Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh: An Anti-poaching training program organized by the Van Rakshak Project of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (TR) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh enabled forest staff to test their freshly acquired knowledge on legal aspects of wildlife protection immediately after their training session on the evening of 3 rd November.

Forest staff returning from Sonaripur, situated in Dudhwa National Park were returning to their headquarters after the training program when they spotted the carcass of a wild boar on the road.

Following instructions they had received earlier on the same day as part of training, they checked the body temperature of the boar and figured out that the incident was a very recent one. The trail led them to a tractor and they started interrogating the driver At first he denied any involvement but when some forest guards commented that there were tell-tale blood stains on the mudguard, he had no option but to admit his fault. The tractor was taken to Dudhwa Range Head Quarters and the incident was reported to the Deputy Director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Following this, a case was compounded for an amount of Rs 30,000/-.

The Guardians of the Wild Programme known in Indian languages as the Van Rakshak Programme is designed to look after those who look after wildlife and its habitat. It seeks to provide these guardians the kind of support they need on the field, be it tangible, infrastructural support or job enrichment inputs. It includes, therefore, morale boosting training and awards, equipping them with essential anti-poaching apparatus, as well as monetary support in the form of insurance and ex-gratia.

An intensive and a general Anti-poaching training program from 30 th of October to the 10 th of November were the first of their kind to be held in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Enthusiasm ran high among the forest staff belonging to this TR. The training programs took place in three Protected Areas (PAs), namely Dudhwa National Park , Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary.

The training was conducted by Program Manager, Dr. Rakesh. K. Singh with legal technical help from M. S. Kachhawa, D. P. Singh and WTI’s legal advisor Ritwick Dutta. Lectures on Wildlife Crime prevention and various case studies were interspersed with quiz sessions. Information and literature on the Wildlife Protection Act (Hindi) were also distributed to the participants along with anti- poaching kits.

WTI’s newly inducted Program Officer Arjun Rammohan, who attended a training program for the first time, observed, “With lectures delivered in Dr Kachhawa’s inimitable style coupled with Rakesh’s earthy humour and Ritwick’s earnestness, there was never a dull moment and the participants can only have benefited from the exercise.”

Almost 50 Range Officers and foresters attended an intensive training module that was held on 30 th and 31 st of October. Deputy Director. P. P. Singh and Assistant Conservator of Forests Mr. Y. P. Shukla also attended the program. As many as 400 forest staff participated in the general training program which focused on crime prevention and law. This session was held between 1 st and 10 th of November.

A team from Nepal led by Area Forest Officer, Bodh Raj Subedi, who were silent spectators to the intensive training appreciated the work and expressed their eagerness to participate in such programs in future.

As Singh rightly observed, “the knowledge the forest staff possess is inadequate to deal with ground realities. Considering the response that we have received here, such programs should be held at least once a year. These programmes would go a long way in boosting the morale of the staff in Dudhwa TR.”