The Vanishing Act - WWF-India

W W F-India NewsletterPanda 

The 

Vanishing 

Act 

Disappearing Tigers 

in India 

Ernst Mayr 

Evolutionary 

Biologist 

Passes Away 

March 2005 

Post-tsunami 

Andaman and 

Nicobar Islands

From the 

CEO’s Desk 

Dear Friends, 

Grave concerns on the status of the tiger in India have been 

raised since reports on the disappearance of tigers from Sariska 

emerged in the press. Concerns are continuing to grow, given 

intermittent news of poaching, capture of animal skins and 

reports of trade in animal parts. Integrated in these concerns 

expressed by conservationists, children, media, senior citizens 

and industry groups of the country, is the tiger and its enduring 

image, embedded in India’s tradition and folklore. Whilst 

India takes on an increasingly significant role in the global 

scenario, the bedrock for our future relies on our actions of 

today: our history will relate to our present actions and our 

nation-building will connect to the way we conserve our 

national animal and its habitat. 

India has risen to several challenges in its modern day existence; 

the challenge that confronts the survival of our wildlife is, 

at this juncture, just short of critical. The pressures of economic 

progress have gradually reduced conservation issues to the 

lowest degree; wildlife cannot for long face the pressures 

inflicted on it. Protection, an imperative factor in conservation, 

is falling short in implementation. The need for foresightedness 

and long term planning remains underemphasized. 

The current crisis – that facing the tiger as well our fauna - 

in several regions of the country requires deep introspection. 

Whilst crisis-led action may prevent in the short term the 

‘Sariskarization’ of other reserves of the country, only profound 

changes in our will to succeed will lead to long term and 

positive change. Two other factors need to be stated: that 

constructive action can lead to recovery and that recovery is 

possible, even from the present low levels of the status of 

our habitats. 

On this long and tough road, we will need your support and 

suggestions. The Board of Trustees of WWF-India, being 

deeply concerned about recent reports of declining tiger 

numbers and habitat degradation, has adopted a specific 

resolution in support of the fauna of the country, particularly 

the tiger and its habitat, which gives focus and direction to 

our work. Support us in our efforts. 

Ravi Singh 

Secretary General & CEO 

WWF-India 

In this Issue 

of Panda: 

Editor: Ravi Singh 

Editorial board: Sudipto Chatterjee, 

Parikshit Gautam, Lima Rosalind, P.K. Sen, 

Ranjit Talwar, 

Consulting Editor: Sikha Ghosh 

Published by: 


172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003 

Tel: + 91 - 11 - 5150-4815/16 

Website: www.wwfindia.org 

E-mail: communications@wwfindia.net 

A WWF-India publication for members. 

Responsibility for views/opinions expressed 

lies with the author(s). 

1 

3 

7 

9 

14 

16 

18 

21 

‘Billy’ Arjan Singh 

The Vanishing Act 

5 Water Conservation 

in Kanha-Achanakmar 

Corridor 

Bharatpur 

Kids' Zone 

13 Coral Reef 

17 

Watchdog of Our Waters 

Setting Milestones and 

Meeting Challenges 

Ernst Mayr 

Andaman and Nicobar 

Islands 

20 International Conference 

on Education for a 

Sustainable Future 

20 10th Kailash Sankhala 

Memorial Lecture 

From the Library and 

Documentation Centre 

WWF - India Mission: 

“The promotion of 

nature conservation 

and environmental 

protection as the basis 

for sustainable and 

equitable development.” 

Cover photograph: 

2 year old Tigress in Kanha 

National Park 

Neel Gogate / WWF-India


Conferred Coveted Getty Conservation Award at Dudhwa 

A 

festive mood descended on the world 

famous Dudhwa National Park situated 

in the Terai Arc in the north Indian state 

of Uttar Pradesh. It reverberated with rounds of 

applause, as one of its denizens, the veteran tiger 

conservator in India, 87-year-old ‘Billy’ Arjan 

Singh was awarded the coveted 28th J. Paul Getty 

Wildlife Conservation Prize in a gala but solemn 

ceremony on 4 February 2005 organized by 

WWF-India. 

The award citation and cash prize of fifty thousand 

US dollars was presented to ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh 

by Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of 

WWF-India. The award has been conferred on 

him in ‘recognition of his outstanding 

contributions to the protection of tigers and the 

Dudhwa reserve’. The citation notes that his 

‘passion and tireless devotion to tiger 

conservation have inspired many’ . 

The ceremony was attended by top state 

government forest officials, conservationists and 

wildlife enthusiasts. Prominent among them were 

K. Prasad, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests 

(UP), Pavan Kumar, Special Secretary Forests, 

G.C. Mishra, Ex-Field Director and P.K. Sen 

(Director, Tiger and Wildlife, WWF-India). 

V.V. Sundar / WWF-India 

Ravi Singh, SG and CEO of WWF-India with ‘Billy’. 

In his welcome address Mr Ravi Singh praised 

‘Billy’s’ relentless efforts and pioneering initiatives 

in conservation. He said, ‘ “Billy” is a shining 

example of individual effort towards lasting 

conservation initiative in India. Dudhwa Tiger 

Reserve stands testimony to his abiding love, 

diligence and dedication towards wildlife and 

habitat conservation.’ 

Noting ‘Billy’s’ unending resolve to fight against 

all odds for creating a safe heaven for tigers in 

India, Mr Singh said, ‘His selfless devotion for 

conservation cause is why today we have a 

teeming Dudhwa Tiger reserve, the fulcrum of 

the Terai Arc inhabited by significant number of 

animal and plant species. His works will continue 

to inspire the coming generations.’ He added 

that, ‘If Dudhwa has the potential of being one 

of India’s finest tiger reserves today, the credit 

for recognizing its potential must go entirely to 

“Billy” Arjan Singh.’ 

Mr Ravi Singh took the gathering by surprise 

when he announced that a typewriter was being 

gifted to ‘Billy’ in the hope that he would continue 

to write and publish and inspire many a generation 

Panda 

March 2005 


‘Billy’ with the J. Paul Getty 

Wildlife Conservation Award. 

1


Panda 

March 2005 

“Billy” Arjan Singh 

17th WWF Asia 

Pacific Sub-Committee 

Meeting 

The WWF network holds annual 

sub-committee meetings in each of 

the global regions to review 

progress, share information and 

discuss major programmes and 

priorities. This year the Asia Pacific 

meeting was held in Manesar in 

Haryana from 1 to 3 March 2005. 

The meeting was attended by 

fifty-two participants from twentyfour 

countries. 

Launching off from WWF’s latest 

Living Planet Report it took a close 

look at the two countries that are 

major players in this region—India 

and China. Both countries are 

predicted to make huge advances 

in their economy and development. 

It was therefore very important to 

see what kind of environmental 

impacts they will have both 

internally and on the region, (i.e. 

their environmental ‘footprint’) and 

what steps could be taken to ensure 

sustainable development and the 

effective use of natural resources. 

The meeting also looked at issues 

of climate change, forest resource 

use, fisheries, wildlife trade and 

human-wildlife conflict. Humanwildlife 

conflict has in recent years 

become a growing challenge to 

conservation and WWF India made 

a presentation on this issue based 

on the work being carried out in the 

Continued on page 3 

2 

of readers with his engaging first hand account 

of wildlife. 

Amidst rousing applause and standing ovation, 

‘Billy’ Arjan Singh rose to deliver his acceptance 

speech. ‘Billy’ thanked WWF for conferring the 

award on him and quickly turned 

the spotlight, predictably, to 

highlight the gloomy future for 

tiger population elsewhere in the 

country. He remarked, ‘Tigers 

are safe only if, the forests are 

protected, conservation of 

wildlife is not possible unless all 

players join hands together.’ 

Drawing a parallel ‘Billy’ said, 

‘Like UN is an organization 

protecting world peace and 

harmony, WWF is working 

towards conserving wildlife 

and maintaining the delicate ecological 

balance.’ He congratulated WWF for its 

leadership role in conservation efforts in 

the country. 

Mr P.K.Sen, Director,Tiger and Wildlife 

Programme,WWF-India reminiscing on his long 

association with ‘Billy’ Arjan Singh said, ‘He 

was a man who was never afraid of calling a 

spade a spade and remained true to his passion 

for wildlife conservation.’ He also expressed his 

gratitude to the residents of Dudhwa for 

attending the function in large numbers. 

K. Prasad, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests 

(UP) said that the prestigious award was not only 

a great honour for the people of Uttar Pradesh 

but also for the whole country. He said ‘Billy’ 

will continue to have an immense influence on 

a whole generation. 

Pavan Kumar, Special Secretary Forests termed 

‘Billy’ as a living legend and briefly chronicled 

various facets of his life. 

The forty-five minute long award ceremony was 

marked by an overflow of emotions. Friends, 

close associates and residents of Dudhwa came 

on to the stage and shared their personal anecdotes 

with the legendary figure and paid tribute to his 

undaunted spirit and devotion towards tiger 

conservation efforts. The event generated 

considerable media attention, with both local and 

national press and television channels devoting 

considerable space and time in covering the event. 

Hunter turned conservationist ‘Billy’ is considered 

the ‘godfather’ of the movement to save the Indian 

tiger. In more ways than one ‘Billy’ was way 

ahead of his times and his contemporaries. 

V.V.Sundar / vsundar@wwfindia.net 


in WWF-India, Delhi 

In a quiet little ceremony on 4 March, ‘Billy’ 

Arjan Singh was feted for his outstanding 

work in tiger conservation. The ceremony was 

held in WWF’s Pirojsha Godrej auditorium 

which was packed with friends, admirers and 

fellow conservationists. The day before that 

‘Billy’ was given a standing ovation by the 

participants at the Asia Pacific Sub-committee 

Meeting at Manesar (Haryana). 

‘Billy’ gave a passionate speech. Always a 

spokesperson for the dumb creatures, he said 

conservation had to be a global cooperative 

effort. There was no point protecting the tiger 

here when there was a huge market for its 

bones and claws in China and for its skin in 

the western countries. The tiger belongs not 

just to us but the world. The tiger has to be 

saved not because of his beauty and power 

but because he is necessary for our own 

survival. Saving the tiger means saving his 

home, the forests, which are equally vital for 

human life to continue. 

Members from the audience spoke. Chris Hales, 

Programme Director of WWF-International 

said that ‘Billy’s’ message had simplicity and 

strength. Valmik Thapar said the ‘Billy’ Arjan 

Singh’s vision of conservation way back in 

the ‘60s still remains the blue print of how 

the Forest Department should be run. 

Divyabhanusinh Chavda hailed him as a 

beacon for all conservationists and for 

generations of conservationists to come. 

Nine policemen were also felicitated at the 

same ceremony (for their devotion to 

conservation a la police) for making large 

hauls in animal parts and skin. Assistant 

Commissioner of Police Mr Bhatnagar was 

presented with the WWF shield and received 

the certificates on behalf of the policemen. 

Sikha Ghosh / sghosh@wwfindia.net 

V.V. Sundar / WWF-India


Disappearing Tigers in India 

M 

an, the most destructive of all predators 

has driven three of the total eight subspecies 

of the tiger to extinction in the last 

sixty years. The Bali, Javan and Caspian 

sub-species have been lost forever. Tragically, 

the remaining five are also gravely threatened 

and run the risk of meeting the same fate in the 

near foreseeable future. 

