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(June 09, 2020) By Aashika Ravi“Before 2009, we had never planted a mangrove before, we were working on wildlife and tigers. Cyclone Aila was an eye-opener for us ﹘ whatever you do in the Sundarbans, it has to be mangrove conservation in essence. If the mangroves are not there, the wildlife won’t be there, the people won’t be there, the delta won’t be there.” Ajanta Dey, Joint Secretary and Program Director, Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), a conservation N...

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(May 13, 2020) During the COVID-19 lockdown, WCS-India staff came together to contribute personal funds towards the procurement and distribution of relief materials for communities they work with on the ground.WCS-India staff efforts also saw 185 families of Masthigudi and 60 families of Sollepura relocation center in Nagarahole receive more than 250 kits on April 26 at a time when essential items have been hard to come by.Field teams distributing relief materials in NagaraholeFunds were mobilized through staf...

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(May 11, 2020) WCS-India's COVID-19 relief work is ongoing in our Sollepura relocation center. We partnered with Sathya Sai Seva Trust, Mysore in order to distribute relief materials to 75 families in the Sollepura relocation center on May 9.Distribution of relief material in Sollepura relocation centerThe relief materials included food items, soaps, washing soaps and masks.Distribution of relief material in Sollepura relocation center"My sincere thanks to WCS-India team for their generous contribution towards...

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(May 08, 2020) WCS-India's efforts towards providing COVID-19 relief materials for forest communities continues with the distribution of relief material and sensitization of communities in Kawal.Distribution of masks in KawalThe WCS team has started distributing 750 masks, covering three villages – Mysempet-Gondiguda, Mysempet-Naikapoduguda, and Rampur. Before the masks are distributed, a 45-minute interactive awareness session is conducted on symptoms of COVID-19, how masks can help, social-distancing, ...

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(April 07, 2020) In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of the nation, the safety and livelihood of forest communities has been shrouded in uncertainty.At this juncture, inspiration can be taken from the Kerala Forest Department’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus within forest communities in the state. The Department has proactively put in place a series of measures to support them during the lockdown enforced by the Centre.Kerala forest officials providing rations to fo...

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(March 03, 2020) February 19, 2020: The Namdapha Tiger Reserve of Arunachal Pradesh, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Regional Office, Guwahati, and WCS-India conducted a training module for field personnel on wildlife law enforcement and combating wildlife trafficking at the headquarters of the Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh from Feb 19 to 21. Two researchers from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun (WII) were also invited to train field staff on the use of patrol software MSTrIPES dev...

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(February 28, 2020) The Great Indian Bustard has long been Critically Endangered, having disappeared from 90% of its former range in India. A Ministry of Environment report prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) estimated a 75% reduction in population in the last 30 years. The largest remaining population is found in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. Conservation efforts have intensified in the recent past, yet significant threats to the bird’s survival remain. The panel on ‘The Final Flight...

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(February 28, 2020) February 25, Coimbatore: The Tamil Nadu Forest Academy (TNFA), the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and WCS-India organized a two-day workshop from February 25-26 aimed at building capacity of Forest Range Officers to detect wildlife contraband and improve investigation to ultimately facilitate higher conviction rates. As many as 28 Forest Range Officers from across the state attended the training arranged on the TNFA premises in Coimbatore. Forest Range Officers in TN attend a training on ille...

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(February 27, 2020) The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) was hosted by India at Gandhinagar, Gujarat from the 15th to the 22nd of February, 2020. The theme of the meeting was ‘Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home’. The WCS-India Marine Conservation Program organised a side-event on 20th February, titled Navigating Troubled Waters: Conserving India’s Vast Marine...

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(February 26, 2020) 26 February 2020, Bengaluru: Mr. Luke Warwick, Associate Director for Sharks and Rays program at WCS, New York, USA and Mr. Daniel Fernando, Co-Founder of the Blue Resources Trust in Sri Lanka, visited the WCS-India office in Bengaluru on February 26th. The day-long meeting involved Prakriti Srivastava, Director, WCS-India, and WCS-India’s Marine team briefing the visitors on the current projects and the upcoming Sharks and Rays project in India.Mr. Warwick spoke about the WCS’s Shar...

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