Tigers, children's of hope

Help and save the tiger whith Planet tiger .... Tigers, childrens of hope

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contact me Frederic Geffroy    [email protected]

Introduction

 

Tigers, Children's of hope

Experiences with nature received at an early age represent the most important factor in personal development in relation to the environment (Palmer 1993; Tanner 1980 both cited in Wilson 1997). Such experiences are more meaningful when they build awareness that leads to positive action for environment. Using the tiger as a flagship species, a positive and measurable attitude change can be brought about in youth inhabiting the Central Indian tiger landscape in close proximity to the tiger. Thus a campaign focused on the tiger will lead to the conservation of its habitat and the species that come under this peak of the pyramid.

 Conservation efforts are more likely to succeed if they present messaging in the form of innovative campaigns targeting youth and children. For those living on the fringes of national parks, who are more exposed to human – wildlife conflict situations, guided visitation to national parks with the necessary and appropriate interpretation and focused campaigns can contribute towards environmental education in general and can also be the point of departure in nurturing environmental stewardship. 

 Implementing agencies

 Planete Tigre was created in 2011 by Frédéric Geffroy, its founding President.

 

Its mission is: the protection and the conservation of the tiger, in its natural environment and in direct collaboration with the local communities.

Planet Tiger intends to consolidate and develop its action in the thirteen tiger range countries of the world. One of the main initiatives for Planete Tigre is their major educational project: Tigers, the children of hope. The project is focused at raise awareness amongst children on the tiger, the importance of protecting this animal which faces extinction. Planete Tigre had previously conducted awareness under the campaign Tiger, children of hope for 3000 children in 12 schools.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nNByOWWR_w

 The association on one hand, works with local communities which live in the proximity of tigers, by providing them with relief in cases of human-tiger conflict. On the other hand, the association also works at building capacity for anti-poaching and enforcement to address tiger trade.

In conclusion, Planete Tigre wants to work closely various tiger range countries to safeguard the tigers through a multipronged approach.

 Wildlife Trust of India 

is a non-profit conservation organisation committed to protecting India’s natural heritage and is registered as a Trust; the organisation is on a mission to conserve wildlife and its habitat and to work for the welfare of individual wild animals, in partnership with communities and governments.

1. WTI is currently working on the following big ideas in our project collaborations in the Indian Subcontinent/South Asia:
2. Wild Lands: To secure critical habitats outside the traditional PA system, especially habitat linkages, wetlands, grasslands, community reserves, Important Bird Areas and sacred groves, thereby increasing the effective protected area of India by 1%.
3. Wild Aid: To provide at least 500 short term, focused and innovative aid at times of emergencies and conservation issues so as to nip problems in the bud and provide game changing solutions to age old problems.

iii.     Enforcement and Law: To combat key wildlife crime using trade control, litigation and capacity building techniques that demonstrably reduce poaching or trade in at least a dozen species or habitats.

1. Communities for Conservation: Reduce the dependence of at least a dozen local communities on wildlife or their habitats through ecologically appropriate livelihoods and people's participation in conservation.
2. Awareness for Conservation: Create a positive and measurable change in people's perceptions to improve the conservation and welfare of wildlife in India with at least a dozen planned campaigns.
3. Wild Rescue and Conflict Mitigation: To increase the welfare of individual displaced animals while enhancing conservation and pioneering science based rehabilitation, conflict mitigation and wildlife health across India and in doing so to save at least 5000 lives in the decade.

vii.     Species Recovery: To recover populations of at least six threatened species or sub-species by lowering their national or global status of threat through direct conservation action.

Project need:

The Central Indian landscape supports one third of the total tiger population in India (688 tigers as reported in Status of Tigers in India, 2014 published by Project Tiger) and has been identified as a global tiger conservation landscape. About half of these tigers live outside the Protected Area (PA) system. These "unprotected" areas are also inhabited by a large population of humans that create heavy pressure on the habitats with anthropogenic activities that fragment habitats. Fragmented habitats are not conductive to tiger movements and may also increase human-animal conflict. The need is to maintain fair connectivity by reducing human related pressure in critical areas. WTI is currently also working in the landscape with stakeholders- Forest department, village communities and enforcement agencies on securing critical connectivity for tiger movement and dispersal through ecology, sociology, litigation, training frontline forest staff and address human-wildlife conflict in the region. To ensure that youth and children are sensitized to all round conservation measures, an awareness campaign in the Central Indian tiger landscape is planned that will position the tiger as the pride of the region and enthuse the youth to take on stewardship for conservation of its habitat. The campaign is proposed to be prioritized in two areas- the Nagzira-Navegaon corridor (called Project Area 1 in this proposal) and Bandavgarh Tiger Reserve (called Project Area 2 in this proposal). WTI has been working in the Nagzira-Navegaon corridor since 2005 in the following interventions: with local communities to reduce their dependency on forests; on policy with the government to notify protected areas; on litigation to ensure protection of tiger corridors; on trade control to apprehend wildlife traders; on science through ecology and biology to ensure a good ecosystem for tigers to thrive. The need is now to sensitise local communities and visitors for positive action towards protection of tigers and their habitat and inculcate pride among the locals on their region as a prime tiger landscape. This proposal is on an awareness campaign that will be conducted by the implementing agencies WTI and Planete Tigre.