According to official figures, India still holds 

about fifty-five per cent of the world’s tiger 

population. This fact, rather than being an asset 

is proving to be a liability. Most illegal traders 

of tiger parts now look at India as the richest 

repository for meeting their needs and their 

clandestine procurement machinery network is 

now widespread in our country. Our tiger rich areas 

have been under attack since the late 1980s and 

our enforcement machinery and political priorities 

have failed to decisively counter this threat. 

The first tiger crisis in India surfaced around the 

late 1960s. This was perhaps the only point of 

time in the tiger’s recent history in our country 

that poaching was not a major contributory factor 

to the crisis. Instead, loss of habitat along with 

over exploitation for ‘sport hunting’, were at that 

time identified as the main contributory factors. 

These were forcefully countered by the strong 

willed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi through the 

imposition of a complete ban on tiger hunting 

(1970), promulgation of the Wildlife (Protection) 

Act (1972) and the launch of Project Tiger (1973). 

The next decade or so saw development of Project 

Tiger into a strong programme that was hailed 

by the world as one of the most successful efforts 

ever. By 1983 the coverage of Project Tiger had 

been increased from the original nine Reserves 

(1973) to fifteen Reserves and tiger numbers in 

most of these areas were showing distinct 

increases. As long as Mrs Gandhi was in office, 

her personal commitment and interest overcame 

the tendency to dither by the states. A classic 

example was the creation of the Dudhwa Tiger 

Reserve. Dudhwa, one of the finest tiger areas 

in the terai today came into being due to the 

imposition of Mrs Gandhi’s will on a reluctant 

Uttar Pradesh Government. No Prime Minister 

after her, besides her son Rajiv Gandhi, had shared 

her interest in wildlife. Unfortunately, by the time 

he became the Prime Minister, the Congress party 

had been considerably weakened because of which 

he lacked the political strength that had often 

enabled his mother to ‘steam-roll’ any political 

impediments that came in her way. 

However, it is a fact that even before the death 

of Mrs Gandhi in 1984, the Project had started 

degenerating to a numbers game. With the 

intention of pleasing Mrs Gandhi, wildlife 

managers started inflating numbers. This tendency 

became rampant after her death. With Mrs Gandhi 

gone, the driving force and the political backing 

Neel Gogate / WWF-India 

Panda 

March 2005 

17th WWF Asia Pacific 

Sub-Committee Meeting 

Continued from page 2 

North Bank Landscape. There 

was discussion on the need for a 

regional human-wildlife 

mitigation programme. 

Also discussed was the private 

sector which is now emerging as a 

new and important partner of 

WWF. A need was felt to increase 

awareness on the concept of 

Corporate Social Responsibility 

(CSR). Already much progress 

has been made in this area and 

WWF is working with the private 

sector in areas of tourism, power 

and fisheries. 

WWF’s post-tsunami issues were 

discussed and the countries involved 

in this (India, Indonesia, Thailand 

and Malaysia) gave an overview of 

the situation. There was discussion 

on how the network could support 

the efforts of these countries in terms 

of environmental and livelihood 

issues following the tsunami. The 

capacity needs of the WWF in the 

region, and new skills needed to 

work with the growing economies 

of the region were discussed as well. 

Conservation achievements, ‘big 

wins’, and plans on how to build 

on these to deliver more effectively 

were shared with all. 

After the three-day meeting 

participants visited Keoladeo 

National Park, Narora (where WWF 

India has an ongoing programme 

on dolphin conservation) and the 

Corbett Tiger Reserve which is also 

an area covered by WWF India’s 

Terai Arc Landscape Programme. 

Sikha Ghosh / 

sghosh@wwfindia.net 

3

WWF Intl. / Indian Government Press 

Panda 

March 2005 


WWF-Canon / Claire DOOLE 

Resting in the shade. 

Kanha National Park. 

for the Project were lost and the downward slide 

became more pronounced. Managers vied with 

each other to claim successes that were absurd 

and sometimes even beyond the realms of 

biological possibility. Most of the gains in tiger 

numbers claimed by states and ratified by Project 

Tiger on behalf of the Central Government in the 

1980s and early 1990s were deliberately 

exaggerated. Yet this projection was permitted 

by the entire hierarchy as a collective conspiracy 

to claim non-existent successes. The government 

took shelter behind the fact that no other agency 

had the capacity to count the tigers and therefore 

could not contest their bluff. 

The new millennium has so far proved to be quite 

disastrous for the tiger. Many of the well known 

areas have lost most of their tigers. Prominent 

among these are Indravati, Nagarjunasagar- 

Srisailam, Palamau, Manas, Namdapha and very 

recently Sariska in Rajasthan has joined this 

group. But there is a glaring difference between 

the extinctions in Sariska and the loss of tigers 

in all the other areas. While Nagarjunasagar- 

Srisailam, Indravati, Manas, Namdapha and 

Palamau have been facing serious insurgency for 

over a decade and are no longer under the full 

control of the forest department, Sariska faced 

no such problem. Yet in a matter of 6-8 months 

all its tiger population was eliminated and till 

this fact was pointed out by outside agencies, the 

Park’s management had remained blissfully 

unaware of the happenings. Sariska is probably 

one example where continuous exaggerated 

reporting of tiger numbers created a huge gap 

between fact and fiction. When all the factually 

existing tigers were killed, those existing only 

on paper had to ‘die’ too. Suddenly Sariska found 

itself without a single of the claimed 18-22 tigers. 

In all probability, the number of tigers that were 

actually poached was only a fraction of the 

claimed population. 

What should be of serious concern to all is that 

rampant exaggerated reporting of tiger numbers 

throughout the country over the last two decades 

has created a situation wherein by now there is 

probably not even a remote semblance of truth 

in what is being claimed. This has created a 

Sariska-like situation in many of our Parks. If 

this is not recognized and addressed immediately, 

more Parks could go Sariska’s way very soon. 

While Sariska has already toppled, many are still 

living on a knife’s edge and could topple either 

way any time. 

The 1990s saw a second tiger crisis which has The recent measures announced by the Prime 

continued with varying intensity ever since. This Minister during the last meeting of the National 

crisis was brought about and is being driven by Board of Wildlife demonstrate a welcome interest 

an illegal trade in tiger parts. Within the first few at the highest political level. If past events are 

years of its emergence, most of the modest gains any indication of what is to be expected, it will 

made in the first twenty years of Project Tiger be interesting to see how most of these will be 

had been lost. But the reporting of tiger numbers diluted by the bureaucracy in Delhi. Reasons for 

has not kept pace with this reality. Had we ignoring the rest will be found at the state level. 

not been dealing with the future of one of the After all, Forests and Wildlife are concurrent 

Mrs Indira Gandhi, Prime most charismatic animals of the world, the Indian subjects! Aren’t they? 

Minister of India, with tiger 

cub on her fiftieeth birthday. 

Government’s claim of still holding over 

3500 tigers would be a fine example of a 

4 comical fantasy! 

Ranjit Talwar / rtalwar@wwfindia.net


Water Conservation in 

Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor 

Helping People to Help the Tiger 

ater has been a perennial source of 

heartache in Achanakmar Wildlife 

W Sanctuary and its adjoining areas. The 

whole area comes under the Kanha-Achanakmar 

corridor, one of the priority areas of WWF- 

India’s Satpuda-Maikal Landscape for tiger 

conservation. This is an arid area where water 

sources are to be mostly found inside the 

sanctuary and the adjoining areas. People and 

livestock flock here resulting in large-scale 

destruction of the forests and impacting adversely 

the wildlife there. To save the tiger in this area, 

water conservation work has been given a major 

thrust to reduce the dependency of the people on 

the water bodies inside the sanctuary. In its one 

and a half years of intervention in Sargadhi and 

Kharidih, two villages in the Kanha-Achanakmar 

Linkage chosen for the pilot water conservation 

One of the check dams in Kharidih village. 

project, WWF-India has been successful in 

reducing the water crisis in these two places. 

Recently ‘Jal Chakra’(Water Cycle) a play in 

local Chhattisgadhi language was staged in 

Sargadhi village on the occasion of ‘Janjagran 

Shivir’(People’s Awareness Programme). This 

was to bring the local people, forest department, 

different government departments (such as animal 

husbandry, health and agriculture) on one 

platform—the conservation of Kharidih segment 

of the Kanha-Achanakmar Linkage. The play 

depicted the importance of, and the 

interconnection between water, forest, soil and 

wildlife. It also highlighted WWF’s efforts and 

interventions to save wildlife and also taking 

care of the interests of the local people. But what 

was heartening was to see the village youth 

themselves spreading the message of conservation 

of water and nature. 

To strengthen the water conservation strategies 

in the segment, several stop dams were made in 

river Rehan in Sargadhi and in river Sontirath in 

Kharidih. The results are encouraging since these 

structures can hold water throughout the year 

helping the villagers to depend less on the water 

Percolation tank in a levelled field in Sargadhi. 

sources in the adjoining corridor forests. The 

water stopped in the check dams is fast becoming 

a lifeline for the villagers. It has especially helped 

the villagers in agriculture for they can easily 

draw water with the pump provided to them. The 

availability of water within the village premises 

is encouraging for WWF’s effort to reduce the 

dependency of the villagers on the water sources 

inside the forests. This will also reduce mananimal 

conflict to a great extent. The cooperation 

in the form of shramdan or free labour by the 

villagers from both the villages is promising for 

our tiger conservation efforts in the area. 

Apart from check dams several contour bunds 

around the hills/slopes of the villages are being 

constructed. These contour bunds are made to hold 

soil and water especially during the monsoons and 

allow the ground water to recharge. The percolation 

tanks in the agricultural fields are also made to 

ensure soil and water conservation. These structures 

help retain the moisture over a long period bringing 

much-needed help to the village agriculturists. In 

order to ensure more water and soil conservation, 


Panda 

March 2005 

WWF-India Help in 

Catching Poachers 

Regular patrolling, antipoaching 

operations with the 

help of a network of informers 

has yet again paid dividends, 

resulting in the seizure of 

wildlife product near Corbett 

Tiger Reserve. In the last eight 

months this is the second time 

that a successful operation has 

been carried out by the staff. 

The anti-poaching party at 

Corbett Tiger Reserve nabbed 

two people involved in wildlife 

trade. These two people were 

arrested from a village 

adjoining Corbett Tiger 

Reserve and the materials 

recovered from the 

poachers/traders included a 

leopard skin and bones. 

Corbett Tiger Reserve is one 

of priority protected areas that 

WWF has been engaged with 

for the purpose of upgrading 

anti-poaching capabilities 

and reducing illegal trade 

in wildlife. 

In Mandla (Madhya Pradesh) 

police seized a tiger and two 

leopard skins during recent 

field investigations. WWF- 

India field staff provided close 

and continuous assistance to 

the authorities during the 

entire operation. 

Earlier investigations had 

indicated that about ten leopard 

and three to four tiger skins 

were available in the 

clandestine market for sale by 

poachers/ traders residing in 

the adjoining district of 

Kawardha. Three of the 


5

Panda 

March 2005 

Water Conservation 

in Kanha-Achanakmar 

Corridor 

WWF-India Help in 

Catching Poachers 


poacher/ traders were lured to 

Mandla District and arrested 

while attempting to sell the 

skins. Further investigations to 

recover more skins are in 

progress. 

