivpuri forest area. On the other hand, the Ranthambhore National park and Keladevi Wildlife Sanctuary (both part of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve) are connected with Kuno- Palpur through good forest patches towards the northwestern boundary from across the river Chambal”.

Ritesh was in a way a ‘partner’ (one of his favourite words) in the survey team with me while Raju, Dayakishen, Ramlal, Kailash and Santosh from within our base at Agraa came up with help that I could neither have planned for nor thank them enough. Discussions with Arpan, Asmita, Pankaj, Aniruddha and Nandita provided the impetus when it was most needed and more than once got us back on track. Given that long bike rides bring out the romantic in me and have me undertake mental journeys of no small magnitude the importance of this cannot be underscored enough. Countless others who shared their time and knowledge I am indebted to. Special thanks are due to those who shared meals with 2 untidy gentlemen who carried smelly sleeping-bags and roamed on a bike with pretensions of undertaking serious research. Barbara Delano Foundation funded the survey. Passage of time and our inherent limitations would have their bearings on the information garnered in the survey but I am happy and proud of the experience. Some of the information gathered, I share below, with the belief that it is a modest and honest addition to the existing set of information on Moghiyas.

Back then we began with discussions within our team and acquaintances at Agraa. Most of them were locals and as a corollary familiar with the landscape. Experience of a few discussion sessions had us ready with a table that would guide us in the initial stages. We travelled to villages where Moghiyas lived and had discussions with Moghias as also non Moghiyas. Initial trips to near-by villages led us to other villages which were distant from our base but yielded additional information. We also made attempts to get in touch with people who had worked on similar projects and tribes. Experiences on account of the project were written and discussed and lists made of Moghiyas and villages they stayed at. We were of course helped by mid-course corrections and our ability to pester friends; travels however fuelled most of the information. We visited 34 villages (most of them more than once) where Mogiyas stayed and our notes show the number of families as 334; some like Dhamni and Jangarh had in excess of 25 households while Panwada and Chapraith had single families.

S was the first Moghiya I met. He was then based at Parimal Ka Pura (about 5 kms from Agraa) and the only member of his tribe there. I recall the conversation taking place over hot milk and maize; he had then grown the later on about 1 hectare of land. He had been based at the place for 5 years and when he requested the forest department to help him register the land in his name they asked him to vacate it. Ironical, he had said, given that it was at their insistence that he had moved there in the first place. His face I recall with avid familiarity for he was the only Moghiya to turn up at our office. His daughter whom I am chatted with playfully during my visit passed away on his shoulders when he was carrying her to the government hospital at Agraa. He then moved on to Dhamni (about 12 kms from Agraa).

S had told me of a Moghiya who had stayed at Ahirwani and of whom I enquired with Kailash. Kailash then taught at our school at the village. After the village was relocated from within the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary the villagers were paid instalments at intervals. This in accordance to the scheme approved for relocation. The villagers feared dacoits and thieves would make away with this money and hired B for their protection. He stayed in the freshly relocated village till they received their instalments. Each of the 64 house-holds paid him Rs. 100/- every time they received instalment. The villagers asked him to leave once they had received their instalments. He had requested them for land to till but they did not accede.

Asmita Kabra in her ‘Conservation-induced Displacement - A Comparative Study of Two Indian Protected Areas : Conservation and Society : 2009 states “Resettlement and rehabilitation of villages from the Kuno Sanctuary were carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Beneficiary Oriented Scheme for Tribal Development, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests.”

I visited Dhamni a couple of times. I was to later realize this village would stand out by reason of having not only a large area cornered by Moghiyas for cultivation but also one that boasted of a Moghiya sarpanch. Moghiyas here tilled over 250 bhigas of land; growing crops that the rain allowed. 40 bhigas of this was patta land (they had legal ownership of). One of them had come to Dhamni about 20 years ago and had called his brethren. This practise continued and the village then had about 40 families. Some of their relatives who had houses at villages at a distance like Anghora too tilled land here. They told me that it was difficult for hunting to stop for the demand had risen. A major factor being that the castes which in the past stayed away from wild meat too had shunned inhibitions and developed a taste for it. This reminded me of another incident that had been narrated to me (no less than 3 times) and concerned Moghiyas from Dhamni. They had sold buffalo meat to villagers from higher castes of Arrod under the guise of Chital meat and this was realized only a few days hence when note was taken at Arrod of the missing buffaloes!

This has been observed from other parts of the country as well. M D Madhusudan and K Ullas Karanth state in their in ‘Hunting for an answer - Is local hunting compatible with large mammal conservation in India’ : Hunting for sustainability in Tropical Forests : 2000 “Hindus did not eat or kill gaur and muslims did not eat pigs, porcupine and pangolin. However these taboos are increasingly being disregarded and their value in mediating hunting impacts appears to be declining.”

Next was Anghora. It was here that I met D, the sarpanch of Dhamni. D had a pukka (concrete) house and a bike at Dhamni. During our halt at the tea-stall earlier in the day I had heard stories about the fort that stood in ruins on a small hillock near Anghora. I had begun my conversation with D by asking if thieves and dacoits stayed in the fort as rumoured. He had given me an offended look and said that such people would not dare to stay near their homes. The talk then veered to guns and licences. He said that while they could renew a license for Rs. 15/- they had to shell out Rs. 3,000/- for getting a fresh one which was valid for 3 years across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. He had been at work to get his licence renewed earlier that day. D was otherwise suspicious and did not talk much other than sharing that 11 families stayed at the village and the other nearest settlement was at Tonga.

I was a little intrigued by the gun licenses and checked up the laws that governed them. The licenses for the guns held by the Moghias (that I came across) were issued to them under section 3 of the Arms Act 1959 for bonafide crop protection. These are usually issued for a period of 3 years and are renewable thereafter subject to compliance with law. Also, in certain cases, the validity extends beyond the borders of the state from which the license has been issued. Some of the licenses seen by us were valid throughout Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In contrast the licenses issued to non Moghias in the region are for self-protection under section 34 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, these being valid only within the district of issuance, Sheopur in this case. Also the Arms Rules 1962, has provisions that could help in keeping a check on the hunting by the Moghiyas who have been issued a license. Section 14 allows the state government, subject to conditions, to ask the license holders to deposit arms or ammunition for such period as they are not required for the protection of crops or cattle and as may be specified therein where upon the licensee would be bound to comply with these order.

