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ANNUAL REPORT

1ST APRIL 2002 to 31ST MARCH 2003

While it is important that the Tiger survives

inside Ranthambhore National Park, let us

not forget that it is equally important for local

people to coexist in harmony.

Help us help them find alternatives

Lekharam Meena until recently spent most of his time illegally grazing cattle or cutting wood inside the Park. Today he has decided to have only one child and his son Roop Singh Meena gets a free education at our school. He is today the strongest advocate in his village for environment conservation. He has long since forgotten the bitterness he had when he was wounded by a gunshot fired by forest guards trying to stop him from cutting wood.

PRAKRATIK SOCIETY RANTHAMBHORE SEVIKA

VPO : SHERPUR KHILJIPUR DIST : SAWAI MADHOPUR

RAJASTHAN—INDIA PIN : 322 001

TEL : 07462 220286, 252009. FAX : 220811

Email: rranthambhore@yahoo.co.in

As more and more people benefit from the community conservation work the safer the future of the Tiger in Ranthambhore will become. Smaller families, better education, fewer cattle and alternate energy are all aimed at reducing pressure on the Park and its resources. In the long-term it encourages a partnership between the Park and the people. An absolute necessity if the Tiger is to survive.

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Why Community Conservation is the Only Guarantee of the Long-term Survival of the Tiger in Ranthambhore

I came to Ranthambhore in 1971 when my father Fateh Singh Rathore (who worked for the Rajasthan Forest Department) was transferred to Ranthambhore as its newly appointed Game Warden. A little over fifty thousand people lived around the Reserve. Official estimates put the Tiger population at less than 15. My earliest memories are of driving with my father into the park on a small road that turned into a dust tract soon after leaving the Sawai Madhopur town. As people in sixteen villages still lived inside the Park, every drive into the park encountered teams of people on bicycles, bullock carts and foot along the dusty roads of the park. Every few kilometres there was a village with people ploughing their fields, and the park was full of buffaloes and cows that belonged to the people that lived inside the park. All the lakes had been drained of their water, and local people used the land to grow their crops. Rarely did anyone ever see a Tiger or any other wildlife for that matter. Even the few Sambar and Chittal Deer were very skittish and ran into the forest at the first sound of a vehicle. The only way to see tigers in those days was by tying bait at particular locations where hides had been constructed for people to sit at night and wait for them. Every night my father would sit in these hides waiting for a Tiger to come and kill the bait, which was usually a male buffalo calf. On many occasions I would also accompany him. As soon as a Tiger would appear and kill the bait the spot lights would be turned on and sometimes one would see the Tiger clearly if it wasn’t frightened away by the lights. Many times all one would see was a pair of eyes shining through the bushes when a spot light was trained on the animal. In 1973, our late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi launched what would become one of the most ambitious conservation projects ever undertaken. It had her unwavering patronage and International support of organisations like WWF and individuals like David Shepherd. Together the combination ensured that the Project was implemented fully. Ranthambhore became one of the lucky Parks to become a part of this Project and my father was entrusted with the responsibility of implementing it. At the time the conservation fraternity across the country shared a common belief that the best way to save the Tiger was to remove all human presence from inside Parks and then to keep it out. My father was no exception to this and went about his job whole-heartedly. He tentatively started a dialogue with the inhabitants of the 16 villages inside the Park to voluntarily relocate to a site outside the Park. It took over three years of persuasion when 13 villages agreed to relocate outside. In 1976 one of the most successful relocation efforts was completed. Following this my father, like his other colleagues across the country, set about the task of enforcing the Park boundary and keeping it as inviolate as possible. By 1980 because of strict enforcement the habitat in the areas where the villages used to be started turning wild creating rich grasslands providing enough fodder for the ungulate population in the park to thrive. With prey density increasing and poaching under control the Tiger population also started increasing. The old lakes below the fort were once again dammed and helped create vital ecological