 

Project Area 1: The awareness campaign is proposed to be prioritized in the Nagzira - Navegaon tiger corridor that has an area of about 280 km2. This area is inhabited by about 90,000 people and 55,000 livestock and living in 89 villages (Map) (Census figures, Government of India, 2001). The villagers use about 327 km2 of forest land as per government records for various purposes. The presence and use by people create immense pressure on the wildlife corridor manifested by incidents of human animal conflict, livestock lifting by tigers and forest fires. Various news and reports confirm the severity of the problem in Navegaon-Nagzira, which has been proposed as a Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH). This region of the central Indian tiger landscape has an estimated 8-10 tigers.

 

 Priority villages and all settlements (inset) in Nagzira-Nawegaon corridor

 A survey of the corridor landscape on the presence or absence of animals and of anthropogenic pressures was done by WTI from 2005 to 2007. A vast majority of the villages surveyed own livestock (82%) which are majorly dependant (79%) on the forests for fodder (grasses). An overwhelming majority (92%) are dependent on firewood extracted from the forests. About half (54%) of the households are dependent on the forest for their timber requirements. Among non-timber forest produce, 60% dependence is on tendu (leaves of Diospyros melonoxylon) and 58% on mahua (Madhuca longifolia). These villages range in size from 25 households to 300 households.

 Humans regularly venture into the forests for their basic needs. The forests inhabited by tiger (Panthera tigris) and other co-predators such as Leopard (Panthera pardus), Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), Hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and wild dog (Cuon alpinus) and their prey species such as Four horned Antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), muntjac deer (Muntiacus puntoensis), wild boar (Sus scrofa), chital (Axis axis), and sambar (Rusa unicolor).

Project Area 2: Fringe areas of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

 

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh (Central India). It is among the 39 Tiger reserves in India and harbors a total population of 59 Tigers. Established in 1968, it is spread across an area of 437 sq. km. Apart from being popular as a biodiversity hotspot and a Tiger reserve it also supports the ancient tribal groups like Baigas and Gonds which now stay on the fringes of the Tiger reserve. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is a perfect blend of tribal culture and wild fauna which have learnt to co-exist over a time span of hundreds of years.
Its geographical positioning has gifted a repository of over 250 species of birds and 22 different species of mammals.

 Planete Tigre had previously conducted awareness under the campaign Tiger, children of hope for 3000 children in 12 schools. Besides educating them on the need to conserve tigers and the threats they face, they were also taken on field trips inside the tiger reserve to see firsthand, the tiger’s habitat. T-shirts, reading material, special comic book on tigers, caps etc were distributed as part of the campaign.

 Animal Action Education around the world and in India

Animal Action Education (AAE) is an awareness initiative that aims to educate, sensitise, raise awareness and generate interest in animal welfare and conservation issues, particularly amongst a wide base of school children and educators across the world. This program has been formally recognized as Educational Partner of UN International year for youth 2010-11, UN Decade for Biodiversity 2011-20 and UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-14.

The Animal Action education programme is the largest animal-focused educational activity in the world and draws participation of millions of children worldwide. It is run by WTI’s partner IFAW in 24+ countries and WTI has been conducting this in India since 2003. AAE education programmes empower young people and communities to take positive action for animals. Children learn to respect and appreciate endangered wildlife and helps local communities in Africa and Asia learn to live in harmony with wild animals.

Each AAE education kit packages animal welfare and conservation sensibilities in an exciting and understandable format - reaching out to young minds to trigger interest, action and involvement. 

The Central Indian landscape supports one third of the total tiger population in India (688 tigers as reported in Status of Tigers in India, 2014 published by Project Tiger) and has been identified as a global tiger conservation landscape. It is a priority area for Planete Tigre and WTI and focusing the campaign activities in the region therefore ties up very well with existing project activities in the region.