At Tonga as I chatted with the sharp eyed middle-aged K who wore a blue kurta, I discovered that the settlement had weathered 20 Central Indian summers. His family stayed in a hut while the house the government had constructed for them was put to use for goats and other stores. Quintessential case of a scheme thrust down by authorities! During one of my trips I had noticed vultures hovering above as also large number of bees in a corner where a blanket covered a standing cot. I believe wild meat lay hidden beneath the blanket. On another trip I saw them making jaggery for which they had procured a machine on rent while sugarcane came from the fields nearby. Sweet loving me had shred inhibitions to consume what I today recall was a lot of jaggery. I also recall that he got irritated that day for while I asked him questions on Sheopur forests and the wildlife they harboured my knowledge of them was at best meager. He had told me that some of them from the village had crossed the Chambal river to Rajasthan for crop protection and that because they were Moghiyas they had to inform the police stations of their whereabouts. Both, the station governing their settlement as also that of the locality they went to.

This made me wonder on what the legal provision could be and I discovered that Moghiyas are De notified Tribes (DNTs). Meena Radhakrishna writes in ‘Dishonoured by History – Hindu : 2000’ “The term ‘criminal tribes’ was concocted by the British rulers, and entered the public vocabulary for the first time when a piece of legislation called the Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871. With the repeal of this Act these communities were officially "denotified" in 1952”. S Viswanathan in his ‘Suspects Forever – Frontline : 2002’ adds “Under the Act 150 notified castes of "hereditary criminals" within the Hindu system were to be kept under police surveillance. Four decades after its repeal, the mind-set remains.” Dilip D'Souza writes in his ‘Branded By Law - Looking at India’s Denotified Tribes : 2001’ “As it often happens, that term has in its turn acquired derogatory connotations. And, in any case, even half a century later, they are still routinely called criminal and perceived to be so, for colonial attitudes die hard”. He adds in his ‘Lazy, shiftless, theiving But people – Rediff.com : 1998’ “I don't mean to imply that such tribes are entirely innocent of committing crimes -- they are not as the rest of India is not. But there is a context, a reason, that deserves consideration”. Meena Radhakrishna further states in her Dishonoured by History – Criminal Tribes and British Colonial Policy: 2001’ “While sedentary societies experience and express an overarching discomfort, a suspicion regarding itinerants which make for fertile ground for seeing them as potential criminals, we know little unfortunately about the myths that the itinerant people have about sedentary societies”.

Sevapura again was about 5 kms from Agraa and finally after a couple of trips as also after having heard of her I met J. She was based there with her husband who was not very pleased to see me but she somehow got on talking. While wild pig meat lay around for sun to play its role she complained of not finding any kill! I had heard of police station personnel causing her harm in no small measure and of her hot headedness. However she was perhaps was the only one of her tribe with whom I had a good laugh. She complained of the Government Officers forcing her to hunt for them! J also talked of a lawyer at Shivpuri Mr. Roop Kishore Vashisht who was trying to work for Moghiyas but said Shivpuri was too far and if we were to organize a function at Vijaypur she could help congretate about 1,000 moghiyas. She also offered to take me to a couple of villages but I could never meet her again. We had discussed gun licences issued in the area, particularly to Moghiyas, with the Agraa Police station in-charge and later got to know that 2 days hence he had forced her to get a wild pig for the Police station!

I went to Shivpuri to meet Mr. Roop Kishore Vashisht. According to him Moghiyas originally hail from Rajasthan, the expanse around Bundi - Hadoti. They were brought to this i.e the Gwalior – Chambal region for crop protection and hunting by Shri Daulatrao Scindia around 1810. Even today in Madhya Pradesh they are found primarily within physical boundaries of the erstwhile Gwalior state. Discussing their social life he said while marriage within Moghiyas earlier took place at age of 10 to 12 years today it stood at 16 to 18 years while their language he said was a mix of Rajasthani and Gujarati. I fully agreed for its similarity with Gujarati helped me in great measure. He had guided them to form an association ‘Moghiya Adivasi Samajothan Shodh Samiti’ of which M was currently the coordinator. The association had decided to conduct an annual meeting of its members on 18^th of April – Shaheed Tataya Tope Diwas. He also stressed that the need of the hour was to help Moghiyas stand up to the higher castes who had been making their lives miserable since years. To bring out his point he said that the men had to wear their dhotis above their knees while women had to carry their footwear in their hands when they walked pass their oppressors. The association distributed copies of ‘Ram Charit Manas’ to its members with the belief that it was the greatest tool for social education. On my asking about their hunting wildlife he said while hunting did take place very few of them actually subsisted on it!

One these copies of Ram Charit Manas I came across at Adwada (near Sesaipura) where I met H. H was the first one to offer bidi – pudiya as is the practise otherwise in the region. He had been a sarpanch of Biloua and his son was one of the few Moghiyas I had heard who had studied till class 8. Biloua was where he cultivated 15 bhigas while at Sesaipura he another 85 bhigas. Of these only 20 bhigas were legally owned! We started chatting in context of Mr. Roop Kishore Vashisht whom he referred to as Shivpuri wale vakil (lawyer) sahib and he immediately voiced his opposition to inclusion of Bel Pardhis and Shikaris in the association. Moghiyas he said were superior to these other 2 tribes and did not have wedding and eating relations with them. He also shared that since the number of animals in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary had decreased now their rakhwali (crop protection) vocation was not in vogue in the landscape. Many Moghiyas had moved on to Uttar Pradesh too besides Rajasthan where the problem persisted.

An earlier Management Plan of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve has this to say “Moghiyas are nomadic and move camps depending upon availability of employment and availability of wild animals, whom they hunt for food and skins etc. to support their economy. The population of the Moghiya tribe is very small, but still it is a very important community for conservation of wildlife.”

I visited Hatod, also in Shivpuri, with Raju, the place I first came across on the net with reference to the Moghiyas. I could meet neither of the 2 families who lived there but sat over for long chats with people who were then based at the same 500 acre farm as them. These families, according to their co-workers, hunted almost daily but had no altercations with the forest department personnel for the later were supplied free meat. As we discussed the meat prices I realized that colleagues at Agraa were more or less on the mark. Sambar, chousingha and chital meat was sold for Rs. 40/- a Kg while Nilgai was lower at Rs. 30/-; wild pigs topped the list at Rs. 50/-. Birds were sold at Rs. 15/- each while hares were sold for Rs. 50/- during summer and Rs. 75/- during winter. They also deposited their guns and kills a little away from their dwelling place amidst the bushes. Men and women both were accomplished liquor brewers for which they put to use sugarcane and mahua. This they sold for 30/- a litre. We then went to Mani Kheda where the dam on Sind river was under construction. While we could not meet further families here we got to know that the Moghiyas were doing brisk business. They sold wild meat to labourers on the day of the week payments to them were made by contractors. The construction site employed labour in hundreds!

