WEBSITES
WWF-India’s donation microsite – see it here
An excerpt:
In the last hundred years, the world lost about 95% of its tigers. But now, for the first time in a decade, tiger numbers have gone up! This is a sign of hope, and evidence that when governments, local communities, conservationists and ordinary people come together, anything is possible. There is still much to be done – and we need your support!
Crowdfunding microsites like WWF-India’s Save Our Snowleopards campaign – see it here
An excerpt:
The snow leopard’s elusive nature, combined with the tough conditions of difficult terrain and extreme temperatures, makes it very difficult to study. Biologists suggest that over 90% of the almost 1,00,00 km2 of snow leopard range in India is unexplored!
WWF-India has been studying this mysterious cat with the help of radio collars, wild prey surveys and special motion-sensitive cameras called camera traps. Read more about camera traps and how they’re helping in the struggle to save India’s snow cat (link)
PUBLICATIONS
Newsletters, magazines and reports
An excerpt from the Editor’s note:
Dear readers,
I remember reading about the Great Indian Bustard in a grade-school textbook – and never after.
Since then, the Great Indian Bustard has persevered in my mind (and possibly, in yours too) as the exemplar of endangered species on the verge of extinction. And so, to most people, this is what the Bustard has remained – a textbook example of a species tottering on the brink of extinction.
It is now time to draw the Bustard out of the textbook, and into context. In the Introduction to this special issue, Dr. Asad R. Rahmani asks a precarious question – “Can we prevent the extinction of Indian Bustards?” Heading the checklist of solutions he provides, is the need to reorient ourselves towards conservation itself– to expand our idea of vicinity to include not only that which affects us, but also that which we affect.
An excerpt:
One hundred interdigitated teeth glinted in the moonlight.
It was the year 2009 and the cold of winter had set in. Hundreds of villagers, the entire police department, the forest department and anyone with a smidgen of curiosity had gathered on the banks of the Ganges at Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh to witness what was to be one of the key stages of the Gharial Reintroduction Programme – the release of captive-bred gharial into the Ganges.
One hundred teeth that sit atop the food chain – and yet these jaws have never had a Hollywood blockbuster made about them. They should have though, I would have thought – gharial are fascinating enough. Like the more celebrated (but rather maligned) great white shark, in truth, the gharial has plenty to be proud of – as an indicator species, it testifies to the health of the river ecosystem it occupies, it is the only surviving descendant of the Gavialidae family of crocodilians, and finally, as a piscivore, it is harmless to humans.
An excerpt from the Editor’s note:
Dear readers,
Just as fascinating as the image on the cover of this issue’s Panda, is the story of how we came to acquire it.
If the legend of the mahseer’s Indo-Persian etymology is to be believed, then this is truly the tiger (“sher”) among fish (“mahi” ). And yet, when it comes to how well it is photographed, – or for that matter, studied – the mahseer stands nowhere close to the tiger.
It was beginning to seem like a photograph that truly captured the essence of this great fish did not exist. In all the images we had, the mahseer did not exist on its own; in all the images we had, the mahseer was a prize. And if there was no “life” in the photo, as our designer said disappointedly, it was because, in each, the mahseer was dead.
If this editorial seems only to bemoan the lack of photographs of a species, it is because it is precisely this that makes its conservation ever more difficult. If we can still draw a parallel between the tiger and the mahseer, it is that the two may be ultimately saved by the attention they receive (or are due to receive) not only in conservation circles, but also in circles without. Local communities, anglers and fly-fishers are such groups that must be encouraged in conservation. If it is just the photograph that anglers are after, then catch-and-release schemes bode well for the mahseer – the angler gets his photograph and the fish is free to live.
FEATURE STORIES
An extract
Somewhere in the Sundarbans, Asit Mondal’s voice rings clear over the humming of the crickets and the soft, steady sound of the river in the distance. The children of Tiplighiri sit huddled around him under the bright light of the solar lamp post as Asit narrates his story in a practiced tone.
“It happened 9 years ago, not very far from here. We were returning home after a day of fishing, three others and I, just as the sun was dipping below the trees.
And then in a flash of orange and black he was upon me – claws and teeth and wild fury. It was my bare, skinny arms against his claws of steel.
But I fought on, punching and kicking till he had had enough. He left in shame, unable to defeat even a feeble fisherman like me. But he left me this…”
Asit lifts his shirt to reveal the remnants of a deep gash running through his torso. The children gasp, as they do every time they hear the story. Asit Mondal may be a hero in the eyes of the children of his village, but the attack has left him with little else. He has since been unable to work and faces serious health problems.
Around 12 incidences of tigers straying into human settlements are recorded in the Sundarbans every year, a result of the expansion of human settlements that then spill onto tiger habitats. These lead to the tigers attacking cattle, sometimes humans, and in humans retaliating against the tigers.
Worrisome as this is, these instances of “human-wildlife conflict” can become rarer – when governments, organizations and local communities come together to help keep the peace.
EMAILERS
Body copy:
You used to like Mondays when you were a kid – you’d be waiting to go back to school and tell your friends what you did over the weekend; to play on the swings once more; to wear that smart uniform again.
But not all kids come back on Monday.
Every year, one of every two children in India drops out of school. That’s nearly half the school-going children in the country! The reasons for this are many – poverty, unfortunate circumstances, and social inhibition, among others. Here’s one that we found, which might be easier to eliminate – lack of #MondayMotivation for both teachers and students.
At Prajayatna, we’re hoping to make a change through the Quality Learning Initiative in Bellary, Karnataka, in consultation with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, reaching out to more than 16,000 students across nearly 300 government schools in the district. Through targeted learning techniques and by supplementing the skills of teachers in these schools, the aim is to make learning (and teaching!) easier and more enjoyable so that more students choose to stay in school and parents see real worth in educating them.
YOU can be part of this initiative too – and the first step is simple. When we have the right tools, we don’t mind going to work. So sponsor a student’s study material today – pencils, paper, crayons, stationary – and give them the tools for a better, brighter tomorrow.
Make them love Mondays – Sponsor a student’s study material for as little as Rs. 200/-!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Managed WWF-India and Earth Hour India’s social media strategy & posts from 2012 – 2017
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