Newsletter
August-October 2012
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  HAPPY DIWALI

LANTERN
The Corbett Foundation wishes you a very Happy and Environment-friendly DIWALI and a Prosperous New Year!!!
LATEST NEWS
The Corbett Foundation releases its report on Indian Bustards in Kutch

GIB Report

The Corbett Foundation released its report titled The Last Call to Save Indian Bustard in Kutch, Gujarat, India during the Wildlife Week in October 2012. The report highlights the status, current challenges and threats to the Indian Bustard in Kutch. A soft copy of this report is available on its website. 

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Annual Report 2010-2011

The Corbett Foundation's Annual Report 2010-2011 in available online. Click the thumbnail below to know about our activities and projects in Corbett, Kanha, Bandhavgarh tiger reserves and Kutch.


DONATE ONLINE

The Corbett Foundation is registered under the Delhi Public Trust Act, under no.183/94-95 dated 20.07.1994 w.e.f. 18.05.1994 and the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 1976 under registration no. 231650853. The donations to The Corbett Foundation are exempt u/s 80-G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Use our online facility to make your donation NOW..
SNAPSHOTS
Beach Clean-up organised on International Youth Day 

Kutch Ecological Research Centre, a division of The Corbett Foundation, organised a clean-up at Pingleshwar Beach on the occasion of International Youth Day. Students from nearby schools participated in the activity and helped clean and collect 60 kg of waste from the beach.

beach clean-up

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Solar Lanterns given to two more villages of Kanha

Through the donation from the Rare Species Fund, US, two more villages have been provided with Solar-powered Lanterns in the buffer zone Kanha Tiger Reserve. 

solar lantern
Contact us ...
Administrative Office:
81-88, Atlanta, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, INDIA
info@corbettfoundation.org | www.corbettfoundation.org

Registered Office:
E-4, Defence Colony,
New Delhi 110024


Copyright © 2012
THE CORBETT FOUNDATION
All rights reserved.


    
The Supreme Court's 'green signal' to wildlife tourism in tiger reserves.

The Supreme Court of India, on October 16th, passed an order permitting wildlife tourism in the tiger reserves of the country as per the revised eco-tourism guidelines notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

While this news has come as a respite for the entire tourism industry, it is now the time to introspect and look at wildlife tourism as a responsible and sustainable activity. The guidelines specify the following principles while implemention:
- Adopt low-imapct tourism which protects the integrity of forest and wildlife areas
- Engage with and ensure participation and consent Gram Sabhas and Panchayats to facilitate decision-making
- Develop mechnisms to generate revenues from wildlife tourism for the welfare and economic upliftment of local communities
- Highlight the biodiversity richness and their ecological services to people
- Highlight the heritage value of tiger reserves
- Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect
- Provide livelihood opportunities to local communities
- Promote sustainable use of indigenous materials for tourism activities
- Promote processes for forest dwellers to control and maintain their resources, culture and rights 

Involvement of local communities is a key aspect of these ecotourism guidelines. While this is a welcome step and realisation, it needs to be seen how and what further steps are taken to achieve this prime objective. One important decision taken is to develop a system to ensure that the gate recepits from tiger reserves should remain with the local authorities and these are to be used for conservation work, local livelihood development, tackling human-wildlife conflict and welfare omeasures of field staff.


The State Governments will charge a 'conservation fee' between Rs.500 to Rs.3000 per room per month from the resorts around the tiger reserves. Again an idealistic approach that may not go down well with the tourism industry as the fee range given seems to be quite steep and will ultimately be passed on to the guests and in turn may affect the bookings thus resulting in the drop in revenue of gate receipts. This needs a rethink. An alternative may be to ensure that all resorts have a minimum ecological footprint on the area i.e they become more energy-effiecient, harvest rainwater for use in toilets and swimming pools, etc.

The State Government will constitute a Local Advisory Committee for each tiger reserve that will review the tourism strategy with respect to the tiger reserve, snsure site specific norms on infrastructure, monitor all tourist facilities in and around tiger reserves vis-a-vis environmental clearances, etc. 

Hope the State Governments set up these committees soon as chaos and confusion was seen in some repouted tiger reserves since the beginning of this tourist season. The number of safari vehicles entering the tiger reserves were reduced abruptly without consulting the stakeholders. This defeats the very purpose of these ecotourism guidelines. As a result, the local people involved in and dependent on tourism protested. Thereafter, the the vehicle numbers were increased and then again decreased. Such haphazard decision-making needs to be phased out before anything else. Let the process be transparent as has been emphasised in the guidelines.
The 2nd Ministerial Tiger Conference held in Bhutan

The 2nd Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation was held between 20th to 24th October 2012 at Thimpu, Bhutan.
 
It was well attended by Ministers and Head of delegations of all 13 tiger range countries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia. High ranking officials were present at  the opening and HRH Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuk herself was present to officiate the opening.
 
The Global Tiger Initiative, a part of the World Bank, was responsible for organising this conference. Mr Keshav Varma, the Programme Director of World Bank is head of this initiative.
 
The conference was well-attended by many prominent NGOs such as Heads of Interpol, UNDP, Cites, etc. All efforts are made to achieve the ambitious goal to double the wild tiger population by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. To reach this goal, the primary efforts lie in protecting landscapes where tigers have the highest change of surviving and increasing, preventing poaching, and working to decrease demand for tiger parts.

Mr. Dilip Khatau, Chairman of The Corbett Foundation, attended this conference.

Livelihoods Programme of The Corbett Foundation

In July 2012, The Corbett Foundation (TCF) launched PUKAAR, a vocational training and livelihoods programme for the tribals and forest-dwelling communities of Corbett, Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves and Kutch area. The programme has been funded through a grant received from the Axis Bank Foundation. 

The programme addresses the critical aspect of livelihood generation for the tribal and other forest-dwelling communities, which is seen to be an important factor for tiger conservation and sustainable tourism in these areas. TCF has begun training the local youth in Basic Hospitality, Sewing / Tailoring, Computer Operations and Bamboo Handicraft-making. Trainings in Candle-making, Incense stick-making, Soap-making, Nursing, Mobile Repairing, etc. will be started very soon. TCF also ensures job placements for the trainees. 

To promote the marketing and sale of bamboo handicrafts and articles made by the Baiga tribes of Kanha area, TCF facilitated sale of bamboo products in Mumbai during the 'Joy of Giving Week' in October 2012. The one-day stall was organised, among other reputed NGOs, at Sanofi-Aventis Pvt Ltd. The Baiga artisans were present during the stall in their traditional attire. 
More such initiatives are being planned in Mumbai, Delhi and other cities.


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