International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of September every year to commemorate a most vital and critically endangered  component of our ecosystem - the Vulture. Across all its divisions, TCF celebrated IVAD 2015 on September 5 and through the week that followed with a mission - to stop dicelofenac use in cattle treatment, to promote the use of the safe-drug meloxicam and to spread awareness about the importance of vultures, their decline and conservation measures.Through movie screenings and presentations to more than 1000 school children in Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Corbett, Kutch and Kaziranga, young minds were encouraged to become the vulture stewards of the future. Livestock Inspectors (LI) in villages were informed about the ill-effects of diclofenac on vultures and the availability of meloxicam. Despite diclofenac use being banned in India, its affordable prices causes it to still be used in cattle teatment sporadically. TCF promotes meloxicam use by distributing vials to LIs free of cost and facilitating its sale at a higly subsidized rate. TCF set up vulture-conservation stalls at village fairs, awareness programmes across many villages, drawing and painting competitions for children and a skit based on this theme. TCF published a poster titled “The Plight of India’s Vultures” in association with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) in English  in January 2014. In 2015, TCF has translated this poster into Assamese and Marathi, aiming to distribute it on a large scale in collaboration with various agencies to spread awareness.

The Corbett Foundation firmly believes that a well trained nature guide plays a much larger role in conservation than just providing tourists with information about the forest and its sights. Nature guides are an important interface between the forest and tourists that visit forest reserves to experience the wild, stirring the conscience of tourists towards conservation, who have the potential to contribute directly or indirectly to conservation. With this in view, TCF conducted a Capacity Building and Skills Development programme to train the nature guides of Pench Tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh from September 23 to 27, 2015 held at a hall at the Turia Gate of Pench Tiger Reserve. 110 candidates comprising experienced nature guides and fresh recruits attended the training. Teaching faculty comprised TCF staff and external faculty. The trainees participated eagerly in indoor lessons about natural history, conservation issues, wildlife knowledge, laws, communication, etiquette, a quiz as well as in outdoor sessions including nature trails, safaris and ice-breaking sing-song sessions. TCF is grateful to Mr. Subharanjan Sen (IFS), Field Director and Dr (Mrs) Kiran Bisen (IFS), Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve, Mr. Sanjay Shukla (IFS), Chief Conservator of Forest, Seoni Circle and the guest faculty.

The Pardhi tribe of Central India is notorious for its long-standing tradition of hunting. In light of conservation issues and relevant laws in place today, their activities often put them in conflict with the forest authorities. In order to ease the conflict, provide basic healthcare and education and give them alternative and sustainable livelihoods, TCF along with WWF-India and Kanha Tiger Reserve launched a Medical Outreach programme for 3 pardhi settlements in Kanha Tiger Reserve. Instilling a positive attitude towards conservation in the coming Pardhi generations gives much-needed support to conservation efforts.

Seen here: A woman from the Pardhi tribe being attended to by TCF staff

2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. With the theme "30 years of healing the ozone layer together", on September 16, 2015  TCF- Corbett organized an awareness programme at Government Post Graduate College, Ramnagar. TCF and students studying science discussed the significance of the ozone layer in protecting human health and maintaining biodiversity of the ecosystem.