“Hunting is widespread countrywide and poses a serious threat to wildlife even today. However, in an environment where the very existence of hunting is often discounted or even denied, there have been very few attempts at assessing hunting intensities, their impact on wildlife populations, or the factors that promote and maintain hunting.” (M D Madhusudan and K Ullas Karanth in Local hunting and the conservation of large mammals in India : 2002).

I then had gone to Chapraith to meet L. His house was in a torn condition to put it succinctly. Cultivation did not find a mention once during our conversation and I had gathered he was primarily into hunting. He had initially complained that his nomadic lifestyle had left his children uneducated like him and that he feared that they too would suffer like him. He also mentioned of his elder son with whom he had gone to Ghaswani police station to get their gun released! When I had asked how many children he had he suddenly shouted and asked all of them to stand in a file, counted them and then added the elder one who was elsewhere. This meeting I shall remember for long on account of this. When I had talked of the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary asking him if he was aware of its creation he replied in positive stating the ban on hunting inside was fine with him since he was happy with hunting in the jungle beyond and added that he did not go to hunt inside the sanctuary.

A report by Wildlife Institute of India by A J T Johnsingh, Q Qureshi and S P Goyal ‘Assessment of prey populations for lion re-introduction in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, Central India’ : 2005’ talks of this hunting. “The Sanctuary has suffered a lot in the past, as a result of poaching by the local people, particularly the Moghia tribals. There are reports of them still sneaking into the Sanctuary to shoot wild animals. So as to reduce poaching by the use of guns in future, making use of the provisions in The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, new gun licenses within a 10-km belt from the Sanctuary should not be issued. Efforts should be made to confiscate guns from persons known to poach”.

Panwada was next. Here we met K. Ks fame had reached us before we got to meet him. We had been warned of his being dangerous during our visit to the Burgama police station which in the first place was undertaken to know more of the Moghiyas in the vicinity. K and his brother A stayed at this village, about 3 kms from Sesaipura. He had complained of harassment from both police and forest department personnel and also lamented that their demand for crop protection had come down considerably. When I had asked rates for the work when they were employed for crop protection he had said 10 Kg of the crop per bhiga of cultivated area protected. At times they also got token amount of 100/- per household and added that they usually had to ask villagers to provide them grains in advance. In addition they had the kill at their disposal!

An earlier Management Plan for Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary states this; appears somewhat ambitious though. “In Basantpura some of the villagers engage moghia and in Masaoni a man from Bhind district to protect the crop from raiding by the herds of herbivores. These men, while performing the duties of watchmen, try to hunt the wild animals either by putting a snare or by using gun powder. Hence a serious threat of poaching of wild animals remain there between December to February every year. No outsiders should be allowed to stay inside these villages particularly during the crop season.”

We had come to know of another non government organization working with Moghiyas and this at Dewli in Rajgarh. On my writing a letter to BAIF Development Research Foundation requesting them to share information on Moghiayas I got a reply that was to surprise me further. It said “Moghia is a tribe which weaves baskets using Negard, a type of shrub available in abundance in this area. This is their only means of livelihood. On an average, each tribal person prepares 10 – 15 baskets in a month depending upon the local demand. They also trade their baskets against food with the local people. A seasonal form of employment, they migrate to neighbouring places for remaining part of the year.”

One of the few visits that Ritesh had undertaken alone turned out to be quite dramatic. He had gone (with an acquaintance) to Khodapura where they parked their vehicle and walked further 5 kms towards the Chambal river. The settlement was visible from a distance on account of fire that had been put to keep the winter at bay. As they neared it the children rushed around and S came forward to greet them He lead a nomadic life and was based Gangapur a while ago. He used to hunt regularly and by his own admission a pair of sambhar horns fetched him Rs. 4,000/- while the hides ranged between Rs.3,000/- and Rs. 5,000/-. Most of this he sold in the leather market near the fort at Agra. He used to supply animal parts to government officials in both states receiving due price for his “efforts”. Recently he had sold hide of a baby leopard to a customer from Secunderabad for Rs.12,000/-. They had spent the night at the village and in the morning after long round of pestering were shown a glimpse of 1 lepoard skin and few chital horns. These were stored under beneath a shrub that they reached only after walking another 3 kms!

We had also made a trip to Mau, 10 Kms from Sheopur and interacted with some village elders who were not from the tribe. They said the while during times gone by rulers and jamindars forced the Moghiyas to accompany them on shikars (hunts) some of today’s babus asked them for favours in form of meat, stating the species clearly! Hunting they had pointed was very much prevalent and had shared of 2 incidents. Few weeks ago a leopard had been killed near Virpur and the issue was hushed up while few years ago a box that fell from the bus going from Sheopur to Sawai Madhopur had deer horns and not wooden toys as it was supposed to have. They also told us how Moghiyas were very sharp eyed and could decipher footprints even amidst thick foliage. By virtue of this skill that they possessed they had helped one of the elders we were talking to, Udaysinghji, to get hold of the culprits who had stolen 3 sacks of grain from his store.

A National Geographic coverage of Dharmendra’s efforts by Paul Kvinta and Tom Pietrasik – ‘Cat Fight : 2009’ states “Though extremely marginalized in India’s stratified caste system, ranking down near the Untouchables, Moghiyas do command respect for their significant bush skills. You won’t find better trackers and hunters”

Patalgarh was next. We had got to talk to the Moghiya families here but the conversation was of a slightly different nature. They had talked of their deities Dhudhu Mai, Salla Mai and Banki Mai and how they offered them goats on occasions. They extracted oil from wild pig fat to put to use in cooking. They seldom cooked for their guests but hand raw food over to them. They were not educated by reason of their nomadic lifestyle but wanted their children to be educated. However when their had children attended school they were harassed and often beaten up by children from higher castes. When children married the bride’s parents received dowry! According to them the social discrimination had continued even when they worked as daily labourers for they were given wages at rates lower than that of their higher caste counterparts!