In February, Ramesh Kumar 

Pandey, DFO Katerniaghat 

Wildlife Sanctuary, along with 

other members of his staff 

apprehended two women 

carrying a tiger skin and 

approximately 18 kgs of tiger 

bones. The seizure was made 

on board a train near Bichia 

Railway Station within the 

Sanctuary, while the contraband 

was being transported to Palia, 

a small town near the Dudhwa 

Tiger Reserve. Further 

investigations are in progress. 

WWF- India Terai Arc 

Landscape Field Office at 

Pilibhit played a very important 

supporting role in making this 

seizure possible. 

6 

Data of water conservation structures in the Kharidih segment 

of Kanha-Achanakmar Linkage. 

WATER CONSERVATION 

STRUCTURES 

Stop dams 

Contour bunds 

Check bunds 

Canal 

Pond deepening 

Source: WWF-India project records 

the villagers have done mass plantations of species 

like neem, aonla, mango and tamarind in and around 

their houses and on the bunds of the fields. In a 

major drive, the existing ponds in the two villages 

have been deepened. These ponds are also used for 

breeding fish by the village development 

committees, under the alternative source of income 

generation scheme. 

The local inhabitants of Sargadhi and Kharidih 

are mostly from the primitive tribes of baigas 

and gonds. By nature they are very superstitious 

and are not open to development. Their crops 

are rain fed like most of the villages in our 

country and for them traveling long distances to 

fetch water for their daily need is their destiny 

they believe. It was hard initially to reach out to 

them and encourage their participation in different 

conservation efforts. 

Education and awareness programmes of the 

project have played an important role in 

motivating the local population. ‘Jal Chakra’ 

was one such example in which the participation 

of the village youth was incredible. Sargadhi 

now has its permanent cultural group for doorto-door 

campaigns on the importance of not only 

water but other issues as well. Today the villagers 

are more open and cooperative. They contribute 

in different activities by giving shramdan. It is 

most encouraging to see the enthusiasm of local 

people in the meetings where now they discuss 

the importance of water and give their suggestions 

on check dams, percolation tanks and soak pits. 

WWF has also ensured successful water 

conservation inside the Achanakmar Wildlife 

VILLAGE-KHARIDIH VILLAGE-SARGADHI 

6 

580 

411 

3 (Benefits 5 tolas or 

400 people) 

5 

68 

1km. (Benefits whole of Sargadhi) 

2 (Approx. 40% of the people 

are dependent on it) 

Sanctuary for the wildlife there. Repair of the 

check dams Sahebpani, Bendramara, Saraipani 

and the Jalda and Nawapara ponds in the 

sanctuary has given fruitful results. Regular 

sightings of pugmarks of tigers and other wildlife 

near these water bodies give satisfaction that we 

are contributing to their well-being. Along similar 

lines, three more water reservoirs are being made 

in the Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Pond-deepening in Sargadhi village. Approximately 

40 per cent of the people are dependent on this. 

Water has been aptly identified as a priority issue 

in the stakeholders’ meet while starting the tiger 

conservation efforts in WWF’s Satpuda-Maikal 

Landscape. Water conservation initiatives carried 

out by WWF in Sargadhi and Kharidih have 

definitely helped gain people’s confidence. There 

is hope to successfully replicate the interventions 

in other corridor villages of the project too. 

Needless to say, all this was achievable because 

of the cooperation of the Forest Department, 

WWF-India’s donors, its local partner in Bilaspur, 

and above all the involvement of the villagers. 

Neha Samuel / nsamuel@wwfindia.net 

WWF-India

Bharatpur 

People’s Participation in 

Conservation of a 

Wetland Heritage Site 

I 

n its simplest form participation means taking 

part, sharing and acting together—people s 

participation is nothing less than the basic 

texture of social life. 

Participation can take many forms ranging from 

partnerships, consultation and consensus-building 

to decision-making and risk-sharing, and 

increasingly require the involvement of 

stakeholders. Meaningful participation is a time 

consuming process, requiring patience, continued 

commitment and the willingness to put decisions 

about outcomes in the hands of participants. 

Such a process was put in motion to understand 

how people perceived their natural environment 

in the Keoladeo National Park—Bharatpur. 

Helping people understand the ecosystem and 

its value is the key role that education and 

communication plays. This has been recognized 

as a key role in various forums regarding wetland 

conservation. For instance, the Conference of 

the Contracting Parties (to the Ramsar 

Convention) has recommended that Contracting 

Parties place a high priority on the development 

and implementation of comprehensive proactive 

cross-disciplinary strategies which target both 

the formal school/university systems, and nonformal 

education of youth and adults across 

the broadest spectrum of the community 

Wetland—A Little Understood Concept 

If wetlands are to be preserved, they first need 

to be understood. Making people aware what 

wetlands are and their worth is a challenging 

task for two reasons. Firstly, it is difficult to 

change the existing misconception that wetlands 

are equivalent to wastelands. Secondly, even as 

a concept it is difficult to communicate wetlands. 

Wetlands are defined as areas where water is 

the primary factor controlling the environment 

and the associated plant and animal life. They 

occur where the water table is at or near the 

surface of the land, or where the land is covered 

by shallow water . Their ambiguous nature, being 

neither clearly land nor water, puts them between 

these two better understood categories. Moreover, 

the type and ecology of wetlands is so highly 

variable—out of 570 million hectares of wetlands, 

two per cent are lakes, thirty per cent bogs, 

twenty-six fens, twenty per cent swamps, and 

fifteen per cent flood-plains; mangroves cover 

some 240,000 km≤ of coastal area, and an 

estimated 600,000 km≤ comprises coral reef— 

that understanding them is difficult. 

But our education efforts also need to recognize 

that it is not as if every one is ignorant of 

wetlands, their values and their management. 

The local people know well when to fish and 

when not to; know how much catch the wetland 

will support and what will prove unsustainable; 

what should be done and what should not. They 

are a part of the wetland system, following the 

rhythm of the wetland. But this is often not 

recognized. Management regimes brought in to 

solve a problem, often exclude the local people, 

leading to more problems. For instance, when 

cattle grazing and grass collection were banned 

at Bharatpur, the grass grew unrestrained and 

started destroying the habitat! 

Our educational efforts need to draw from the 

very rich local knowledge, and add scientific and 

other data to fill the gaps, rather than ignore and 

be ignorant of the vast knowledge which exists. 

Participation Initiatives 

Recognizing the need to involve people—who 

are both the perpetrator and victims of the overexploitation 

of natural resources—the Bombay 

Natural History Society (BNHS), initiated in 

September 1993 a new and innovative project to 

build support for conservation through 

local participation, sponsored by the Overseas 

Development Administration of the 

United Kingdom. 

One of the oldest NGOs in India, BNHS is 

engaged in the study and research of natural 

history of the Indian subcontinent since 1883. 

Over the past four decodes, the BNHS has been 

active in spreading the message of nature 

conservation. The Society is well known for 

documenting the natural wealth of not only India 

but of other countries of the subcontinent. 

The Conservation Education Project (CEP) of 

the BNHS addressed through education and 

regular interaction, a major conservation issue— 

people living inside and around Protected Areas 

(PAs). This project involved local forest personnel, 

NGOs, tourists and concerned government 


Panda 

March 2005 


WWF-India’s ‘Peoples’ 

Power’ Campaign 

WWF-India’s Climate Change and 

Energy Programme launched 

‘Peoples’ Power’ campaign on 30 

November 2004 at the India Habitat 

Centre, New Delhi. It was part of 

a WWF response to address the 

global warming crisis. The 

campaign was launched 

simultaneously in more than 

twenty countries across the globe 

on that day. 

The power sector is coal intensive 

and the single biggest contributor 

to global warming. ‘Peoples’ Power’ 

campaign was initiated to exert 

regulatory pressure on power 

companies to invest in renewable 

and efficient energy in order to 

reduce the emission of green house 

gases (GHG), prime contributors 

to global warming. The global 

campaign aims at cleaning up the 

power sector with public support. 

WWF-India’s Climate Change and 

Energy Programme is working to 

meet this goal with a twin pronged 

approach. In the first phase of the 

campaign, ‘Peoples’ Power’ will 

build public pressure through Civil 

Society Organizations on the 


7

Panda 

March 2005 

Bharatpur 


WWF-India’s ‘Peoples’ 

Power’ Campaign 


power utilities to implement 

Demand Side Management 

(DSM) to provide affordable and 

reliable power in Delhi. The 

programme eventually will be 

replicated in other states where 

similar reforms are required. 

The launch ceremony was 

attended by experts and public 

activists from diverse fields, 

including Dr Girish Sant (Prayas 

Energy Group, Pune), Pushpa 

Girimaji, noted consumer rights 

columnist and Mr Ravi Singh, SG 

and CEO, WWF-India. The 

campaign logo was inaugurated 

by Mr Ashok Khosla, world 

renowned environmentalist and 

President of Development 

Alternatives (DA). 

More than fifty people took part 

in the launch event, and the panel 

discussion evoked good response 

from the audience and the media. 

The discussion turned into a 

participatory forum where the 

audience vociferously debated 

and discussed issues pertaining 

to Demand Side Management, 

energy efficiency, inflated billing, 

energy audits, and energy labeling. 

The event was widely reported in 

the mainstream dailies. 

V.V. Sundar / 

vsundar@wwfindia.net 

8 

departments at various levels. The CEP aimed to 

build people’s support for conserving natural 

habitats to promote sustainable use. Three 

important protected areas with rich biodiversity 

were selected as project sites. Keoladeo National 

Park (KNP) in Bharatpur, was one of the sites 

chosen. KNP is one of the nineteen Ramsar sites 

of India and is also a World Heritage Site. 

This site goes back to the 1700s when Suraj 

Mahl, the then Maharaja of Bharatpur, created 

extensive inundated areas divided by a system 

of earthen dykes/bunds to retain water for the 

dry months and to provide fodder for the local 

cattle. The Ajan Bund measuring 3270 ha was 

also created at the same time. KNP hence started 

out as an irrigation reservoir. Soon the wetland 

began to attract various species of waterfowl in 

large numbers. This prompted the Maharaja to 

protect the area as his private shooting preserve. 

The Gambhir and the Banganga rivers bring 

water to the Park. Soon the marshes of the KNP 

became the primary wintering sites for the 

western population of the Siberian Cranes, one 

of the endangered cranes of the world. 

The fourteen villages around the Park, and the 

local population depended on the Park’s resources 

for fodder, firewood, and fruit. (Some of the locals 

are now employed by the Forest Department). 

An attitude-awareness survey revealed the 

awareness levels of various target groups and their 

attitude toward the management practices and 

other concerns regarding the KNP. Thereafter the 

project team ran several awareness programmes 

in the target villages of Ghausaula, Barso, Mallah, 

Jatoli and Aghapur. This was done through 

different media available, and those already 

existing, for one of the objective was to evaluate 

and modify the current methods of conducting 

educational programmes. Evaluation and feedback 

on these programmes were used to establish which 

media as effective in which village and why. 

