2 Projects on Leopard Conservation (Deadline : Feb 25, 2013)
Jalpesh Mehta
Dear Friends,
It was great pleasure meeting you on Sunday and had a great fun trking and brainstorming at the Nagla block, SGNP.
The Members present were : Jalpesh Mehta, Mitesh Panchal, Sheetal Mehta, Bhavik Parikh, Kaushal Satam, Supriya Satam, Atin Nigam, Krishnakant Mathuria, Abhay Naik, Sachin Prakash, Darshan Parekh, Imran and Prachi. Some members had confirmed but could not make it.
Also, to introduce you to three of our Core team members, involved with Empower Foundation since long, who could not come to the Sunday meeting – Jayesh Kini – Jayesh is a banker and a who have been fantastic wildlife photographer, Suntik Panchal – is an architect and a Snake lover and rescuer and Nupur Kothari – who is an interior designer and a wildlife enthusiast visiting 4-5 forests / national parks every year with track record of working on tribal rehabilitation from forests.
The sheer fact that each one of you had woken up at 4.30 AM in the morning to start the trek at 6.15 shows the passion for wildlife and nature and also the cause of conservation. Now, the question will be of how much time one can give. This will be subjective and varying with individuals and their current commitments, but here are 2 projects, EMPOWER FOUNDATION is rolling out. We are working on these since a while and will need to move in a constructive way, with a deadline of Feb 25, 2013 for both. One is a Field project and one is a Desk project. Having said that one can volunteer for both or one and can also participate in the other on convenience, but the main responsibility would be of a one project. Below is a brief on both :
(1) PROJECT AAREY (Field based project)
Background : As we know, Aarey doesn’t fall under SGNP and Thane Forest Dept has a jurisdiction on the same, which is unpractical from a logistics perspective. Also, the forest has its sensitivities of the increase attacks and there are no rescue team here. Since the same doesn’t fall under either SGNP, or BMC or Aarey (Some areas do), there is No ownership from a forest and environment perspective.
Project : Project Aarey is to do an analytical field exercise including Census of Leopards and submit a report to Principal Secretary (IAS), Animal Husbandary & Dairy and Forest and Environement. There will be a presentation at Mantralaya and respective offices also.
Objective : This will help us evolve with the (1) No of Leopards (2) Movements / Territories (3) Concerns (4) Best practices if any, with the help of which the government would be able to build a strategy around.
Broad steps
(1) Mapping Aarey and collecting data from Aarey Police and Milk Co-op on
· Pada details – Name, History (since when)
· No of households (New and Old) and source of living (broad/generic)
· No of people 10 years back and now, and data on Immigrants (state and caste etc)
· Schools in the pada
· Municipal conditions – Light, Garbage and Toilets status
· Mapping it on the google map and
· History of Man-Animal conflict (broad details).
We have people in the Police who would help with the data, but our team will have to sit with them and spend some time. If they (eg. Aarey dairy or police) do not co-operate, we can escalate this.
(2) Identifying crucial padas and meeting relevant people to understand from them about the conflict. (Each pada discussion would take 10-15 mins only, as we have done in No 25 and No 26 padas)
(3) Doing Census of Leopard based on scientific methods and by pug marks, droppings, nail marks, urinary marks etc and ascertain the sex (Male/Female), age, Health and size of the Leopard
(4) Camera Trapping – CCF, SGNP has agreed to give us Camera Traps for capturing the Leopards.
(5) Preparation of the report, submission and presentation. Some friends from the Media want us to work on this and would am sure cover this unique initiative, if done fast and in time!
Time required – 4-5 hours on
Friday (night), Saturday/Sunday X 2 Weekends
Team Members required – 4-5
(2) PROJECT LEOPARD (Desk based project)
Background : As you all are aware that there is something called "Project Tiger". There are huge funds available to protect and conserve the Tiger. There is a huge recognition from Indian corporates and dignitaries on the same (Save the Tiger, NDTV, Amitabh Bachchan etc) Like, Project Tiger, I came across something called Project Elephant also !!! . ( http://moef.nic.in/pe/pe.html / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Elephant)
Project : As far as what I could gather, there is nothing on Leopard very specifically...as a Project as large as Elephant or Tigers and am sure no earmarked funds !! Havent yet been able to find something on Leopard, besides some papers of GOI on Conflict etc.
Objective : Suggest that Team Empower represents to the Govt of Maharashtra and Govt of India to look at PROJECT LEOPARD. This is an important Policy level decision and requires good online / internet based research on Leopards in India, Asia and abroad. We will get a lot of content online and thus we need to create an analytical project proposal and meet / fwd it to Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon'ble Minister of Env & Forests, Govt. of India and also to Shri Patangrao Kadam, Hon'ble Minister at Maharashtra with a presentation on the same.
Broad Steps : Ideally it should
(1) Cover the background
(2) Data available online (No of leopards per state, deaths – eg. I have press release which says 1 leopard dies in India every day). We shall divide the roles…Each team member can look at various aspects like (i) Leopard population and conflict data in West and South India, (ii) Same in North , NE and Central, (iii) International scenario on Leopards and best practices (iv) Project Tiger and Project Elephant and data reg the same. (v) Illegal trade practices on Leopards and market size etc.
(3) Issues and Confict situations (There is an article on statewise details
(4) Recommendation (This is the most important aspect)
Ideally, this is a netbased research and findings, collecting whatever one can get on net and copy pasting ina word doc with the Link details below, for ref. and putting into a proposal, which we will edit and formalize into a main proposal. Our report to be mailed to the Ministers by March 1, 2013. And the same can be followed up with the Ministry to some conclusion. This way, there can be some positive impact for Leopard- the poor cousin of the Tiger, who takes away most of the funds... have no issues in that, but our friend should also get its due !!!
These are very broad thoughts and each team will decide the details and eay ahead collectively. We shall discuss the nitty-gritties of each of the projects in detail with the Core team formed.
Do share your views on which Project you would be keen to participate in. You may mail the same on teame...@gmail.com and also if you have any views or thoughts. Also, do feel free to call me anytime. You can also call Mitesh Panchal on 9821918623) for Project Aarey and Nupur Kothari (9833001800) for Project Leopard. Once we have confirmed members on the project we will have a meeting / concall on the same,
Look forward for an active participation and making some difference at the Policy levels.
PN – If you want to invite some like minded friends on this project, who will be serious about the cause and have a long term view on the same, please do invite them one on one (Pl do not mark or discuss these projects on Facebook / Open forums as they are confidential and meant only for the Core team members)
--JALPESH MEHTA
The Wild India - EMPOWER FOUNDATION
Mumbai, India
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Suntik
Abhay Naik
Sachin Naik
............!! om sainathay namah: !!...........
with Regards
-sachin naik.....