Environment

71

landscape, and the stage was set to take on

more ambitious programmes,’ says Kedar Gore.

TCF’s holistic approach to conservation,

besides human-wildlife conflict mitigation

and human and veterinary health, includes

other aspects like ecological research,

biodiversity conservation, watershed

development, sustainable rural development,

policy and advocacy. TCF has a habitat

restoration project in Shahdol Forest Division

and another in Kutch, Gujarat. It has a

reforestation project in Kanha in Madhya

Pradesh (MP). It has provided energy-

efficient cookstoves to the forest-dependent

communities of Bandhavgarh in MP, Tansa

Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra and

Tamenglong in Manipur. It also works to save

many endangered species including the Great

Indian Bustard.

TCF empowers the marginalized forest

communities to be a crucial part of conservation

efforts through providing vocational skills

training and alternate livelihoods. ‘For example,

if we are asking people to stop cutting trees to

make cattle sheds, we ensure that we provide

them with a sustainable alternative to wood for

making cattle sheds. If we tell the community

to stall feed their cattle instead of free and open

grazing in forests, we provide them with the

option of harvesting grass and other fodder

from protected reforested plots.’

HCLTech Grant Project Title:

Guardians of

Grasslands

Beneficiaries:

130 households, 817

community members, 4551 livestock

Location:

16 villages in Gujarat

Pastures managed in scientific ways teem with indigenous grasses and diverse species of wildlife

Following pages (72–73):

A fence to manage wildlife incursions into fields