It was found that there was no satisfactory dialogue 

between the local people living around the Park, 

the Park authorities and the local tour/rest house 

operators. The local NGOs too had not worked 

towards any conciliation between the Park 

managers and the locals. To bridge this gap, all 

concerned parties—forest personnel, NGOs and 

tour and hotel operators—were included in the 

CEP’s target groups for education and awareness. 

The awareness programme was carried out 

through group meetings, slide shows, posters, 

nature trails and games, eco rallies, demonstration 

of eco-friendly technologies, painting and debating 

contests, and teacher-training programmes. 

Findings 

The villagers formed the core target group. Most 

of the conservation messages were meant for the 

villagers and included issues of firewood and 

grass collection, and pesticide hazards. 

Alternatives to fuel wood were suggested with 

the use of field demonstrations. The slides and 

films provided a welcome change from the routine 

of everyday household chores. These awareness 

programmes also probably gave the women a 

much needed freedom to participate in groups 

After the programme a positive attitude towards 

each other (between villagers and Park officials) 

and towards the Park was observed. 

Lessons Learnt 

To teach communities about issues that we think 

they need to know in order to conserve natural 

resources, it is better if we begin by learning from 

and working with local people about what they 

think they need to conserve natural resources for, 

and what action is required to meet those needs. 

The forest departments often find themselves in 

poor light, as they fight to save the last vestiges of 

biological diversity. They need to understand that 

the people who live around these PAs are the best 

custodians for the parks and sanctuaries and a 

partnership must be forged with them to share 

responsibilities and resources and to work towards 

saving the ecosystem. Park managers need to 

change their role from policing authorities to that 

of resource management facilitators. Middle and 

lower level staff of forest departments need a reorientation 

through in-service training of 

management skills. The forest department needs to 

work closely with the villagers, village groups, 

communities, NGOs and other government agencies. 

Local organizations, like the village mandals, 

youth groups, women s groups, eco-clubs showed 

a willingness to play a role in managing their 

resources to help strengthen the work of BNHS 

after an initial period of inertia. These groups 

need to be taken into confidence by the forest 

department for mediating between villagers, 

forest departments and other agencies. These 

groups can also help in field research and in 

making that knowledge available to the local 

people so that their increased understanding of 

the system will help in better conservation and 

better relationship with the forest department. 

Parks and sanctuaries attract large numbers of 

international tourists. This is so in Bharatpur as 

well. The opportunities for local crafts and 

ecotourism are considerable and the locals could 

be trained in these fields. All employment 

opportunities should be integrated into the overall 

welfare scheme of the Park and should not 

be divorced from the Park s objectives. 

This was Bharatpur then... Today Bharatpur lies 

choked for want of that elixir of life—Water. 

Lima Rosalind / lrosalind@wwfindia.net

kids’ zone 

Wrap up the Trade 

Shahtoosh Shawls 

M 

ost people concerned with wildlife don't 

know where to begin from! There never 

seems to be an apparent way to express 

one's concern, and that's simply because most 

animals are out there in the woods, and most of 

us are in here in front of our computers. It's 

actually a really surprising thing to discover that 

we can help our fine feathered and furry friends 

by being precisely where we are. It’s during the 

Stephanian Wildlife Society Festival, Prakriti, 

2003 that I met Urvashi Dogra, an impassioned 

animal rights activist. She told me about the 

chiru, the gentle Tibetan antelope, which is on 

the verge of extinction. The reason for this is 

simple—the chiru is mercilessly poached for its 

fine inner layer of wool, used for making highly 

fashionable, highly expensive, and highly cruel 

shawls. The chiru is a gentle, diminutive animal 

found only in the white windy upper reaches of 

Central Asia. This habitat is cold, cruel and rare. 

The chiru has two layers of wool to protect itself 

from the ravages of the cold—a coarse outer 

layer and an ultra fine inner layer. Needless to 

mention, it is the sensuous inner layer that is in 

demand in rich luxury loving north Indian homes. 

The catch is this—the inner layer can only be 

extracted after killing the antelope. What is even 

more heart rending is the fact that three to five 

antelope are killed for making one single 

fashionable coveted shawl. It is indeed then 

ironic to know that these shawls are passed down 

from mother to daughter as an heirloom—a gift 

of love, to be preserved against the forces of 

time and age. This is where we come in. The 

simplest way to stop the slaughter of an innocent 

and rare species this winter and every winter 

after is to say 'no' to these shawls. 

Trafficking in chiru shawls or shahtoosh wool 

is banned by law. We have to keep our eyes 

open: a cliché that will work for the chiru. Your 

friendly neighborhood shawl-wala might just 

be the culprit—if you sense that he or any of 

his accomplices is carrying these shawls (which 

indeed they do) report it to the police. They are 

committing a serious crime—though the deadlier 

one is committed by all those women and men 

who order goods they know nothing about. 

Or worse still, desire for the sake of desiring, 

uncaring of the blood they spill. There are many 

issues on this planet that demand our attention. 

Perhaps in our lifetime we can never do justice 

to all. But we can surely make a beginning by 

simply saying 'no'—one tiny word that can help 

save an entire species. Say ‘NO’, and save 

something, something that you might never see, 

but which will remain in the land of your 

dreams: a fawn shadow, a breath of innocence. 

Neha Sinha / nehaitis@gmail.com 

St Stephen's College 

WWF-Canon / Ronald PETOCZ 

A herd of male Chiru, Tibetan Antelopes on grassland 

in the Aqik Basin, China. 

WWF-Canon / Ronald PETOCZ 

Panda 

March 2005 

Pantholops hodgsoni. A large herd 

of Chiru or Tibetan Antelope, the Aqik 

Lake plain, China. 

The chiru is a double coated 

animal, the outer coat composed of 

coarse hair is generally referred to 

as guard hair. The soft inner coat 

that grows next to the skin as an 

added protection to combat extreme 

cold during winter is generally called 

under wool. This is shahtoosh. 

The under wool grows each year 

before the onset of winter and is 

shed as summer approaches. 

A full grown male chiru produces 

about 150 gm. of under wool which 

is 'picked off' from the animal’s skin 

after it is killed. Female chirus being 

smaller produce comparatively 

less wool. 

A ladies shawl weighs about 150 

gm. However, to make this, the raw 

material required is about 340 gm. 

The losses during the making and 

finishing processes are high. 

Chiru is mainly found in the Chang 

Tang region of Tibet. A very small 

population migrates into northern 

Ladakh during summer from about 

July to September each year. They 

do not carry the much valued under 

wool during this period. 

Shahtoosh shawls are only made in 

India and use raw material smuggled 

in from Tibet 

Ranjit Talwar / rtalwar@wwfindia.net 

9

for a living planet 

Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis 

WWF-Cannon / Michel TERRETTAZ

Panda 

March 2005 

The affected peacock. 

Operation being performed by 

Maj. Y. Sudheer Kumar. 

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam happy 

to see the peacock restored to health. 

The President, A.P.J. Kalam looking 

fondly at the peacock back in the garden. 

12 

kids’ zone 

Caring for Nature and Wildlife 

Tales from the White House and the Rashtrapati Bhavan 

T 

he heads of states of the world’s two largest 

democracies have at last some common bond— 

conservation of nature and compassion for 

wildlife. I had known two such stories from the White 

House and had wondered if a similar lead would ever 

emerge from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Well, on 2 June 

2004 this indeed happened! 

Going chronologically I will recount the two stories 

from the White House first. The sequoia pines or the 

redwoods as they are popularly called in their native 

California are truly giants among trees anywhere in the 

world. The largest surviving redwood today, named 

‘General Sherman’ rises to a height of 274.9 feet and 

its girth at the base is 103 feet. As well as being the 

world’s largest living thing, it is also one of the oldest 

living things, being between 2,200 and 2,500 years! 

As it happens at times in the lives of all nations, the 

unbridled commercial interest in the USA came close 

to harvesting all the sequoias or redwoods for the wood 

pulp and safety match industries. When the very last 

surviving patch of some 100 acres of redwoods was 

sold, an American citizen rose to protest against this. 

When all his efforts to save the last stand of redwoods 

fell on deaf ears, he tried to sneak into the White House 

and meet President Lincoln in person. With amazing 

determination he managed to slip past the security 

apparatus and reached the room adjoining the Oval 

Office where the President was in a meeting. That is 

when he got detected and in the ensuing pandemonium 

President Lincoln came out to investigate the commotion 

for himself. 

The President heard out the ‘intruder’, called for a map 

and asked him to draw the boundary of the surviving 

glade of redwoods. There and then, Lincoln declared 

it a National Park! I read this account in 1994 in an old 

issue of the National Geographic. Of the photographs 

accompanying the article, I found two very interesting. 

One showed the ‘intruder’ and the President poring over 

the map to determine the extent of what later became 

the Mariposa Grove and the Yesomite National Park in 

California. The second showed the President handing 

over a scroll of paper, presumably the presidential fiat 

instituting the National Park. 

The second story is from more recent times. On his first 

morning in the White House, President Ronald Reagan 

encountered a few chipmunks (a double of the Indian 

squirrel in shape, size, habits and endearing traits) on 

the lawns, sitting upright on their hind quarters, nibbling 

acorns and looking fearlessly into his eyes. President 

Reagan was mesmerized. Thereafter, every morning the 

President would broadcast peanuts on the lawn without 

fail and spend a few minutes watching the 

chipmunks feeding. 

One morning the President had to chair a meeting in 

the Oval Office much earlier than the daily schedule. 

Finding no peanuts on the lawn, several chipmunks 

clambered up the walls till a few among them gained 

the ledge of the window right opposite of where the 

President sat in his chair. Standing on their hind legs, 

pressing their bodies against the glass pane, the 

chipmunks made enough movements to draw the 

President’s eye. Without any fuss, Reagan devised a 

brief recess and quietly slipped out to feed peanuts to 

the chipmunks. President Reagan narrated this incident 

in a video on the White House made by a TV channel. 

Now the story which emerged from the Rashtrapati 

Bhavan does proud the legacy of Emperor Asoka. In 

247 BC, through his Rock Edict I, Asoka forbade animal 

sacrifices and made the care of wildlife an instrument 

of state policy. As a people (in this land of Asoka), this 

injunction has regrettably been the least of our concerns. 

So when an incumbent of the Rashtrapati Bhavan reached 

out to an animal in distress moved by compassion, it 

is surely an occasion for celebration. 

On 2 June last year, out on his morning walk in the 

Mughal Gardens, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam noticed 

an adult peacock crouched and inert by the side of a 

bush while hundreds of others on the estate were active 

with the dawn chorus. The President noticed a big lump 

wedged between the mandibles and over the right eye 

of the peacock. The resident veterinary surgeon was 

immediately called to attend to the sick bird. On 

examination, Major Y. Sudheer Kumar found that a 

cancerous tumour was pressing on the right eyeball, 

blanking vision. The tumour had also lodged inside the 

mouth cavity and the bird could neither eat nor drink. 

The peacock was emaciated, acutely dehydrated and 

close to death. 

The peacock was operated upon the next day and the 

3x4 cm. tumour, along with its stalk originating from 

turbinate bones, was removed. Forty-eight hours later, 

the bird took to feeding, his mandible fully functional 

and the sight in his right eye restored. Two days later 

the laboratory report declared that the growth was benign. 

The President was moved when on the seventh day the 

peacock was reintroduced to his natural environment. 

