A specially curated workshop with 120 frontline forest officers undergoing training at the Forest Training Centre (FTC)-Kakrapar, Dept. of Forests, Govt. of Gujarat was organised by WTI’s Whale Shark project team in Gujarat as a part of nationwide celebrations of Wildlife Week from 2nd to 8th October 2024. 

Mr. Farukhkha Bloch, Manager & Project Head, delivering a presentation for forest trainees at the FTC-Kakrapar seminar hall

This workshop was hosted at the campus of FTC-Kakrapar with an aim to educate and sensitise the frontline forest trainees and inculcate awareness among them about the conservation of coastal and marine wildlife by sharing learnings and best practices from nationally awarded and internationally recognised PPP conservation projects on whale sharks implemented jointly by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Forest Department with support from Tata Chemicals Ltd since past two decades on Gujarat coast.

Mr. Farukhkha Bloch, Manager & Project Head, PAN India Whale Shark conservation project of WTI led the session in the presence of Shri. A. T.  Choudhury and Shri. B.B. Solanki, Range Forest Officers at FTC-Kakrapar.  The trainee participants were given a detailed understanding of key campaign strategies rolled out and multidimensional conservation approaches and best practices undertaken collaboratively by the diverse group of stakeholders on the Gujarat coast, which has been further extended to the other concerned maritime states of India, including Kerala coast and Lakshadweep islands. 

120 frontline forest officers participated in the workshop hosted by WTI and Gujarat Forest Department

While sharing the field experiences, Mr. Farukh significantly focused on the role of frontline forest officers in dealing with the coastal communities while responding to the rescues of accidentally entangled whale sharks and the documentation procedures undertaken by the field staff for net loss compensation paid by the forest department, which was recently increased to double the amount up to INR 50,000. The entire session was well received by all the trainee participants which was witnessed by their active participation in the Q/A and feedback session after the presentation. Project collaterals and information brochures were handed over to all the trainees and a group photo with a life-sized inflatable model of a whale shark was arranged with all the participants.