Tiger, children of hope : Proposed awareness campaign

As part of Planete-Tigre collaboration with WTI in India, under the project, Tiger, children of hope a campaign called The Tiger and the forest will be undertaken. The idea behind the project is to raise awareness among a large proportion of children living near tiger reserves, with the desire to make them understand that it is essential to protect and save tigers in their natural environment. Ultimately, Planet Tigre wants to extend the project to the 13 tiger range countries, such as Russia

The goal of the proposed campaign is to raise awareness among targeted school children who live in the identified project areas, about the significance of tigers and protected areas and to sensitize them to understand their responsibilities to their environment. The campaign messaging would help sensitized children and youth to grow as informed citizens who can take positive action towards preserving their pride – the tiger in central India.

The campaign among children and youth will be planned to dovetail with an existing project called Animal Action Education (AAE) conducted by WTI and devised by its partner IFAW on the theme “Born to be Wild- Saving the majestic tigers”. This global campaign will be given a local appeal beginning with a catchy local name- Waghoba ani Van in project areas in Maharashtra and Baghdeo aur Van in Project Areas in Madhya Pradesh (both translating to The tiger and the forest) and specially designed collaterals with relevant messaging.

 

 

Methodology of Animal Action Education:

 All participating schools are provided FREE activity packs comprising a teacher’s guide, lessons, activities and a short film for children, based on the theme. Using these packs, the schools are encouraged to engage their students in AAE activities to inculcate in them a respect for animals and nature. The teachers are also encouraged to innovate and implement activities that may have the greatest impact on their students.

 This instructional pack can be adapted for varied classroom use - from science and environment lessons to drama and writing. Co-curricular activities - debates, quiz competitions, painting and essay competitions etc are also arranged as part of the AAE activities.

 In addition to these activities, students of the participating schools become eligible for a national competition. Winners are given attractive awards and citations. To get the teachers involved with greater zeal, schools and teachers organising the best innovative and effective activities are also awarded.

 

To make the activity packs more relevant to participating schools in regions across India, teachers and co-ordinators have been encouraged to devise locally relevant activities, such as painting boundary walls with animals of the nearest Manas National Park by Bodo students celebrating the status of Manas as a UNESCO World heritage Site, using traditional art forms of rangoli (floor painting with powdered colour) in Central India, volunteering as Wildlife Watchers in Central India or beach cleaning activities in the coastal state of Gujarat.

 Waghoba ani Van/Baghdeo aur Van:

Tiger conservation awareness campaign in the project areas

 Planete Tigre has been conducting Conservation awareness in their own capacities in India for some years. WTI has conducted structured campaigns to a great degree of success, such as the Anti Shahtoosh campaign, Save the Whale Shark Campaign, Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign and Animal Action Education. AAE has been operational throughout the country since 2003 by engaging participating schools individually or through developing tie-ups with educational agencies to reach out to a larger audience. The globally applicable AAE activity packs are made locally relevant through translations and adding local content to engage the target audiences. The tiger themed activity pack for educators’ use will be supplemented with a specially designed poster or comic book incorporating the popular icon of Waghoba or Baghdeo the tiger.

 The following activities are proposed to be conducted in the campaign areas:

 Identification of schools and enlisting them for awareness activities: The focus would be on schools in the tiger corridor and to cover about 3000 schools in the 5 year period.

This will also include placing posters at strategic locations in targeted villages to invite interest and participation.

1. Activity Packs: Tiger themed activity packs in the local language will be produced based on the need identified through the pre campaign survey results.

1. Localisation of activity packs: The existing activity packs address global issues on the respective themes. To make it more relevant to the region, additional content will be generated, such as comic books, posters, etc. creating supplements to the packs that address regional conservation issues, threats and solutions, with respect to the theme.

1. Translation of the activity packs: All these packs (including the documentaries) will be translated into Hindi to reach out to the rural schools in campaign areas.

1. Distribution of activity packs and training teachers. Each school representative who will co-ordinate the activities in their schools, will be provided an activity pack for FREE. Relevant educators will be trained on making the most of these activity packs, through workshops, local events or school visits that will be conducted by the campaign officer in a specially designed campaign van.

1. Competitions for students: Competitions at the local level will be held for students of the participating schools to provide encouragement and motivate others for participation. These will include traditional rangoli art and painting competition and will be conducted preferably on major community festival days for widespread exposure of the children’s art and campaign messaging. The entries will be documented as images by the campaigns officer.

1. State-level awards for schools: As educators play a vital role in spreading awareness among school children, schools will also be eligible for an annual state-level Nature Educator Award. The award will be based on the efficacy with which AAE and associated activities are conducted through the year. The evaluation will be done with the help of the feedback form which will allow teachers to list out activities they have conducted along with relevant evidence including photos, videos and news reports.