Talks at Agraa and at other places had featured issues that I understand Moghiyas would not have communicated on. Moghiyas used muzzle loaders. Some of them were apt at making these and electricity poles could be put to use in the process. The ammunition primarily was potash, gunpowder and ball-bearings. Quantity and proportion of the ingredients varies depended on the intended kill. We were then able to procure all the ingredients easily at the Vijaypur market where potash cost Rs.20/- per 10 grams and gunpowder Rs. 150/- per kg. They would have license for one gun while actually possessing more than the licensed number. These are risky and many a times trigger off a blast that is fatal for the person handling the gun. They maintain camels which are also used to tow their kills. While a camel could carry a wild pig or a chital a Sambar would be a little too heavy for it. Sahariya men at times ask Moghiyas to accompany them for hunting. In return or making hunting easy them they would give Moghiyas a pre decided share of the kill. At times this could also take form of a Honkaro. Here 20 to 30 Sahariya men would accompany 1 or 2 Moghiyas on a hunt. The Moghiya would wait in a clearing ready to shoot while the Sahariya men would go shouting in the bushes and trees nearby such that wildlife would move in sheer surprise and fright to the clearing where the Moghiyas would be waiting. I was also told that since villages had shifted outside the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary Moghiyas had lost a ready market at the place of action and now found it relatively difficult to sell meat!

This series of conversations with Moghiyas presents a confusing picture to say the least and the road ahead is a challenge. A tribe that probably knows more natural history than many of us who read this has had its skill-sets rendered illegal (hunting) and redundant (crop–protection). At a time when Wildlife Conservation needs all friends and supporters it can get to stand on its feet to development, can we make it possible for Moghiyas and other such tribes to join us !

To close I share something I read today on similar lines by M D Madhusudan and Mahesh Rangarajan ‘Nature without borders – The Problem’ – Seminar : 2010 “Conservation in practice has to tie in with wider secular trends that combine ecological sanity with justice, a space for nature with one for livelihoods. There are working approaches with different and often more effective ways of drawing on knowledge and institutions, processes and practices to create more not less space for nature. But for that we need to think afresh and create anew!”

Civets and their traps in Saiha ...

2010-09-18T16:01:00.002+05:30

Going through the list of species we have sighted here my eyes stopped wandering on coming across civets.

I have come across the Small Indian Civet (Viverricula indica), Large Indian Civet (Viverra zibetha), Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and the Himalayan Palm Civet (Paguma larvata) during my meanderings in Saiha. The Large Indian Civet crossed the road in front of the Sumo I was travelling in, very near to the bridge at Kawlchaw, with a rat grasped firmly in its mouth (Mizoram was then under the spell of bamboo flowering - Mautam) while the Small Indian Civet did not have such a happy story. It had been caught few days before I came across it and that moment the skin was being stuffed!

With 4 of them possibly occuring here I thought of checking up the local names. Have been fortunate to have access to Reginald Lorrain's "Grammar and Dictionary of the Lakher or Mara Language" and began with it. Discovered an amazing 18 references to the Civets; pointing out to their presence and in all probability abundance in the landscape a hundred years ago when the author put in time here.

1. a-lei sa-to; the name of a species of civet cat (probably the toothed palm civet)

2. Hmei tai kha; a species of large ring tailed civet cat (Viverra migaspila)

3. Kei-la-chhu-pa; the name of an animal, probably a species of civet

4. Kho-thli; the name given to the smell left by the “sazao” (civet cat)

5. Lo-bu-pa; the name of an animal, probably a species of civet cat

6. Lo-paw-pa; the name of an animal, probably a species of civet cat, a species of mongoose

7. Paw-kia-sa-to; the name of an animal, a species of civet cat

8. Sa-haw; the name of an animal, the wild cat (Felis marmorata), a ring tailed civet cat

9. Sah-I; species of civet cat, same as sah-to also called sa-ma zu-pa

10. Sah-to; a species of civet cat, same as sah-i

11. Sah-zao; a species of large civet cat (Viverra migaspila)

12. Sa-ma-zu; the name of an animal, a species of civet cat

13. Sa-to; the name of an animal, a species of civet cat

14. Sa-zao; the name of an animal, probably the large civet cat (Viverra malaccensis)

15. Saw-hro-pi; the name of an animal, probably a species of tiger cat, a large civet cat (Viverra migaspila)

16. Vaw-ti-hrao-pa; the name of an animal, probably a ring tailed civet cat

17. Vaw-ti-lyu-pa; the name of an animal, probably a ring tailed civet cat

18. Zu-cha-hri; the name of an animal, the stoat, probably a species of civet cat

When I moved on to Zonunmawia and Pradhan's 'Mizoram and its Wildlife' that enlists wildlife species of the state in Mizo language I was a little surprised to see only the Small Indian Civet being listed. The local names for the species being Sazaw and Tlumpui.

A publication by the Environment and Forests department of the State, Mizoram Forest 2006, however enlists 4 species with their Mizo names.

1. Large Indian Civet - Tlumpui

2. Small Indian Civet - Tlumthe

3. Common Palm Civet - Sazaw / Zawhang

4. Himalayan Palm Civet - Sazaw / Zawbuang

I had read of the extensive traps and snares put to use during times gone by in the landscape and was surprised in no small measure to see some of them in vogue during a survey we undertook some time ago. This particular trap, I was told, while caught other wildlife was particularly 'used' for the civets. We saw more than 15 of them on the then dry river-beds. While most of them were non-baited I saw one with a crab tied to it. The idea was to crush the unlucky animal with sheer weight for which a heavy log may also be put to use. When we tried to see how it works with 2 of them I was advised to stand quite far and what little doubts remained in my mind on the weight vanished on hearing the sound when the bamboo sheet carrying the stones fell on the ground.

Reginald Lorrain in his '5 Years in Unknown Jungles' says of traps "Rainy season is great time of the year with the Lakhers for trapping wild animals" and of this one in particular " it greatly damages game smashing almost every bone in their body to splinters and bruising the flesh greatly". Colonel J Shakespear in his classic 'The Lushai Kuki Clans' writes "All the hill men are very fond of fresh meat and are clever at trapping game". N E Parry in his seminal work on the landscape 'The Lakhers' states "Traps are always set by men. It is ana (prohibited) for a woman to help a man set traps. When a man dies, all the traps he has used are destroyed, as it is unlucky to use a dead man's traps".

