One of the young volunteers monitoring animal presence

Nagzira-Navegaon, June 20, 2015: Data analysis of the information collected by four young watchers from three villages was analysed by WTI team revealed presence of 15 different species of wild animals in Nagzira Navegaon corridor in Maharashtra. Earlier, three children and a young man from the corridor villages were enrolled as Village Wildlife Watchers to document wildlife and collect data from their respective villages.

A total of 15 different animal species were encountered by four watchers in three villages. Animals are counted as and when they were seen in group or individually, and time of sighting and the location of sightings were recorded. The data on animal sightings near Jhambulpani village was excluded as the sighting time was not recorded.

The animal sighting data collected was sorted according to the time of sighting as morning (till 12 o’clock), afternoon (till 4 pm) and evening (after 4pm). In Garada village (Gondia Chandrapur railway line), wild animal sightings were found to be the highest (significantly high from the other areas) during the morning hours due to the presence of volunteer during that particular time period. The sighting of nilgai, spotted deer and wild boar is significantly high in all the villages.

Pankaj Bhure, another volunteer, documenting wildlife presence in corridors

Children and youth in rural areas often wander into the nearby forests either for fun, pleasure or the curiosity to explore. “During these excursions, they come across interesting information which is sometimes shared with family and villagers, but mostly they keep it to themselves due to the fear of being reprimanded by adults for venturing into areas that are labelled as dangerous,” said Anil Kumar, who is working closely with the community as a sociologist on WTI’s project.

For conservation purposes, this information could prove to be vital in the management and protection of forests and protected areas. Keeping this in mind, WTI decided to enrol some of these children as Village Wildlife Watchers for such an initiative. The team zeroed down on students who had participated in IFAW-WTI’s Animal Action Education (AAE) programme in the corridor villages and schools in 2014. Three school boys and one youth volunteered to document wildlife related information which they would encounter while walking around agriculture fields, villages and forest area. Finally, the activity got a head start on November 14, 2015, celebrated across India as Children’s Day.

WTI along with its partners the Ecosystem Alliance, Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has been working with the communities and State Forest Department for the conservation of the corridor between Nagzira and Nawegaon Tiger Reserves in the state. WTI started its intervention in the conservation of the corridor in 2011 after the corridor occupancy survey was completed on the presence of wild animals. The survey revealed that the dependence of communities on the corridor forests for fuelwood, grazing, besides collection of minor forest products was posing a major threat to the long-term sustainability of the corridor.