1. Guided tours: Selected students and teachers from the project area and contest winners will be invited to visit the nearest tiger reserves as an educational trip subject to an agreement with the forest department on permissions and a waiver of entry fees.

1. Production of branded collaterals: A colourful campaign vehicle will be designed on the Waghoba (tiger) theme that will travel to campaign locations with the messaging. This is described in detail in Annexure 1. Branded giveaways such as universally used cloth bags on the Waghoba theme with organisers’ and supporters’ logos will be given out to the coordinating teachers and participating students. This will not just help in brand recall, but also prove an incentive for the students and the teachers.

1. Teachers’ workshop on their crucial role in wildlife conservation and animal welfare: In order to implement the campaign among school children more effectively, workshops will be held for teachers of participating schools before they take on the activities. The campaign vehicle – the Waghoba/Baghdeo Van will carry the campaign officer who will train the teacher/co-ordinators at various villages. Efforts will be made to conduct two major workshops annually by inviting teachers in manageable groups of 50, from nearby schools and village clusters. The workshop will stress upon the crucial role of teachers in securing India’s natural heritage. It will also give the teachers an overview on effective implementation of AAE and open their minds to other green activities that can be conducted through the year with the participation of their students. Branding opportunities would be available at such workshop events on all collaterals.

1. Impact Assessment:

Pre-, Mid- and Post- activity questionnaires: To evaluate impact of the campaign activities, pre- Mid- and post- activity questionnaires will be a part of the school activity pack. This will help calculate percentage increase in children’s knowledge on the campaign theme.

Additionally, impact will also be evaluated based on Teachers’ feedback on the activities conducted. The teachers’ feedback form will be created and made a part of the activity pack.

1. Ensuring sustainability: The sustained campaign activities across five years will help develop ties with schools and teachers. The workshops and constant interaction with these educators will help them understand effective implementation of the campaign and will create a sensitized group of nature educators. Incentivising the winners through annual park visits by collaborating with the forest department will help mainstream some awareness activities into the forest department calendars. Conducting local competitions on community festival days will also integrate the message of conservation with a focus on the flagship species- the tiger- into the community celebrations, thus enabling pride in the populace.

It is hoped that with the sustained focus on developing and encouraging knowledge and curiosity about tigers specifically and on wildlife in general we will not only have an impact on the fringe communities who are directly interlinked with tiger conservation in the landscape but also promote the nurturing of environmental stewardship among these children.

Brand visibility

As the campaign Waghoba ani Van/Baghdeo aur Van reaches out to thousands of schools and is striving to reach out to more, the partner logo will be featured

• On the campaign vehicle
• On each of the activity packs, reaching all participating schools
• On collaterals and handouts reaching teachers and students of these schools
• On certificates and awards given to winning students, teachers and schools
• On Planete Tigre’s and WTI’s website and social media platforms that has a constantly growing follower base
• During events – collaterals at award ceremonies and teachers’ workshops

 

Media outreach: Partners will be featured on all documents given out to the media who are keen on writing about the Waghoba ani Van/Baghdeo aur Van campaign or Animal Action Education in India.

Objectives

• To promote an understanding of the uniqueness of the local environment, natural heritage, history, health and sustainability that the landscapes offer
• To increase awareness among the local communities, children and teachers (of targeted schools) on the sustainable use of natural resources and need for conservation of wildlife
• To instill an ownership value for the local natural resources and thereby create a force of young guardians for the forests
• To optimize the educational experience of children and teachers visiting the Sanctuaries and National Parks.

 

Environmental awareness and stewardship are vital to the development of a changed mindset. A campaign vehicle with a special tiger focused design localized using the popular name Waghoba/Baghdeo and with supporter branding will be used extensively in the campaign area of the Nagzira-Navegaon corridor and Bandhavgarh NP. The vehicle will be adorned with messaging and will be customised to serve as a mobile interpretation centre for school children living in the tiger corridor. The vehicle will be a one of its kind information source on tiger conservation in the central Indian tiger landscape, with short films and collaterals for workshops and local distribution.

 

The vehicle will have on board a Field officer and driver cum field assistant to implement the awareness activities and have a projector, portable generator and film screen to enable screening of wildlife films in remote locations. The vehicle will travel through villages covering the entire landscape and create strong branding for the project supporters.

STOP ! STOP ! STOP

Save the tigers with Planet Tiger

 

Copyright Anjan AL

Partners, sponsors I need your support

contact me Frederic Geffroy    [email protected]