As I write I recall the rainbow of emotions that drenched me on coming across these traps; this in the middle of perhaps the most amazing forest I have been to, on the India - Myanmar border. Utter surprise at their existence in such numbers, the strong desire to destroy each of them at the earliest to save even one animal if I could and wondering if this was a dying art - a practice integral to the culture of this forlorn landscape, a culture that has preserved these forests !

they say she is smart ....

2010-09-13T20:12:00.003+05:30

the name is chika .....

is seen eating puris !

takes free rides on on city buses ...

is friendly with fruit vendors

i disagree

i say she is sad and wants to be home ...

Road Kills ...

2010-09-11T21:47:00.000+05:30

Some time back I drove our bike from Aizawl to Saiha. The distance of 344 kms was tiring to say the least but loved every moment including those at Hranchalkawn where we took an overnight halt. Monsoons had just hit the state, the way was beautiful to say the least. The fresh mode of travel, a departure from the usual sumo rides, allowed me to get a view from a different height - angle as also stop where I pleased.

We stopped at some road kills to take pictures and location and the sheer number we encountered surprised me in no small measure. I shared images with Janaki and Firoz and am extremely grateful to both of them for help with identification. I have been advised on certain aspects which unfortunately I have not followed - Taking more pictures of road kills being one : dorsal, ventral, close-up of tail (ventral) and close-up of head (ventral, dorsal, side).

I wonder on the extent of these mishaps that occur in Mizoram and neighbouring states and how we can decrease these kills as also on the amazing diversity of wildlife the shifting cultivation fields of varying ages harbour!

Sharing some images.

Banded Trinket Snake (Snake 1)

Zaws Wolf Snake (Snake 2)

The landscape - a mosaic of shifting cultivation fields

White barred kukri snake

Green Cat Snake

Coral Snake

Link to another post on a bike ride here

Questions on Conservation Education

2010-09-06T09:38:00.000+05:30

This post shares a recently drafted piece.

Conservation Education: Few Questions!

I work on Conservation Education at Saiha (Mizoram). Efforts are undertaken with school-going students (and their teachers), youth-associations, village councils, forest department personnel and our neighbours. Attempt is made to understand nuances associated with the process as also to encourage local youth (and others) to continue the efforts beyond the project in a fashion that appeals to them. This has led to an invigorating journey with intensive process-documentation and interactions with personnel at other conservation organizations in India as co-travellers. These efforts are in no way perfect nor do they suggest a road-map and the person who has benefitted the most from the program is undoubtedly me. Experiences ranging from abysmally stupid mistakes to moments of pleasant atonement have enriched me with confusions and questions, some of which I share in the lines below. I however believe that we have reached a point where we need to look beyond organizing one-off events or talk of tigers to children and bestow the time and efforts for conservation education that it more than deserves.

WWF defines environment education as “A life-long process that encourages exploring, raise questions, investigate issues and seek solutions to environmental and social problems.” One time talks, preaching on wildlife and laying our rules may not work; we need to be open and interactive. I look at conservation education as an opportunity to create platforms to deliberate on wildlife conservation issues (and facilitating such deliberations) with different segments of the society (forest department, ngos and researchers working on issues other than wildlife and many others) as opposed to imparting of messages. And also as a corollary to the wildlife-research and conservation action undertaken by many of us. Presentation by Romulus Whitaker at a recent conference in Karnataka referred to conservation as “10% science and 90% negotiation”. Is it this exploration, deliberation and negotiation that we talk of when we talk of conservation education?

I ponder at times on the need to bring conservation education to mainstream of the society we work with; the idea being to bring wildlife issues in day-to-day talks. This could tantamount (in Mizoram) to actions like carving out space and time for conservation education in annual-gatherings of youth-associations and contributing to Church-newsletters. The dilemma I am confronted with is that of wildlife-centric gathering themselves not willing to allocate additional (or is it due!) time for deliberations on conservation education. This when, in the few workshops on wildlife conservation that I have been fortunate to attend, I have come across co-attendees and organizers who conveyed (during presentations as also tea-time talks) that conservation education is vital to conserve the wildlife values that still exist on our lands. Is it worth our time to plan if (and how) we can utilize and build on the spaces available within existing practices and structures for conservation education?

Still on workshops; I was surprised in no small degrees when during a workshop in Rajasthan I saw reading-material that was shared with participants had print on only one side. I wondered if rather than talking of connections it made more sense to give message by way of our actions. The irony of our unwillingness to put in extra time and efforts to save resources (paper in this case) and then talk of say relocation at these events did strike me. I was reminded of a meeting we had at Navdarshanam where our hosts made it amply clear that at the venue they utilized electricity only to the extent that they could generate. This meant projector was out of bounds and I recall we did manage fine with laptop-computers. While some elements may be difficult to work on it may augur well to make a beginning, however small, with others. Can we can ask ourselves difficult (but pertinent) questions when we organize events?

I was once asked the benefits of playing games like “Web of life”; whether they helped raise knowledge or sensitivity levels in participants and how? I had no answer, pondered over it for some days and then conveniently forgot the matter. The issue resurfaced while talking with a close friend working in South Rajasthan some time ago. He said how tools (exercises, activities and games) with people he worked with on livelihood issues were passé and a dire need to sit together and talk with people had emerged; on account of more than one reason. Drawing parallel with conservation education I recalled Frits Hesselink. In his Communicating Nature Conservation: 10 frequently made mistakes he states “We often forget that the most powerful tool is a face to face communication”. I recalled some of the events where we had played such games and wondered (not very happily) on the impact (if any) they had had. Do we feel the need to question our actions?

Another aspect of conservation education that continues to surprise me is the lack of importance ascribed to communication. Conservation education I understand requires a level of dexterity in wildlife and communication. While considerable efforts are put in collating information on wildlife that can be disseminated and bringing out booklets-modules; there appears to be a dearth of understanding (and corresponding investment of efforts) on how best this information can be shared. Whether we need further information collation in this age of ‘information-overkill’ too is debatable. Do pace, language, simplicity, depth, familiarity with topic, brevity, local customs (and other aspects) figure in our deliberations to augment knowledge and interest levels on wildlife?

A wildlife biologist (highly respected for his work on elephants) once wrote to me saying it is easiest to work with children on conservation education for they do not have the options of saying no or walking away while a (very active) member on an internet based discussion-group stated that the easiest thing for ngos to do was to take up conservation education program on periphery of national parks. Guess we have some work to do before we can confidently say they are wrong!

