“Everything was same that morning, except when I realised that there was smoke rising from the forest nearby. An emergency call from my Range Forest Officer (RFO) took me out of my slumber, and I left to look into the matter. A little upset, it was difficult for me to leave behind my wife and three-month-old child, unaware of the fire. The tough situation that I was going to fight with, had already claimed lives of frontline staff in the past.

With another colleague, we went straightaway to the office of the field director. There we met Mr Venkat Naidu, who is working with Wildlife Trust of India and has been instrumental in creating wildlife awareness in the area. WTI has been actively conducted training as well as had provided us with relief materials in such kind of emergency situations.

We were informed that the fire embers were still alive and burning. We quickly moved towards Alasthikatte APC after patrolling in the fire-affected area to see any causalities of wild animals. Vehicles from the fire department were also with us. Alas, our enemy in this battle was fire, and we really needed some help from the experts.

Forest fires are quite frequent in Bandipur National Park. But with the growing number of lantana and gregariously flowered dried bamboos, the park had turned into a tinderbox this year. And the untimeliness of rains adds to it. By the time we reached the field, the fire had already spelt doomed on a significant part of the forest. All now we had in control was to ensure that the remaining embers of fire were put out and was stopped at once.

We were quick to get into our work. I started extinguishing the embers that we could see in the form of half-burned tree logs and branches. We used fire suppressants to extinguish the fire. By the time these embers were destroyed, it was already evening. Our entire team thought that we have won the battle, but this war against fire was far from being over. It was around 7:00 in the evening when we got the news that the fire somehow got reignited. Perhaps a strong wind and crackling bamboo led to another bout of fire, challenging us to another round of struggle in its mightiest form. I heard it from my colleague while I had my dinner and we quickly rushed off as soon as we got the news. When we reached the field, all I could see and sense were smoke and immense heat, respectively. One of the watchers told me that the fire was quickly spreading due to the windy situation in the evening. We promptly got into work and started to isolate the wildfire spread by starting small counter fires and halting its spread anymore. This time controlling the fire was extremely difficult due to two main reasons. The first was low visibility and secondly this time, we were dealing with the live-fire resulting in immense heat and increased chances of being caught up in the live flames. Luckily for us, the counter fire which we had started, worked out well in stopping the wildlife spread any further and we were able to contain the fire from spreading.

[acx_slideshow name=”bandi”]

It was almost 18 hours since I left my home. But not for a moment, I regretted. The battle we were fighting was finally over.  With the onset of monsoons, the park will be back to its former state of glory. Amidst those charred carcasses of wild animals and burnt logs, life will flourish again.

Around two months later, I was called again to the directors’ office regarding a case where few men were caught herding their cattle on the fringe of National Park. We threatened them but let them off with a warning to be jailed if they are ever caught herding in the national park again. What I can’t forget were a few words from a villager ‘Mundina varsha benkisamayadali nimmanu nann noduttene’ (next year during the fire season, I will see you all).”

Following is an excerpt from the interview of one of the forest guards in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. In the interview, the forest guard tells about various challenges that he faced in the recent forest fires that engulfed Bandipur National Park. He also describes how the forest department from the support of other people and organisations like WTI was instrumental in containing the wildfire spread furthermore.

Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in partnership with the Karnataka Forest Department and with support from Fondation SEGRE conducted a three-day training programme to train, equip and boost the morale of frontline forest staff under its Van Rakshak Project (VRP) from 3rd June to 5th June. One can read in detail about VRP here https://www.wti.org.in/projects/wildlife-crime-control-division/

The training curriculum included legal and enforcement aspects of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as well as wildlife crime prevention components such as the basics of anti-poaching patrolling techniques, intelligence gathering, informer network and handling, search and seizure, interrogation, hunting communities, crime scene investigation and the preparation of Preliminary Offence Reports. Trainees from the forest department were also briefed on relevant provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Proceedings, and the powers conferred on them therein for the prosecution of wildlife crimes.

The training program was inaugurated by Mr Balachandra, Conservator of Forest (CF) Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The first session was taken by Mr Jose Louis, Chief, WTI-WCCD, who briefed the officers on the topics of law enforcement and intelligence gathering. It was followed by a training session conducted by Mr Ravindra, Assisstant Director State Forensic Science Laboratory, Bangalore, wherein the participants were trained regarding wildlife crime forensics, ballistics as well as proper procedures for evidence documentation and collection. Mr V G Bandi covered topics relating to the legal aspects of wildlife crime. Also, Mr Honbe Gowda took a session regarding hunting practices that are adopted in cases pertaining to wildlife crime.

WTI has been conducting such Wildlife Crime Prevention Training programme under its Van Rakshak Project (VRP) since 2001. Over 17100 frontline forest personnel have been trained in over 138 Protected Areas across 18 states. VRP follows a multi-pronged strategy with four thrust areas abbreviated as TEAM: Training, Equipping, Awareness and Morale Boosting, to build capacity and strengthen the spirit of personnel in severe field conditions.