The Vanishing Act - WWF-India

Panda
March 2005
Bharatpur
WWF-India
WWF-India’s ‘Peoples’
Power’ Campaign
Continued from page 7
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