Links.

Navdarshanam: http://www.navadarshanam.org/

WWF India: http://www.wwfindia.org/

Chakhang Images ..

2010-09-05T11:17:00.000+05:30

This post shares 2 images from Chakhang. I did try my hands at stiching here.

View from Mawma Tlang

Chakhang on an early morning.

Thanking MTP Chakhang for the wonderful trip to Mawma Tlang.

Saiha in the evening

2010-09-03T09:59:00.000+05:30

Images of sunset at Saiha ... spread across approximately 20 minutes .... taken some time ago ... from our home ....

If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God. ~ G K Chesterton

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever. ~ H Mann

Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once. ~ Marilyn V S

There is nothing more musical than a sunset. ~ Debussy C

A happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset. ~ Landers A

Abstract Submitted

2010-08-31T10:59:00.000+05:30

This post shares an abstract submitted some time ago and that did not get selected ~

Saiha in Mizoram lies within the biodiversity hotspot of northeast India. Some of the best rainforest of northeast India is found in southern Mizoram, covering parts of the districts of Lawngtlai and Saiha (Choudhury 2006). This contiguous forest, primarily community owned, also houses the Palak Lake an ‘Important Bird Area’ and the ‘Blue Mountain National Park’.

Primary threat to wildlife, in this landscape that they cohabit with community, is removal from their habitat. Hunting which is culturally sanctioned and widely practiced impacts wildlife in a negative fashion while select myths and beliefs that exist in the society further exacerbate pressure on wildlife.

Conservation education for a variety of stakeholders is pivotal to achieving wildlife conservation. To make education, worthwhile interesting and effective, it needs to be open yet focused; structured yet flexible; thematic yet spontaneous and directional yet participatory (Trivedi et al. 2006). Emphasis is laid in designing locale specific content that is sensitive to local cultural values and mores. Innovative tools such as film screenings (on laptop computers followed by interaction sessions in these remotely located villages bereft of electricity) and perception surveys (by participants) focusing on select species are undertaken. Regular interactions on wildlife augment sensitivity and awareness levels of community members on wildlife values and lay the crucial platform for ensuring their participation and raising their stakes.

Clouded leopard and Small felids

2010-08-25T11:59:00.002+05:30

Some time back I was requested to share information for a workshop on Clouded Leopards and Small felids. The 2 landscapes of South Garo Hills (Meghalaya) and Saiha (Mizoram) that I have been fortunate to have put in time have been in the rain-shadow of wildlife research and I thought it pertinent to share what little information we had.

While we had collated local names of wildlife occuring in both these landscapes with help of colleagues and secondary literature we also had undertaken a 'questionnaire survey' at Meghalaya. This putting relevant information together for sharing for the workshop gave me an opportunity to relive some of the moments of the questionnaire survey as also feel glad at the collation of local names. At Meghalaya these were in Garo and / or Atong while at Mizoram these were in Mizo and / or Mara.

Each time I come across such details (and this happens regularly) I wonder at the stupidity of the term 'north east India'; working in a few hundred sq. kms. in just 2 states when there is so much diversity, richness and goodness in people how can one even think of coining a single term for 8 states!

Take the space to share some of the details I then collated and sent across.

Local Names.


Sr.	English	Mizoram	Meghalaya
1.	Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa	Kelral	Matcha do.tok
2.	Marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata	Pawak	Matcha bloga
3.	Golden cat Catopuma. temminckii	Keisen	~
4.	Jungle cat Felis chaus	Sauak	Buijare
5.	Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis	Sanghar	Matcha helguk
6.	Fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus	Keite chi khat	~

Responses (from the questionnaire at Meghalaya).

If / how they are in conflict with humans.


Sr.	Mammal	Damage to Crops	Damage to Livestock
1.	Clouded Leopard	~	Yes
2.	Marbled cat	~	Yes
3.	Golden cat	~	~
4.	Jungle cat	~	Yes
5.	Leopard cat	Yes	Yes
6.	Fishing cat	~	Yes

If / how humans respond.


Sr	Methods	Leopard Cat	Marbled Cat	Jungle Cat.
1.	Catapult	Yes	Yes	Yes
2.	Shouting	Yes	~	Yes
3.	Domestic dogs	~	~	Yes
4.	Throwing stones	Yes	~	Yes
5.	Rope traps	~	~	Yes
6.	Metal traps	Yes	~	Yes
7.	Bamboo fencing	~	~	Yes
8.	Shooting with guns	Yes	~	Yes

Recent Publications

2010-08-25T09:54:00.000+05:30

Happy to share of previous posts that have found space in recent issues of 2 publications.

The first is Indian Birds where editor (Aasheesh Pittie) has shared the post in the Correspondence section. Seeing the pictures of our young friends on the last page did make us very happy and we warmly thank Aasheesh for this. Compliments from friends have been an icing on the cake. The post can be read here.

The other is Kiltheihrawk. This is a publication from Aizawl (Mizoram) that while primarily publishes articles in Mizo also allows space for some one like me to share my experiences in English. I believe it is pertinent to share of our actions and learning with friends in the region and thank the editor Pu Lalmuansanga for the same. The post can be read here.

Thanks.

Kuno Wilderness ...

2010-08-07T20:52:00.005+05:30

Sharing images from Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in this post, of course besides those concerning the fortress. Got an opportunity to visit the Sanctuary for few hours, during recent trip to our base at Agraa, and loved the experience. Hope the images convey some 'feel' of the landscape.

Had been to Ranthambhore National Park prior to Agraa and my pondering mind inevitably drew lines of comparison. With due respects to Ranthambhore, its tigers and others the Kuno wilderness does make Ranthambhore, well at-least the tourism zone, appear a zoo in comparison. At Kuno the species that tells one to stick on alloted paths, give way for others to see tigers and also honks or screams at times does not occur; one is with the wilderness.

View from the Forest Guest House. The weather station at the Guest House had shown the temperature crossing 50 degrees a couple of weeks before and water in Kuno river was at its ebb.

The view of Tongra, highest peak in the Sanctuary and one of the few places that, as I have been told, once can still expect to bump into bears. One of the findings of our survey concerning Moghiyas, undertaken in the landscape, was that they respected bears and as a corollary did not hunt them. Bear is a vehicle for one of their deity - Dhudhu Mai.