When a story is too good to believe, it becomes a legend. 

This one from the Rashtrapati Bhavan surely will in 

times ahead. 

If just one among every hundred of us were to emulate 

President Kalam, India’s biodiversity would prosper, 

and we would be well on the way to all-round 

sustainable development. 

Lt Gen Baljit Singh (retd) 

Former Trustee of WWF-India 

A variation of this was first published in The Tribune. We 

have published this article with the author’s permission.

Coral Reef 

Post-tsunami Assessment 

Done in Thailand 

18 Feb 2005 (Bangkok, Thailand) 

wo new surveys of Thailand’s coral reefs 

show the impact of the Asian tsunami 

T was highly varied, but with most 

damage identified within the country’s national 

marine parks. 

Some of the world’s most diverse coral reef 

ecosystems are found in Thailand within a 12,000 

square kilometre block, including a 200km stretch 

of the Andaman coast from Ranong to northern 

Phuket and extending 60km out to sea to include 

the Similan Islands, the Surin Islands, and Phra 

Thong Island. Some 600 species of coral reef 

fish, as well as four species of endangered marine 

turtles and many other marine species, are found 

within this area. 

‘As tourism in the Andaman Sea relies on healthy 

marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, an 

important first step is to assess the actual damage 

to the reefs caused by the tsunami and decide 

what action needs to be taken as a response,’ said 

Robert Mather, Director of WWF Thailand’s 

Programme Office. 

An initial coral reef assessment conducted by 

local dive operators near Phuket, and within the 

Surin and Similar archipelago, showed that out 

seventy sites, thirteen were found to have suffered 

heavy damage. Another survey of 174 sites 

coordinated by Thailand s Department of Marine 

and Coastal Resources (DMCR) showed 

that thirteen per cent were highly impacted. 

‘The 13 per cent of coral reefs which suffered 

high impact over 50 per cent damage were 

concentrated in some of the country’s well known 

dive sites, including in the Surin and Phi Phi 

Islands,’ Mather said. ‘Damage to the Thailand’s 

coral reefs showed no obvious pattern, but as 

one might expect, exposed shallow fringing reefs 

and coral with delicate structures suffered most.’ 

Fish and other marine life appear to have not 

been as affected as the coral reefs, although many 

bottom-dwelling marine organisms have 

disappeared. According to another DMCR survey, 

approximately seventy per cent of a total of eighty 

square kilometres of seagrass beds along the 

Andaman coast revealed generally less than five 

per cent damage. 

Experts believe that overall damage caused by 

the Tsunami was actually quite small. In fact, 

many of the coral reefs in Thailand’s Andaman 

Sea were already significantly damaged before 

the December 26th tragedy struck Southeast Asia, 

which by some estimates killed up to 300,000 

people. In Thailand, over 5,000 people died, many 

of them foreign tourists vacationing on the popular 

beaches of Phuket, Khao Lak, and Phi Phi Island. 

Among the fatalities were three Marine National 

Park rangers, as well as two local people working 

on the Naucrates Turtle Conservation project on 

Phra Thong Island. All twelve of Thailand’s 

Marine National Parks on the Andaman coast 

were closed. 

‘Pollution, global warming, habitat destruction, 

and overfishing—these insidious dangers are the 

real issues that need to be addressed so as to 

maintain the health of the reef ecosystems that so 

many local livelihoods in both the tourism and 

fisheries sectors depend on,’ Mather said. 

‘It is important to consider not only the need to 

rehabilitate the damage caused by the 

Tsunami, but more importantly, to consider the 

overall needs for improving coral reef management 

in Thailand.’ 

WWF is calling on Thailand’s Department of 

Marine and Coastal Resources to follow through 

with plans to conduct more detailed assessments 

of severely impacted reefs, and to conduct longterm 

monitoring of recovery. The global 

conservation organization is also urging dive 

operators and individual divers adhere to codes 

of conduct for best practice standards, prevent 

illegal trade in souvenirs and other marine species 

products, report any illegal activities in marine 

parks, and support the call for appropriate legal 

and policy reform (including the establishment 

of Marine Park Management Boards) to 

improve coral reef protection and management. 

‘Only when these measures are put into place will 

all the corals damaged by the tsunami have 

an opportunity to recover,’ Mather added. 

WWF Thailand programme office 

Panda 

March 2005 

© WWF-Canon / Cat Holloway 

Detail of soft coral, close up. 

Thailand has some of the 

world's most diverse coral 

reef ecosystems, home to at 

least 600 species of coral 

reef fish and four species of 

marine turtles. 

WWF offers its 

deepest condolences 

to the peoples of the 

countries affected by 

the recent tsunami 

diasater that struck the 

Asian region. 

In the 

June 2005 Issue 

Panda 

New Sighting of 

Swamp Deer 

Leopards in the 

Neighbourhood 

and much more 

13


Panda 

March 2005 

R. N. Goswami, 

Manager PGNCC 

Retires 

After fifteen years of service as 

manager of the Pirojsha Godrej 

National Conservation Centre 

(PGNCC) Mr R.N. Goswami 

retired on 28 February 2005. For 

two years before he joined WWF 

in 1990 he was involved with the 

PGNCC coming up. He will tell 

you how the three basement 

blocks were completed, after 

which the library and the 

auditorium and the Lodi Road 

side of the building was 

completed and finally the portion 

on the Max Mueller Road side 

in 1991. The building was 

originally designed for air cooling 

and he had to make some 

adjustment when computers were 

introduced into WWF. Because 

of the computers the building had 

to be slightly redesigned for airconditioning. 

The first area to be 

air-conditioned was the IGCMC 

(Indira Gandhi Centre for 

Monitoring Conservation). 

He really had a great fondness 

for the building and would relate 

its history with great animation 

and love. While the building was 

coming up his wife often accused 

him of being married to it rather 

than her as he spent such long 

hours at the site! 

During his tenure he worked with 

several Secretaries General and 

CEOs of WWF—Thomas 

Matthew, Samar Singh, Mita 

Vyas and Ravi Singh. We had a 

farewell do, a high-tea and 

refused to make it a sad occasion, 

for he still remains part of our 

WWF family. 

Sikha Ghosh / 


14 

Watchdog of Our Waters 

WWF Worldwide Initiative to Save the River Dolphin 

A 

new WWF initiative, launched on 21 

March, the eve of the UN’s World Water 

day, aims to save the planet’s most 

threatened aquatic mammal, the river dolphin. 

According to the global conservation organization, 

severe degradation of freshwater ecosystems has 

caused a dramatic decline in dolphin numbers. 

The Asian fresh water dolphin populations are 

in drastic decline and at least one of those, the 

baiji or Yangtze river dolphin, is in immediate 

danger of being driven to extinction by human 

activities. Several populations of Irawaddy 

dolphins are critically endangered and all 

commercial trade was banned in October 2004 

at CITES (Convention on Internationa Trade of 

Endangered Species). The Ganges and the Indus 

river dolphins are also on the endangered list. 

Through its River Dolphin Conservation Initiative, 

WWF’s Global Species Programmes are working 

together to increase the number of dolphins by 

improving the environmental health of rivers, 

which in turn improves the quality of the world’s 

most basic resource, water. 

‘River dolphins are our watchdog in the water, 

located in some of the world’s most densely 

populated river basins.’ said Jamie Pittock, 

Director of WWF's Global Freshwater 

Programme. ‘High levels of toxic pollutants 

found accumulating in the bodies of river dolphins 

are a stark warning of poor water quality, add to 

that the deaths of river dolphins trapped in 

fishermen’s nets and the habitat problems caused 

by dams and irrigation schemes—unsustainable 

resource management causes great damage to 

the dolphin population.’ 

Beginning on World Water day WWF-India has 

launched an awareness campaign to save the 

fresh water dolphins of India. The Indian dolphin, 

Platanista gangetica, was once abundant in the 

Ganges—Brahmaputra river systems. With 

continuous pollution of the rivers with effluents 

and chemicals, fragmentation of habitat through 

dams and barrages, and hunting for its blubber 

as well as accidental deaths in the grids of nets 

meant for fish, have reduced their numbers to a 

pathetic level. These beleaguered mammals are 

extremely important indicators of a healthy 

aquatic ecosystem. ‘Being at the top of the 

freshwater food chain their presence in healthy 

numbers signifies adequate and clean water and 

a rich biodiversity in the river system,’ says Dr 

Parikshit Gautam, Director, Freshwater and 

Wetlands Programme, WWF-India. WWF-India 

has been working towards saving these aquatic 

mammals from extinction since 1996. 

The conservation work undertaken by WWF- 

India reveals that the upper stretches of the 

Ganges from Bijnor to Narora, a distance of 165 

km. is an excellent habitat for river dolphins and 

other aquatic species. WWF-India has already 

proposed to the Ministry of Environment and 

Forests that this stretch of the river be declared 

a Ramsar site (Wetland of International 

Importance). 

‘Apart from the dolphins, this isolated stretch of 

the Ganges contains some of the most vulnerable 

and rare animals, such as, twelve species of 

freshwater turtles (hard shell and soft shelled 

ones), crocodiles (muggers and gharials), otters 

and over a 100 species of birds, both migratory 

and residential,’ says Dr Sandeep Behera of WWF- 

India who has been working on fresh water 

dolphins and their conservation from 1991. 

WWF-India is monitoring this stretch regularly 

by implementing both conventional and 

unconventional conservation strategies, enacting 

legislations, conducting annual national 

awareness programmes and educating the sadhus 

(who have great influence on the local population). 

All these have aided in the protection and the 

proliferation of biodiversity in this study area. 

A series of awareness campaigns are being 

organized with project partners—the District 

Administration, State Forest Department and 

Local NGOs (Nature Exploration Group and 

Bharat Vikash Parisad)—in this part of the river 

stretch over the next few months. 

The campaign will cover the upper Ganges 

in UP covering the districts of Meerut, 

Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr. Painting and essay 

competitions, and debates will be organized 

around the river dolphin in all the educational 

institutions in these three districts (500 schools,


50 colleges and 3 universities). There will be 

slide shows and lectures and educational material 

will be distributed to target groups. 

The highlight of the campaign will be a two-day 

boat ride (in April 2005) for around thirty people 

(ambassadors for the dolphin) down the Ganges, 

over a stretch of 82 km. from Garhmukteshwar 

to Narora. The campaign will be attended by 

celebrities, environmentalists, scientists, activists, 

intellectuals, students of all ages, army officials 

and media persons. 

The campaign hopes to generate greater 

awareness among the people of this region and 

reduce the threat to the surviving dolphin 

population. 

Campaign to 

Save the 

Dolphin Begins 

‘ 

I 

A painting on dolphin conservation. 

t is late but not too late to initiate efforts 

to conserve the sightless Ganges river 

dolphins’, said Mr Mohinder Singh, 

Divisional Commissioner of Meerut, calling upon 

the people to join hands in the campaign started 

by the WWF-India for protecting this highly 

endangered species. He was addressing a 

gathering of students, educationists, foresters 

and naturalists at a function held on the premises 

of Dewan Public School to flag off the campaign. 

