April - June, 2012 This fellowship is supported by Jamsetji Tata Trust In 2009-10, 51 tigers were killed in India, in spite of all the conservation programmes, awareness drives and public campaigns to save them. India hosts the majority of the world’s tiger population -- about 1,700 tigers, according to the May 2011 census.
But a combination of threats is holding this meager number to ransom, and poaching and trade in wildlife parts is just one of them. A shrinking habitat, conflicts with humans, growing tourist interference… the tiger has a lot to contend with.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had invited applications from journalists in India to investigate the issues and concerns of tigers, their habitats, and their conservation in the country. Applicants can present proposals on the following areas of study: 1. India’s wildlife conservation policies, laws and regulations 2. Wildlife crime and trade in wildlife products 3. Who’s the encroacher – people vs wildlife 4. Wildlife tourism 5. Relocation: the social, economic and political agenda Science and wildlife protection
The Centre has successfully conducted fellowships on subjects ranging from desertification, human-wildlife conflicts and climate change, to water bodies, the Forest Rights Act and transport and water-sewage issues in urban centres. Each one of these fellowships has generated a wealth of information.
Of total 40 complete applications, 12 fellows have been shortlisted by our jury members
This fellowship is supported by Jamsetji Tata Trust
Biswajeet Banerjee bureau chief The Pioneer, Lucknow Location: Terai belt comprising Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Maharajganj Focus: Encroachment, relocation of encroachers, vultures on
Jury suggestions • focus on the issue of human-tiger conflicts. Fellowship Reports
Anupam Trivedi special correspondent The Hindustan Times, Dehradun
Location: Corbett Tiger Reserve Focus: Wildlife tourism, human animal conflict
Appu Gapak senior sub editor The Independent Review, Itanagar
Location: Namdapha National Park, Changlang district, Focus: Pressures of tiger conservation in Namdapha • habitat loss, logging, shifting cultivation, human settlements, poaching and hunting (human encroachment and poaching taking a heavy toll) The Tiger Protection Force and its impact
Jury suggestions • Investigate and report on the people and wildlife interfaces in Namdhapa. Study and analyse the reasons for the underlying tensions and the options for the future. Is an inclusive agenda where the local tribals become a part of the conservation practices -- possible for Namdhapa? Fellowship Reports
Namdapha - then and now
Teresa Rehman freelancer, Dainik Janambhumi, Guwahati
Location: Kaziranga National Park, Assam Focus: Human-tiger conflict after Kaziranga was declared a Project Tiger reserve (2007)
• how are the locals adapting to this change in status • how are the fringe areas faring?
Jury sugestions • Illegal mining • Rice cultivation and the use of pesticides therein – what this is doing to wildlife • The encroachment of Kaziranga land by the rich and powerful • The crisis of floods and how wildlife find no refuge during floods because of park politics Fellowship Reports
Pavan Shrivastava city head Dainik Jagran, Bhopal
Location: Ratapani sanctuary Focus: Who's the encroacher human-wildlife conflict in MP's forests Jury suggestions • Look into the problem of illegal felling. • Investigate the vested interests, and procrastination on the proposal to declare the area as a reserve forest. Fellowship Reports
P Naveen chief state correspondent DNA, Bhopal
Language: English Focus: The case of Panna's lost tigers Investigate why the state is not handing over the case to CBI despite park rangers' report that insiders were involved. Increasing human animal conflicts in and around Bandhavgarh Should tourism be banned in core areas? Fellowship Reports :-
Tikeshwar Patel reporter Central Chronicle, Raipur
Location: Achaanakmaar Tiger Reserve Focus: The Achaanakmaar-Amarkantak highway: Supposed to be closed since 2008, but it continues to place animals at grave risk. Timber mafia and cattle grazers: Rampant activities inside the
Jury sugestions
The case of relocation of the six villages which were dumped in deforested land
In the original villages which have been relocated/demolished, titles to the land had been given to the villagers. Have these land-holders been compensated and given land in the relocation site, or have they been left high and dry?
Compliance with Forest Rights Act
The Naxalite presence in this region and what it is dong to the forest and its conservation
Fellowship Reports
Bijay Misra freelancer The Economic Page, Angul
Location: Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary and Baisipalli Sanctuary Focus: Community wildlife tourism which will encourage communities living in and around tiger landscapes for sustainable livelihood support and will minimize human-tiger conflict and
Jury sugestions: With respect to Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. • The fallout of declaring it a tiger reserve • Implications on the people • Growth of the tiger reserve and what it will do to more villages
The jury insisted that you broadcast your show on Doordarshan and AIR. Fellowship Reports
Anupama Kumari senior correspondent Tehelka, Ranchi
Location: Palamau Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand Focus: 20 elephants were released by the Maharaja of Surguja and they turned feral, subsequently increasing in numbers. Look at the elephant-human confrontations. • The core area in the tiger reserve is facing the threat of submergence from a dam.
Chandan Haygunde senior correspondent The Indian Express, Pune
Location: Satpura Tiger Reserve and Sahyadri Tiger Reserve Focus: Wildlife protection, impacts of tourism, forest department-tribals conflict, saving tigers with help from local communities, FRA implementation inside the reserve
Jury sugestions • For Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, look at the illegal mining operations, the mining lobby, and their clash with the conservationist • A story on illegal windmills and small hydro projects in and around the reserve. Fellowship Reports
G S Shashidhara sub editor/reporter Prajavani, Bangalore
Location: Bandipur, Nagarahole,Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sancturay and other reserve forests in Karnataka Focus: Wildlife tourism and its impacts • Violation of Wildlife Protection Act • Using local tribals to promote sustainable wildlife tourism • How private wildlife tour operators could contribute in protecting wildlife • Difficulties being faced by government agencies in implementing rules and regulations.
Jury sugestions • Tourism activities • What the local people stand to gain or loose, and on the issue of corridor destruction. Fellowship Reports
Anil S chief reporter The New Indian Express, Kochi Location: Periyar Tiger Reserve Focus: Tourism, Sabarimala pilgrims • Mullaperiyar dam, Pachakanam estate • Inter-state boundary resulting in poaching and illegal trade, frequent forest fires, lack of sewage management or sufficient buffer zone Jury sugestions • Investigate and write on the status of eco-tourism in Periyar – whether there is any substance in the celebrated park's eco-tourism claims. Fellowship Reports