The majestic grasslands of Kuno. A recent report 'Accessing the potential for re-introducing the Cheetah in India' by WII and WTI says of these grasslands - 'Village sites inside the Sanctuary have now been taken over by grasses and scrub, forming a savannah-type grassland habitat'. The report rates Kuno as 2nd most favourable location for Cheetah re introduction.

We came across this carcass of Nilgai on our way back from Ker Kho; almost on the jeep road ! For some reason, few years ago, a Nilgai was captured from Bhind and released in the Sanctuary after being radio-collared !

A mixed-flock benefits from leakage in the water pipe. During one of my earlier visits the ACF had talked of a 8 km long pipe.

We came across the carnivores as well ! Besides these wolves we saw a fox a day later. This when we were driving from Agraa to Gwalior. One of the most beautiful sights I have experienced in this landscape was that of a fox walking out of the Pipal Baori gate of the Sanctuary; it's royal tail looking all the more stunning in the backdrop of an angry sun coming down on the Vindhyan Hills.

Cattle Egrets were present in large numbers on the river banks and Indian Pond Herons sat one after another leaving almost uniform gap between themselves, albeit across the river. Chital and peacock too were present in significant numbers on the river bed.

Thanking Naresh for taking me around.

Conservation Leadership Course ~ Talk.

2010-08-04T13:17:00.000+05:30

This post shares of my talk at the Conservation Leadership Course.

Had put in time on the talk before I moved from Saiha and made notes (love putting pencil on thick paper that the magazine covers offer) to which I kept on adding points in course of my travel.

Points I had noted for sharing before reaching Ranthambhore.

· Our understanding of and approach to conservation education. The need to create platforms that enable us to deliberate with different segments of the society on wildlife issues i.e. look beyond school-going children and imparting messages.

· Share anecdotes; talk of incidents in course of the program that guide us on the road ahead.

· Discuss our activities in conservation education especially film-screenings, emphasis on process-documentation and sharing.

· Share of life in our parts of the world.

· Talk on how other organizations active in India look at conservation education and actions they undertake.

· Ask participants for their understanding of conservation education and share few definitions with them.

While I was aware of the program schedule and the time I had thought it made sense to freeze the contents after a talk with Dharmendra, at least a day before the program. I also would have some idea on the participants’ profile. What little baggage I carried of apprehension, on the topic, was unloaded after my talks with Dharmendra.

Points discussed with Dharmendra.

· Share the experience of initiating and nurturing field-units including problems faced in course of interventions. He stressed on this saying it was not very common and would be interest to the group.

· Talk of experience and learning in context of conservation education as opposed to how once can develop material. Jisko theory hi padhna hoga woh net pe doondh lega he said.

· Structure the talk such that it is of relevance to participants who want to work on wildlife conservation issues.

There was a high degree of commonality which put me at ease and I worked on the slides. I attended the program as a part of the group and also got to interact with participants which helped me bring in a few modifications. I recalled how my packing is incomplete till I actually leave the house; no matter how early I begin. Modifications continued till the talk came to an end.

During the talk.

· Bifurcated the time allotted to me with a break and planned accordingly.

· Had a dilemma on the language I should use which was resolved by a participant requesting me to talk in English during the first slide itself.

· Screened a film by Kalyan Varma – ‘A Hunter’s Tale’ in lieu of my plan to ask participants to share what they understood by ‘conservation education’. The film was not screened, as we do with participants in course of our programs, with field guides, halts and interactions but I stood silent in a corner, looking at the silent reactions on the participants’ faces.

· Asked a participant (Smita from FES – Mandla Unit) to talk of her experience with conservation education.

· Missed a couple of points to share in course of answering the questions mid-way but was happy that the questions were put forth.

· Tried to make it interactive by asking of pictures - what they depicted. Had asked Yaranjit (colleague from Baghmara field base) not to reply to this set of questions and also requested him to keep track of proceedings in course of the 2 sessions.

· Designed separate presentations for distinct topics of ‘Samrakshan and conservation education’, ‘Conservation education by other organizations’ and ‘Conservation education – definitions’. This I thought would help communicate in a better fashion.

Importantly, felt good after the sessions.

Images depict select slides from the presentations.

Thanking all the participants and Ranthambhore Safari Lodge.

Conservation Leadership Course - 2010 -

2010-08-01T16:39:00.002+05:30

I looked at the details of program for the Conservation Leadership Course - 2010 organized by Tiger Watch. Actions in course of the program included talks on anti-poaching by Dharmendra Khandal who has done pioneering work on the concern in the landscape, Media’s role and new trends in conservation by Jay Mazoomdar who is well-known as the person who unmasked Sariska, Community and conservation by Dr. Govardhan Rathore and of course visits to Ranthambhore National Park and Banas River. I too was to share my learning and experience on conservation education.

A month later as I reached Ranthambhore for the program I was happy to have some time to get acclimatized to the crazy heat that the place offered, prior to the program. Conservation education has had me enthused since past few years and was I glad to get the space to interact on the subject in a different setting.

The program began with presentations on Tiger Watch and Gharial Exploration recently undertaken by Tiger Watch. I found them to be nicely done. I realized that despite it's glamour, press-coverage, proximity to New Delhi and (well!!) bearing tigers there apparently aren’t wildlife groups having a sustained presence at Ranthambhore National Park and how Kaila Devi Wildlife Sanctuary despite being a part of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve and boasting of an expanse larger than that of the Ranthambhore National Park is treated like a poor cousin. Gharial exploration gave me more insights into the Chambal that for me is the most beautiful river I have laid my sights on and which I see from the train near Dholpur. The simplicity of the exploration was appealing as were the energy levels. Giving them space and allowing them to function on their own was nice to see on Dharmendra’s part. My mind wandered on to the discussions we have had at our field-bases on volunteers. Participants, nearly half of them from Bangalore, and hailing from diverse backgrounds had a series of questions ranging from whether Muggers (Crocodylus palustris) would sustain the ecosystem if we lost Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) to why the government was not taking interest on the issue.

Dharmendra talked of his efforts on anti-poaching in and around the landscape focussing on the Moghiyas. It was nice to see ‘direct-talk’ on the subject, sharing of incidents that he had been a part of as also interacting with a couple of Moghiyas present at the venue We saw the film on Moghias that depicted these efforts. The strength I understand lay in the intensity of his efforts at a single landscape over a stretch of time. I was fondly reminded of my days roaming in the forests of Sheopur (undertaking research on Moghiyas) and asked myself whether I wanted to take the program ahead on my own ~ some day !