Heartened by the overwhelming response from 

children and enthusiastic people the 

Commissioner said that ‘Commitment and 

dedication of people are required for the success 

of such campaigns. I am glad to see that people 

of this division have displayed the required 

interest and commitment’. He assured the team 

from WWF-India all possible help and support 

for the campaign. ‘Certain beautiful species have 

become history. Don’t let the Ganges dolphins 

meet the same fate’, he appealed expressing his 

concern over declining number of dolphins in 

the Ganges and other rivers of the world. ‘But 

we still have some dolphins and it is not too late 

to work for their conservation’, he said. 

Dr Sandeep Behera, 

Coordinator, Freshwater and 

Wetland Programme, WWF- 

India spoke on the Ganges 

dolphins and about the 

campaign planned for 

conservation of these 

dolphins. To prevent 

them from being fished 

‘We are educating people 

and trying to reduce 

their dependency on the 

river by creating alternative 

means of their livelihood’, said Dr Behera. 

Dr R.P. Singh Vice Chancellor of Chaudhary 

Charan Singh University and Dr P. P. Singh Vice 

Chancellor of SVBP University of Agriculture 

and Technology assured their full support for 

this campaign for the conservation of this blind 

mammal and called upon the scientists to evolve 

some methods and plans for conservation of this 

highly endangered species. ‘Biotechnology can 

play a vital role in protecting these mammals 

that are an important element in the food-chain 

of rivers’ said Dr P.P. Singh, adding that the 

Agriculture University would like to associate 

with any such project. 

The conservator of forest, R.K. Singh, mentioned 

that dolphins have their place in Hindu mythology 

and are known to have heralded Ganga’s descent 

on Earth. 

On 20 March an inter-school poster competition 

was organized by the WWF with assistance of 

the Dewan Public School, where Mr H. M. Rout, 

Principal, welcomed the guests with saplings and 

appealed to all to join hands to make this 

campaign a success. Mrs Swati Sharma convened 

the programme. The well-known artist Chaman, 

folk singer, Malini Awasthi and Usha Singh 

judged the competition. The person who was 

missed very much at the campaign was the 

famous author Ruskin Bond. He was unable to 

join the function because of his illness and sent 

his autographed books for children with a 

message to them to support this campaign. 

Panda 

March 2005 

Watchdog of 

Our Waters 

Divisional Commissioner of 

Meerut circle looking at the 

paintings of students. 

Prizes being awarded for 

best paintings. 

Participants at the 

awareness campaign. 



15 

WWF-India

Panda 

March 2005 


Agriculture and 

Freshwater 

Wetlands and rivers provide our 

food, water, fuel, and medicine. 

Sometimes perceived as swamps 

or mosquito havens, wetlands are 

in fact natural sponges 

filtering harmful substances 

and purifying water for our use. 

These natural systems support 

agriculture that draws up to 

seventy per cent of water 

worldwide. But we have 

destroyed half of the world’s 

wetlands, cut up major rivers and 

wasted water through inefficient 

farming. 

WWF’s report on World 

Agriculture and the Environment 

points out that while agriculture 

employs an estimated 1.3 billion 

people and produces 

approximately $ 1.3 trillion worth 

of goods annually, it also 

contributes to serious 

environmental, social and 

economic problems, especially 

in developing countries. WWF 

is committed towards sustainable 

agriculture that reduces pollution 

while ensuring wise use of our 

freshwater sources. 

16 

Setting Milestones and 

Meeting Challenges 

Global Freshwater Team Meets in Hyderabad 

W 

WF’s Global Freshwater Programme seeks 

to conserve the very source of life— 

freshwater. WWF’s global network of staff 

work on the ground with government and industry, 

alongside partners and NGOs to meet the crucial 

targets of ensuring healthy environmental processes 

in the river basins and ecoregions; encouraging 

government and industry to adopt policies that 

conserve life in rivers and reduce poverty for 

communities dependent on freshwater for 

their livelihood; and protecting, sustaining and 

managing wetlands. 

The global freshwater team of WWF meets annually 

to assess its targets and milestones and the strategies 

implemented to achieve them. This year, India was 

the selected destination and about eighty-four 

participants from forty different countries gathered 

at Hyderabad from February 20 to 24 to chalk out 

the future agenda of the WWF’s Global Freshwater 

Programme. 

The four-day meeting was held at the ICRISAT 

(International Crops Research Institute for the Semi 

Arid Tropics) campus, Patancheru, Andhra Pardesh. 

Here the WWF's 'Godavari Dialogue' is on. The 

Dialogue focuses on issues related to water, 

agriculture and environment in the Godavari basin; 

and policy level issues at the regional and national 

level, e.g. the Lift Irrigation Scheme proposed by 

the Government in Andhra Pradesh, and the proposed 

project on Interlinking of Rivers, respectively. 

The Global Freshwater Team discussed at length a 

number of issues ranging from WWF’s work in 

priority river basins, to new tools for freshwater 

ecosystem conservation, to reviewing its conservation 

priorities and approaches. Agriculture was the key 

focus for the meeting, aptly put as ‘Agriculture in 

River Basins—A Threat, Opportunity or Distraction 

for WWF?’ 

Agriculture was seen as an important focus area for 

WWF intervention to chalk out strategies that make 

agriculture more ecologically sustainable. With 

agriculture drawing up to seventy per cent of 

freshwater worldwide, WWF is committed to reduce 

environmental impacts by promoting sustainable 

farming. Agricultural practices in different river 

basins across the globe came up for discussion to 

assess the magnitude and impact of agriculture on 

freshwater biodiversity and the ways and means to 

mitigate those impacts significantly. WWF’s ‘Thirsty 

Crops Initiative’ has been focusing on cotton and 

sugar-cane, which are among crops that consume 

the highest amount of water. This meeting explored 

options for promoting sustainable cotton and sugarcane 

and also worked towards ‘better management 

practices’ (BMPs) for these two crops. The emphasis 

was on developing countries where the majority 

population is dependent on agriculture and is living 

in poverty. WWF’s challenge is to put in place 

approaches that aid agricultural development and 

address poverty issues without degrading the 

ecosystems. 

The meeting provided an opportunity to the host, 

WWF-India, to spell out the successes of its 

freshwater programmes over the years and the targets 

it has for the future. WWF-India’s work in the field— 

conservation of the high altitude wetlands of Ladakh, 

the initiatives to conserve the river dolphin, policy 

support provided to the Indian government on meeting 

Ramsar convention obligations, the promotion of 

sustainable agricultural practices for sugar-cane and 

cotton, and the management approaches to integrated 

river basin—came up for discussion at this global 

platform. 

Estimates reveal that more than one billion people 

worldwide lack access to clean freshwater. Over two 

billion people lack adequate sanitation services and 

the annual death toll from water borne diseases is 

estimated at three million. Flood and drought, often 

due to poor management of river basins, claim 

thousands of lives and cause billions of dollars of 

damage. A similar threat is faced by the biodiversity— 

with fifty per cent of wetland habitats worldwide 

destroyed or altered. Scientists acknowledge that 

species dependent on freshwater habitat include the 

world’s most endangered flora and fauna. This is an 

indicator enough of the immense importance and the 

urgent need to conserve our freshwater and wetlands, 

not only for the sake of biodiversity but for the 

survival of humanity itself. 

From 1999 to 2004, WWF helped bring about 50 

million hectares more of freshwater under protected 

areas, that is 3.75% of the estimated 1280 million 

hectares of freshwater habitat globally. Solutions for 

managing water depend on cooperation on rivers 

and wetlands, resisting harmful infrastructure as a 

first option, curbing water waste in agriculture and 

reducing poverty through strong environmental 

policies. By protecting wetlands and rivers from 

over-development and pollution and promoting better 

use in agriculture, WWF is championing a better 

world for people and nature. 

Sumeet Kaur / skaur@wwfindia.net

Ernst Mayr 

Evolutionary Biologist Dies at 100 

E 

rnst Mayr, the evolutionary biologist at 

Harvard University, referred to as the ‘the 

Darwin of the twentieth century’ died on 

3 February at the age of 100. As a leading 

mind of the twentieth century he shaped and 

articulated modern understanding of biodiversity 

and related fields. 

Considered the most eminent evolutionary 

biologist in the world by many, and even one of 

the hundred greatest scientists of all time, Mayr 

joined the Faculty of Arts and Science of Harvard 

University in 1953 as Alexander Agassiz 

Professor of Zoology. From 1961-70 he led 

Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. 

He retired in 1975 with the title Alexander 

Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus. 

Mayr’s work in the 1930s and 1940s while he 

was curator at the American Museum of Natural 

History in New York established him as a central 

figure in the neo-Darwinist evolutionary 

synthesis. Almost single-handedly he made the 

origin of species diversity the central most 

important question of evolutionary biology. The 

currently accepted definition of a biological 

species—an interbreeding population that cannot 

breed with other groups—was pioneered by Mayr. 

Mayr was born in Kempten, Germany on 5 July 

1904. The family’s long tradition in medical 

practice led him to seek a medical degree from 

the University of Greifswald which he earned in 

1925. But soon he gave up his medical career 

for zoology and in a phenomenally short time 

earned a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin, 

under the supervision Erwin Streseman who was 

curator of birds at the University of Berlin 

Museum of Natural History. 

The opportunity to travel, which he always 

wanted to do came to him from a chance meeting 

with Lord Rothschild in 1927 who wanted a 

companion to go with him to New Guinea to 

collect birds of paradise. For two years and half 

years he traveled in the South Seas seeking out 

bird populations that, isolated from their kindred 

members, had accumulated genetic differences. 

Through his travels and studies in New Guinea 

and the Solomon Islands, Mayr was able to show 

which Darwin had never quite been able to 

establish: that new species arise from isolated 

populations. These findings were published in 

his landmark book Systematics and the Origin 

of Species (1942). Of the twenty books and the 

hundreds of papers he published his seminal texts 

remain Animal Species and Evolution (1963) 

and The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, 

Evolution and Inheritance (1982). 

His research ranged from ornithology, taxonomy, 

zoogeography, evolution, systematics to the 

history and philosophy of biology, the last driven 

by his passionate interest in the ‘why’ of 

evolutionary biology. Throughout his eightdecade 

long career his faith in Darwinian 

evolution remained firm and unshaken. 

Mayr was awarded the Balzan Prize (1983), the 

International Prize for Biology (1994) and the 

Crafoord Prize (1999), the three prizes regarded 

as the ‘triple crown’ of biology. He was never 

awarded the Nobel Prize, and remarked that there 

is no Prize for evolutionary biology, and that 

even Darwin would not have received one! 

Sikha Ghosh / sghosh@wwfindia.net 

(Collated from obituaries published) 

Panda 

March 2005 

Twelfth Convocation 

Ceremony 

Centre for Environmental Law 

The Centre for Environmental Law 

(CEL), WWF-India held its Twelfth 

Convocation ceremony for the 

students of the Diploma Programme 

in Environmental Law on 14 February. 

Altogether, twenty-two students 

received the Diploma this year. Like 

each year, this year too, there was a 

visible gender gap in the student 

body—with girls outnumbering boys 

in opting for this course. 

Ravi Singh, Secretary General & 

CEO, WWF-India welcomed the 

chief guest, Dr Gurdip Singh, present 

dignitaries and the diploma students. 

Dr Sejal Worah, Programme Director, 

WWF-India felicitated the students 

and addressed them as ‘partners and 

allies’ of WWF-India. After the 

diplomas were conferred, Lost 

Wilderness, a documentary made by 

one of the diploma students was 

screened to the appreciation of 

the audience. 

