Valmikinagar, 18^thJanuary, 2022:

Wildlife Trust of India has been working actively in the Terai landscape (in the administrative state of UP and Bihar), which includes six important Protected Areas of the region. The team has been involved in enforcement activities, capacity-building amongst State Forest Departments and monitoring the illegal wildlife trade and other wildlife crime activities that happen along the porous border shared with Nepal.

While our team assists the Forest Department to carry out necessary trainings on wildlife crime prevention, negative impact of snaring as well as illegal wildlife trade, what makes our work create significant impact is the supportive role played by the Village Vigilance Volunteers (V3). V3 members are active, enthusiastic participants from villages that border forest fringes and are always on the lookout for any wildlife crime intelligence, infiltration or trespassing in the forest as well as timely relaying information on injured wild animals – and these happen to be only a few duties in their widened role!

Valmiki’s Village Vigilance Volunteers

Earlier this week, our team organised a joint event, with the support of the Bihar Forest Department,at the Ganauli villagenear the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, in Bihar. The event witnessed the participation of 25 V3 members and the head of the village from the Ganauli village to address the crucial role that communities play in conservation. Our team asserted the importance of conservation and how it is the need-of-the-hour, especially in an area like Valmiki Tiger Reserve. The guest of honour for the event was Block Development Committee member, Sh. Monish Kumar, who shared his experience of the rich biodiversity that the region supports. He also encouraged the youth to keep authorities informed about any wildlife crime activity that they may hear about.

Across the event, V3 members shared their experiences as members of this initiative and how they felt positive about the impact they are creating. They participated in the discussion that followed, which concluded with the distribution of warm fleece jackets to the members along with calendars by WTI Field Officer, Mr. Sheikh Marifatul Haq. These warm jackets will help the V3 members to brave the cold weather and continue helping our team work closely in the prevention of wildlife crime.

V3 members were also given a briefing on the harmful impact of snaring on the wildlife of the region. They were requested to be highly vigilant on the presence of snares along the forest fringes and in villages that share borders with forests. More often than not, in order to protect their crops from being marauded by wild animals, local communities install snares which lead to the entrapment of smaller animals such as wild boars and even bigger animals such as tigers, leopards and elephants, who become unsuspected victims.

Members were encouraged to participate in anti-snare walks which are held by the Bihar Forest Department and WTI team at regular intervals and involved combing the forest boundaries for snares. By encouraging the local communities to participate, not only will they learn more about the impact that snaring causes but also be t about how to actively curb it.

Community led forest management

Valmiki Tiger Reserve supports a healthy population of tigers, leopards, sloth bears, spotted dears, as well as a host of other important bird and plant species. As it shares borders with another country, the region is highly sensitive when it comes to poaching activities, which is why additional vigilance is always required. By involving local communities, who live in close quarters of the forest, this additional vigilance and assistance to enforcement agencies as well as the Bihar Forest Department is achieved.

Such important sessions with the local communities instill a sense of duty, responsibility and confidence among the youth, making them involved in activities that concern the forest and the wildlife that they share their home with. Recently, WTI had released anti-snare posters to raise awareness about the issue. You can read more about it here.