Jay too interacted with participants, often throwing questions like ‘why do we need tigers?’. We discussed the situation in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve as also the proposal then in news to discontinue tourism in Core Areas. This point got us to the question whether it was fair to relocate people in the name of tiger and then set up tourism related infrastructure as also whether curbing tourism in certain well known tiger bearing protected areas would benefit national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that currently espouse a low profile. We also saw his film on leopard relocation and I loved the sequence that depicts 2 captured leopards interacting!

On my part I talked of Conservation Education (as I understand it currently) and work on it, the scenario in Mizoram, actions undertaken by different organization and also screened a film that talked of hunting. How we began function in a landscape and also the way things worked (or didn’t) in Mizoram – Meghalaya were discussed.

We went to the villages where Prakratik Society has put in efforts with people staying on the periphery of the Ranthambhore National Park. This includes a hospital and a gobar-gas plat. Dr. Govardhan Rathore also came and showed collated clippings from several films. These focussed on the national park movement in USA, the birth of Yellowstone National Park, the political will to save the wilderness that was looked upon as national wealth, disappearance of the bison and more. I have seen quite a few films on wildlife but this session was amazing and enlightening.

We also had a cultural program by the Moghiyas where they sang and danced including to a song of theirs that had been recently remixed. An award function that felicitated ‘Heroes of Ranthambhore’ and ‘Ex Poachers’ was organized as was a musical evening. There was a dinner on the banks of Banas river and I loved walking along the moonlit river after a delicious dal-bati-churma meal. Icing on the cake was our sighting the Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena) on way back. Visits to the Ranthambhore National Park i.e. the safaris too were fun and had us all enthused. I saw tiger (Panthera tigris) in the wild finally and amongst the other species Rudy Mongoose (Herpestes smithii), Painted Spurfowl (Galloperdix lunulata)and Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradise) had me excited.

Facilitating a deliberation on conservation I believe is of a greater utility than stating of wildlife related facts and the interaction sessions as also informal demeanour of the course stand our as its were the strengths. It was invigorating to interact with participants, get to know of their diverse perspectives on wildlife conservation and of course their knowledge and interest levels. At times one tends to get confined to limited circle a la ‘frog in a well’ and these gatherings act as a welcome change besides of course presenting an opportunity to learn more on wildlife and conservation education.

Thanking Tiger Watch, Dharmendra and all participants.

All the images are from the 2 trips inside the Ranthambhore National Park by way of morning safaris.

Trip to Agraa ~ Fortress in Kuno Wls

2010-07-31T17:59:00.000+05:30

During this trip I was fortunate to make an enthusiastic albeit hurried visit to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary. While Dharmendra (Khandal) had sort of induced me to take up the trip, could regretfully not ask him to join, this being decided at the last moment on the penultimate date of my stay at Agraa. Naresh was to accompany me and I recalled visiting the place with Aniruddha (Mookerjee) few years ago whom I remembered being fascinated by the ruins comparing them to Hampi.

Beautiful entrance to the Palpur fortress. Palpur, the village that houses the fortress, is one of the villages relocated near Agraa (Sheopur district). Wild growth seems to be challenging the grandeur of the structure after having won the tussle with it's lesser counterparts in the relocated villages.

Close-up view of the fort door. Did those who attacked the fortress take help of elephants? I recalled reading of the Moghul army, during Emperor Akbar's time, sourcing their elephants from around what today is Madhav National Park (Shivpuri district) and wondered how long it was before elephants graced the forests around Kuno - Kuwari rivers with their walks ~

Section occupied by the 'protection force' of the fortress. Even Paira (neighbouring village) used to have machan like structures to guard against possible raids by dacoits. There were peepholes in these thick walls for guns and also remains of a structure that I thought would have been a home to horses.

This Naresh said was the point where the ruler (of the fortress) would sit and shoot wildlife, primarily water-birds. We saw a hook in this 'balcony' from where a seat would have hung in the time gone by; presenting a majestic view of the Kuno river and surrounding forests.

Bats came out to greet us as we stepped inside the rooms, not in thousands as they did during my visit to the Siju caves in Garo Hills, but the few that did were enough to startle me. While I could not manage to identify the bats I recalled my visit to the Gwalior fort. That too is a sanctuary for them !

View from across the river ~ simply love this.

Agraa Trip - A Wonderful Meal

2010-07-01T12:20:00.000+05:30

I had a lovely meal during my recent trip to Agraa, with colleagues and friends. After a long wait was enjoying this meal where the process of cooking is as much, if not more, joyous as partaking the food itself. Meal, for me here, consists of not only the food but also the location and people giving company.

The cheerful mood was amplified by the first rains of the season. Mobile phones went busy informing ones dear in villages near of the boisterous advent. I got wondering how differently rains were looked upon in Saiha and recalled a conversation with Manuna where he told me (seeing my love for walking in rains) he was tired of rains and clouds for unlike me had been seeing them since he was born. Rains had us shift from our original plans of having dal, bati and churma (ladu) and we replaced bati with the less effort driven but comparably delicious tikkad.

Roshan began the action with the process of churma. He was insistent on covering himself while working and held on to his umbrella as well! One of us, part of the 'sub-group' working on tikkad, got dough ready. Other put it in shape and passed it on for cooking to the person sitting adjacent to the chula while the last in line applied ghee prior to stacking them neatly on 2 plates. Two 'honest' appointees kept track that the dry fruits (kaju - kismis) were not siphoned off while they were being readied to be mixed with churma in its penultimate stage.

Dal was to be cooked in the kitchen. Ummed had agreed to the idea after initially displaying signs of reluctance to allow usage of his gas cylinder which he feared would be half empty by the time we were done ! Premium attached to these cylinders is a commonality between Agraa and Saiha : Agraa we had to go 22 kms to Vijaypur to fetch one while in Saiha we got one for 750/-! No wonder people use firewood. Dayakishen our 'dal-specialist' had not turned up but others had 'inputs' all ready for him. When I caught up with him, a while later, he said he only guided colleagues now and did not make it himself ~ ab main senior ho gaya hoon ~

The process went for about 3 hours during which I enjoyed chatting with all those around, on Saiha - Agraa and more.