The highlight of the evening, however, 

was the Green Law lecture and 

convocation address delivered by Dr 

Gurdip Singh, Professor-in-Charge, 

Law Centre-II, Delhi University. The 

VIIIth Green Law lecture was on the 

‘Implementation of Sustainable 

Development in India’. 

The lecture laid special emphasis on 

the concept of sustainable 

development and spelt out 

international and national legal 

measures required to operationalize 

sustainable development. Dr Singh 

in his lecture unfolded the role of 

judicial activism in treating 

sustainable development along with 

its legal pillars, namely, 

‘precautionary principle’ and ‘polluter 

pays principle’, as parts of 

international law which have 

percolated into the body of 

environmental law in India. 

He elaborated the specialized 

environmental legislation adopted in 

India not only to prevent 

environmental pollution but also to 

protect and improve the environment 

and to further the concept of 

sustainable development. 

The Diploma Programme was 

introduced to provide an in-depth 

exposure to students on issues, 

institutions and initiatives in the field 

of environmental law and policy and 

to create a critical mass of expertise 

in this field. Since its inception in 

1993, the CEL has established itself 

as a leading centre for environmental 

law and policy teaching and research 

in India. 

Rajesh Sehgal / 

rsehgal@wwfindia.net 

17

Panda 

March 2005 

WWF-Canon / Roger LeGUEN 

18 

Lepidochelys olivacea. 

Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings 

going to sea. These often fall prey 

to feral dogs in the Andamans. 

WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY 

Caloenas nicobarica, 

Nicobar pigeon. 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands 

Conservation Policy Post-tsunami 

T 

he Andaman and Nicobar Islands, lie on 

the ridge formed at the contact zone of the 

Indian and Burmese tectonic plates. On 26 

December 2004 following massive earthquakes 

off Sumatra and along the length of the Andaman 

and Nicobar ridge, massive tsunamis washed 

away coasts of all islands in that region. In the 

immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the rescue, 

relief and rehabilitation effort mounted, is without 

doubt, deserving. However, during the rebuilding 

phase of the affected communities there are 

concerns that have to be appreciated. One concern 

raised in some fora is the probability and risk of 

introducing exotic species, or shuffling species 

distribution, given the great deal of confusion 

during the rebuilding effort. A concern that I 

highlight in this paper is the lack of decision and 

implementation of schemes recommended to the 

administration that have a direct bearing on any 

introduced species discussion. 

In conservation policy we tend to prioritize 

organisms that are rare in numbers or distribution 

or of unique evolutionary history, and habitats 

of high diversity (especially endemics). 

Conservation focus is usually to preserve species 

or groups of organisms that are flashy or 

charismatic (lions, elephants, crocodiles, etc.). 

Diversion of resources, toward specific 

conservation goals may result in oversight, with 

problems becoming visible only once they have 

set in. The introduction of the brown tree snake 

in the island of Guam is a well-known example, 

where populations of endemic species of birds 

have become extinct. 

The problem of introduced species is further 

inextricable from human presence, as the 

landscape is ever changing, and the goals of 

conservation are based on our present 

observations. Where man goes, certain organisms 

follow---plant, animal and microorganism. Thus, 

several organisms have been introduced since 

the Danish first set up colonizing camps in the 

Nicobars in the 1700s and the British in the 

Andamans in the late 1700s and again in 1857; 

(Simron J. Singh, 2003). Without doubt certain 

organisms were brought in even earlier, the 

difference being only in scale. Some introduced 

organisms that stow away with migrating humans, 

may be the type that are ecologically adaptable 

to a wide range of environments. Broadly these 

organisms may be classified as humancommensals 

and invasives. 

Human-commensals restrict themselves to human 

habitats and their periphery. Their impact on the 

newly invaded habitats are restricted to a buffer 

zone. A buffer zone is the extent of habitat 

surrounding human habitation in which impacts of 

humans, their introduced species and their activities 

are observable. Invasive species are highly adaptable 

and prolific compared to the native flora and fauna. 

Commensals may be classified as invasives when 

they progressively push the extent of the buffer 

zone and alter the local ecology or affect native 

species. For a conservation debate, however, greater 

the diversity the better, and thus foreign organisms 

may not necessarily be perceived as exotics 

especially if they remain within the buffer or are 

otherwise socially accepted. 

Further complications in conservation policy arise 

due to incongruity with local cultures and attitudes. 

Indian society is culturally tuned toward wildlife 

mega-fauna and to not harm living organisms. Thus, 

it becomes unacceptable to our wildlife managers 

to introduce measures like culling, translocating, 

etc., against exotics that have been adopted into 

culture and society. The Andaman and Nicobar 

Islands being small have little space for buffers. In 

the Andaman Islands, elephants were introduced 

for timber logging by the British after 1857. Upon

Panda 

March 2005 

WWF-Canon / Roger LeGUEN 

18 

Lepidochelys olivacea. 

Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings 

going to sea. These often fall prey 

to feral dogs in the Andamans. 


Caloenas nicobarica, 

Nicobar pigeon. 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands 

Conservation Policy Post-tsunami 

T 

he Andaman and Nicobar Islands, lie on 

the ridge formed at the contact zone of the 

Indian and Burmese tectonic plates. On 26 

December 2004 following massive earthquakes 

off Sumatra and along the length of the Andaman 

and Nicobar ridge, massive tsunamis washed 

away coasts of all islands in that region. In the 

immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the rescue, 

relief and rehabilitation effort mounted, is without 

doubt, deserving. However, during the rebuilding 

phase of the affected communities there are 

concerns that have to be appreciated. One concern 

raised in some fora is the probability and risk of 

introducing exotic species, or shuffling species 

distribution, given the great deal of confusion 

during the rebuilding effort. A concern that I 

highlight in this paper is the lack of decision and 

implementation of schemes recommended to the 

administration that have a direct bearing on any 

introduced species discussion. 

In conservation policy we tend to prioritize 

organisms that are rare in numbers or distribution 

or of unique evolutionary history, and habitats 

of high diversity (especially endemics). 

Conservation focus is usually to preserve species 

or groups of organisms that are flashy or 

charismatic (lions, elephants, crocodiles, etc.). 

Diversion of resources, toward specific 

conservation goals may result in oversight, with 

problems becoming visible only once they have 

set in. The introduction of the brown tree snake 

in the island of Guam is a well-known example, 

where populations of endemic species of birds 

have become extinct. 

The problem of introduced species is further 

inextricable from human presence, as the 

landscape is ever changing, and the goals of 

conservation are based on our present 

observations. Where man goes, certain organisms 

follow---plant, animal and microorganism. Thus, 

several organisms have been introduced since 

the Danish first set up colonizing camps in the 

Nicobars in the 1700s and the British in the 

Andamans in the late 1700s and again in 1857; 

(Simron J. Singh, 2003). Without doubt certain 

organisms were brought in even earlier, the 

difference being only in scale. Some introduced 

organisms that stow away with migrating humans, 

may be the type that are ecologically adaptable 

to a wide range of environments. Broadly these 

organisms may be classified as humancommensals 

and invasives. 

Human-commensals restrict themselves to human 

habitats and their periphery. Their impact on the 

newly invaded habitats are restricted to a buffer 

zone. A buffer zone is the extent of habitat 

surrounding human habitation in which impacts of 

humans, their introduced species and their activities 

are observable. Invasive species are highly adaptable 

and prolific compared to the native flora and fauna. 

Commensals may be classified as invasives when 

they progressively push the extent of the buffer 

zone and alter the local ecology or affect native 

species. For a conservation debate, however, greater 

the diversity the better, and thus foreign organisms 

may not necessarily be perceived as exotics 

especially if they remain within the buffer or are 

otherwise socially accepted. 

Further complications in conservation policy arise 

due to incongruity with local cultures and attitudes. 

Indian society is culturally tuned toward wildlife 

mega-fauna and to not harm living organisms. Thus, 

it becomes unacceptable to our wildlife managers 

to introduce measures like culling, translocating, 

etc., against exotics that have been adopted into 

culture and society. The Andaman and Nicobar 

Islands being small have little space for buffers. In 

the Andaman Islands, elephants were introduced 

for timber logging by the British after 1857. Upon


bankruptcy, the company that ran this business let 

the elephants loose. Deer were introduced during 

the British occupation of these islands for aesthetic 

purposes (Shekar Singh Commission Report, 2002). 

Today studies have shown that presence of elephants 

and deer are changing the profile of many forests 

in the Andaman Islands (Rauf Ali, 2004). Dogs, 

man’s best friends, usually live in close association 

with their masters but frequently do hunt and 

scavenge. They have been responsible for raiding 

major turtle nesting beaches in the Andaman and 

the Nicobars for turtles and egg during the egg 

laying season in the Andamans. I have observed a 

feral dog bringing down a chital at Cuthbert Bay 

(Middle Andaman). Cats are also responsible for 

hunting native birds, small mammals, reptiles and 

amphibians. These feral animals are invasive as 

they are causing damage to habitats and to native 

species. The Indian Wildlife Act (1972) classifies 

animal life in five schedules, the greatest protection 

conferred on Scehdule-I and least on Schedule-V 

that includes the crows, fruit bats, mice and rats. 

However, protection status remains as stringent 

even when the organism is outside its natural range, 

causing damage to unique habitats and species. Thus 

the elephants and deer are permitted to change the 

profile of some rare island habitats, and dogs and 

cats allowed to affect native species. 

Dermochelys coriace. Leatherback turtle laying eggs. 

Our knowledge of the biodiversity of the Andaman 

and Nicobar Islands has not changed considerably 

since the first naturalists explored these islands. 

The only large native mammals include the wild 

pig (uncertain taxonomic status) and the crab-eating 

macaque. Diversity of smaller forms (reptiles, 

amphibians, fish and invertebrates) remains low 

due to lack of exploration, and taxonomic 

investigations. However, at least six new reptile 

species discovered in the past year from coastal 

regions that have not been explored completely, 

suggest a much higher diversity than previously 

recognized. The interiors of islands are still beyond 

our study and research. Thus, in the current scenario 

we will have no knowledge of species distributions 

being shuffled among islands as a result of 

rehabilitation efforts. 

On some smaller islands especially in the Nicobars 

the entire habitat is human modified. The process 

of human modification is continuous and the current 

post-tsunami reconstruction is an instance of man 

as part of the ecosystem influencing the ecology. 

Our goal in conserving these islands is not limited 

to habitats, (which in some cases are far from 

natural), but also to preserve their bio-diversity 

profiles. Port Blair in South Andaman is a large 

buffer from where introduced species are less likely 

to reach other habitat areas of the same island. But 

the issue is of concern when material is moved to 

other smaller ports or islands that have no ports 

(especially Nancowry Islands, Little Nicobar Islands 

and west coast of Great Nicobar). Shekar Singh 

said in 2002 that ‘A time bound action plan should 

be drawn up to deal with the exotics already on the 

island, including weeds, and their 

removal/eradication should be taken up on a war 

footing, including the translocation of elephants 

back to the mainland and the inhibition of breeding, 

by deer, …’ (My emphasis) 

It has been three years since the Shekar Singh 

Commision’s recommendations were submitted to 

the Supreme Court and there has still been no action 

by the local administration. The mere concern from 

different groups in the post-tsunami rehabilitation 

does little to affect the probability of species 

introductions if they cannot influence policy and 

action at the local administration level. Presently 

the local administration is preoccupied with helping 

people get on with their lives, and not with ecological 

issues of introduced or invasive species. Both issues 

need to be managed and implemented at a policy 

level. In my experience, the administration takes 

decisions or otherwise in good faith. With compelling 

evidence for the negative impact of introduced 

elephants and deer on the island habitats, the 

administration has recommended further research— 

which simply means more time for negative impacts 

to manifest. Similarly with the knowledge that dogs 

do eat nesting sea turtles and raid nesting beaches, 

there is no policy or action toward eliminating feral 

and stray dogs, though I admit a softer approach 

was attempted with failure. A compounding factor 

to this lack of decisions is the lack of understanding 

of the administrators of scientific methods, current 

levels of science and consequently a defensive 

approach to conservation, which may be disastrous 

for the cause. 

A reaction to the tsunami of December 2004 is to 

build new settlements on higher ground, in some 

cases deeper into the island. What is needed, are 

quarantining procedures that allow shipments to 

and from islands and the mainland to be stored away 

from habitat areas (forests and plantations). On Car 

Nicobar the common Indian lizard (Calotes 

versicolor) was introduced, most likely during the 

construction of the air-force base. My fear based 

on precedents, is that the want of a policy on 

introduced and invasive species may achieve little 

more than several boardroom discussions. We can 

only hope that most species introductions will be 

limited to existing population, trade and 

administrative centers. 

Shreyas Krishnan / shreyas_krishnan@yahoo.com 

Panda 

March 2005 

Andaman and 

Nicobar Islands 

Of Gardens, Shrubs 

and Trees 

As winter recedes the WWF garden is 

a riot of colours. It is not a large garden, 

but the variety of flowering plants and 

shrubs is enormous. As you turn the 

corner of the building, where the cars 

are parked, there is a little tree of 

Chinese oranges, which is heavy and 

drooping with bright orange fruit in 

season. Those who have a sour-sweet 

tooth love to pluck one and pop it whole 

into their mouth. I tried this once, and 

was quite startled by the spurt of juice 

(impossible to believe that such a little 

globule could contain so much juice). 

It made me cough, my eyes water, and 

set my teeth on edge—it was so sour. 

I am heavily sweet-toothed. So now I 

admire them from afar. 

But winter, spring, summer or rains, 

the garden is a joy to behold. No matter 

how low you are feeling, your mood 

lifts the moment you enter the gates 

and your eyes rest on the flowers and 

trees—clean, green, bright and freshly 

washed. On hot summer days the smell 

of moist earth is most welcome. 

The courtyard that adjoins the reception 

area is full of tubs of bright flowers, 

succulents and cacti. At one corner is 

a beautiful champak tree. There are 

two small tanks with floating lily pads, 

and when you peer into them you see 

the cool green sides and depths. Here 

we have four resident turtles (rescued 

by our Freshwater team), and fat black 

mollies, who swim to the surface the 

moment your reflection falls on the 

water—a signal that food has arrived! 

But it is the garden and the flowers I 

had started off with. The garden is the 

artistic, aesthetic creation of Vishesar 

Kaulik and Khedu Ram who have been 

with WWF for many years. They have 

won many prizes for WWF, and this 

year too, WWF won the first prize for 

its magnificent dahlias at the eighteenth 

Garden Tourism Festival held at the 

Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib. 

Second prizes were conferred on entries 

in the Aromatic Plants and Herbs 

category at the Horticulture Show held 

by the Delhi Agri-Horticultural Society. 

We are proud of our green wizards. 

See pictures on the back cover 

Sikha Ghosh / 


19

Panda 

March 2005 

International Conference on 

Education for a 

Sustainable Future 

he International Conference on Education for a Sustainable Future took place from the 18 

T 

20 

to 20 of January this year in Ahmedabad. The decade 2005-2014 has been declared the 

UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The stage for ESD was 

set by Prof. Charles Hopkins, UNESCO, Chair for Education for Sustainability at the inaugural 

plenary session. The workshop was inaugurated by His Excellency the Governor of Gujarat, Shri 

Naval Kishore Sharma. 

WWF-India partnered a thematic workshop on Communicating for Biodiversity Conservation 

(CBC). Ann Finlayson, Head of Education for Social Change and Benedict Hren, Head of Formal 

Education from WWF-UK attended this workshop. 

The first day saw nine presentations at this workshop. Short presentations of three to five minutes 

were held on the second day and two films on biodiversity conservation were shown. 

Representatives of WWF from six countries—China, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and the 

UK—were present at this workshop. 

A document forged from the twenty workshops became the Ahmedabad Declaration. This Declaration 

will form part of the Millennium Development Goals and the UN Decade for Education for 

Sustainable Development. 

Lima Rosalind / lrosalind@wwfindia.net 

10th Kailash 

Sankhala Memorial 

Lecture 

‘ 

T 

here has to be some molecule of humility within 

us—that what we didn’t create, we have no 

right to destroy’, remarked Bittu Sahgal, editor, 

Sanctuary Asia magazine while delivering the 10th 

Kailash Sankhala memorial lecture under the aegis 

of Tiger Trust, held at WWF-India auditorium in New 

Delhi on 7 March. 

‘We continue to destroy nature piece by piece. What 

will our future generations remember us for—that we 

built highways, power plants and dams?’ Leave nature 

to be nature was his fervent plea. 

The lecture is an annual event organized in memory 

of the well-known naturalist Kailash Sankhala, who 

founded Tiger Trust (1970) under the patronage of 

the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to save the 

tiger and preserve its natural habitat in the country. 

Sahgal reminiscing on his long association with the 

late Kailash Sankhala said that he was the inspiration 

behind starting Sanctuary Asia. Underlining the 

importance of good ecological foundation for the 

country’s economic growth and progress, he said that 

‘both are mutually inseparable’. 

There are enough laws to protect wildlife; all that 

needs to be done is to start implementing them 

vigorously. Referring to WWF-India’s recent findings 

on Sariska, he said the ‘tiger is the indicator of the 

health of the forests and by protecting it you are 

protecting a way of life of nature’. He lamented that 

past success in wildlife conservation have been 

‘unfortunately squandered’. He further said that battle 

for saving tiger is a battle for space. High science 

won’t save the tiger its all about ‘live and let live’. 

Ravi Singh, CEO and Secretary General, WWF-India 

in his vote of thanks said that the conservation baton 

needs to be passed on to the younger generation. India, 

he said, is witnessing a youth revolution with people 

below the age of thirty-five making the largest chunk 

of the population; it is time that they were given the 

opportunity to develop an enduring interest in the 

wildlife of this country which would be spreading the 

message of conservation more effectively. 

A huge contingent of children from Sri Ram School 

participated and added a bit of razzmatazz to the event. 

Adapting from the Queen’s popular song titled ‘We 

Will Rock You’, children raised banners and sang ‘We 

Will Save You’, resolving to save the tiger and spread 

the message of conservation. Earlier, the event began 

with the lighting of the traditional lamp. Ms Suraj 

Sankhala, Anjana Gosain, and Amit Sankhala shared 

the dais on the occasion. 

V. V. Sundar / vsundar@wwfindia.net

From the Library and 

Documentation Centre 

Some Recent Additions: 

Storms by Jenny Wood, Two-Can Publishing 

Ltd., London, 1990. 

Manual of Forest Laws in Kerala, edited by 

Roy P. Thomas and George Johnson, 

Em Tee En Publications, Kochi, 2004. 

Nature Quest: Questions and Answers about 

the Natural World, Kingfisher Publications, 

London, 2003. 

1000 Facts on Mammals by Duncan Brewer, 

Miles Kelly Publising Ltd., Essex, 2002. 

Killer Creatures—Tiger, by Anna Claybourne, 

Belitha Press Ltd., London, 2001. 

Killer Creatures—Alligator by David Jefferis 

and Tony Allan, Belitha Press Ltd., 

London, 2001. 

How We Use and Abuse Our Planet—Wildlife 

by Arthur Haswell, Belitha Press Ltd., 

London, 2000. 

Snakes of India: The Field Guide, by Romulus 

Whitaker and Ashok Captain, Draco Books, 

Chennai, 2004. 

How Is Your MPA Doing? A Guidebook of 

Natural and Social Indicators for Evaluating 

Marine Protected Area Management 

Effectiveness, by Robert S. Pomeroy, John E. 

Parks and Lani M. Watson, IUCN, 

Switzerland, 2004. 

Monitoring Coral Reef Marine Protected 

Areas—version I: A Practical Guide on How 

Monitoring Can Support Effective 

Management of MPAs, by Clive Wilkinson et 

al., Australian Institute of Marine Science 

& IUCN, Switzerland, 2003. 

Deep Sea Odyssey, Text by Yves Paccalet, 

Photographs by Sophie de Wilde, Octopus 

Publishing Group Ltd., London, 2004. 

1000 Facts on Birds by Jinny Johnson, Miles 

Kelly Publishing Ltd., Essex, 2002. 

Important Bird Areas in India: Priority Sites 

for Conservation, Compiled and edited by M. 

Zafar-ul Islam and Asad R. Rahmani, 

IBCN: Bombay Natural History Society; 2004. 

Photographic Guide to the Waders of the 

World, by David Rosair and David Cottridge, 

Bounty Books, London, 2004. 

October March 2004 2005 

Handbook of the Birds of the World 

The Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), BirdLife International and Lynx 

Edicions, Barcelona is the first work ever to illustrate all the species of birds in the 

world, in addition to providing access to all the essential information about each one 

of them. In fact, it will be the first work ever to deal with each member of an entire 

Class of the Animal Kingdom. 

Vol. 1—Ostrich to Ducks, 

edited by Josep del 

Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, 

Jordi Sargatal 

Vol. 4—Sandgrouse to 

Cuckoos, edited by Josep 

del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, 


Vol. 7—Jacamars to 

Woodpeckers, edited by 

Josep del Hoyo, Andrew 

Elliott and Jordi Sargatal 

Vol. 2 —New World Vultures 

to Guineafowl, edited by 


Elliott, Jordi Sargatal 

Vol. 5—Barn-owls to 

Hummingbirds, edited by 

Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott 

and Jordi Sargatal 

Vol. 8—Broadbills to 

Tapaculos, edited by Josep del 

Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and 

David Christie 

Vol. 3—Hoatzin to Auks, 

edited by Josep del 

Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, 


Vol. 6—Mousebirds to 

Hornbills, edited by Josep 

del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and 


Vol. 9—Cotingas to Pipits 

and Wagtails, edited by 


Elliott and David Christie 21

Support the 

Cause of 

Nature 

Our Products: 

Of Gardens, 

Shrubs and 

Trees 

The Dahilas that won 

the first prize at the 

eighteenth Garden 

Tourism Festival held 

at the Garden of Five 

Senses, New Delhi. 

(Story on page 19) 

Books 

Caps 

Sleeping Bags 

Diaries / Planners 

Rucksacks 

Greeting 

Cards 

Calendars 

For further information contact Sunil Raina 

Tel: 011-51504833 E-mail: marketing@wwfindia.net

The Vanishing Act - WWF-India

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