3 zones for all kinds of wildlife to thrive. For the first time Tiger sightings in Ranthambhore began to increase dramatically and eventually even baiting was stopped. With reduced human interaction the animals became more comfortable in the presence of people as long as they were confined to a vehicle. Soon, Ranthambhore started providing glimpses into the secret life of the Tiger hitherto unknown to the world. Rearing of family, mating, hunting and other rare visual glimpses of the natural life of Tigers began to be seen by the rest of the world through the books published by Valmik Thapar and my father. For all practical purposes, Project Tiger became one of the most successful projects ever undertaken to save a species from total extinction. However, what no one had accounted for was the new threat that was emerging in the form of a staggering increase in population of the local people that still continued to live along the periphery of the Park in 96 villages. In 1973, when Project Tiger was launched this population was less than 70,000 people. There was enough grazing land and tree cover along the buffer of the Park to meet their requirements for fuel wood and fodder. With little effort from anybody to manage this resource in the buffer it soon vanished because of over grazing, deforestation and illegal encroachment. With the forest and grasslands improving inside the Park the people outside began to illegally enter the park on a regular basis to collect wood, grass or to graze their cattle. Park vs. people conflicts began to increase with each passing year culminating in 1982 with a brutal attack on my father, which left him hospitalised for months. Fortunately at the time Project Tiger still had the full backing of Mrs. Gandhi and things were soon brought under control. Although this incident did provoke interest in involving local people in conservation and in helping them find alternatives, unfortunately, nothing much was done about it. With the transfer of my father from Ranthambhore in 1987 and the subsequent assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, both enforcement at the local level and political patronage at the top level suffered. By 1990 rampant poaching was going on and Tigers were disappearing. However, it was only after the local police apprehended a poacher after a tip off organised by my father, that the Government finally acknowledged the issue. Census figures involving local NGOs estimated the Tiger population to have reached an all-time low of fewer than 20 Tigers in Ranthambhore. This was later disputed and the Tiger population was put higher. Meanwhile, the human population around the park had grown to 120,000. Following the incident when illegal graziers attacked my father in 1982, I became convinced that if the Tiger was ever going to survive in Ranthambhore it would need the local people to be involved in its protection. At the time I was entering Medical school, and with each visit home during holidays I became increasingly aware of the staggering increase in the human population that was taking place in the region. With a little over 6000 children being born along the periphery of the Park each year I was convinced that no matter how hard one tried no effort at encouraging environmental sustainability in the region could keep up with this increased demand. By the time I graduated from Medical School in 1989 I was committed to coming back to Ranthambhore and finding ways to help the local people and by doing so helping the Tiger.

4 The opportunity arose in the form of the Ranthambhore Foundation, an NGO which was set up by Valmik Thapar. I was made Field Director of this organization and began working with local people with the aim of reducing their dependence on the Park’s resources. One of our first projects was a mobile medical service, which visited 40 villages weekly, providing much needed primary health care to the local people. Many people have since asked me the question: How would this help the Tiger? It helped us accomplish two very important things. First, it provided us an opportunity to interact with the local people, which helped us assess their needs and their perception of the Park and its future. This helped us formulate future projects that were more directly related to helping save the Tiger—like afforestation, income generation through promoting local skills, animal husbandry and dairy development, education and alternate energy, legal aid and mobilising political and public support. Secondly and more importantly, it provided us with the best opportunity of dealing with the greatest threat, the staggering human population growth. In 1994, I established the Prakratik Society, which took over the projects from the Ranthambhore Foundation. As the work we are doing in Ranthambhore involves bringing about a change in the way people have lived for centuries, it can sometimes appear frustratingly slow. Some have even questioned whether our work benefits the Tiger at all. The answer to this could not have been more visibly demonstrated than by the tragic incident of August 2002, when a patrol party was ambushed in Uliyana Village on the edge of Ranthambhore. A dozen men were seriously injured, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police. These people were carrying out their duty of protecting the park as laid out in the law. Under normal circumstances such a heinous crime should have galvanised the press and the local politicians to come out in full support of the law enforcement agencies and demand the arrests of the perpetrators. Instead, within hours local politicians were demanding the resignation of the Park Director and the Superintendent of Police. They vilified the local law enforcement agencies by sympathising with the local people who in their opinion were poor people eking out a living grazing their cattle inside the park. Within a fortnight the Superintendent of Police was transferred. Hundreds of cattle were pushed into the national park when some local politicians instigated them to do so. No one was arrested and even the investigation was dragging its feet. Had it not been for the community conservation efforts being carried out in Ranthambhore this is how this incident would have ended. But local politicians had underestimated the impact the community conservation work in the region was having in terms of harnessing local peoples’ support for the park. An appeal was sent out to the Chief Minister signed by local NGOs to stop the transfer of the officers who were doing their job and to punish the perpetrators of the crime. The local town of Sawai Madhopur, with its population of over 100,000 protested the transfer of the Police Chief by keeping all shops closed for one day. NGOs in Delhi petitioned the Supreme Court to haul up the politicians who instigated local people to take the law into their own hands and take their cattle inside the park. Within days the same politicians were cajoling the local people to take their cattle out of the park, and hundreds of men belonging to paramilitary forces were sent to flush out any remaining cattle. What was meant to have been a political victory ended up becoming a face-saving effort for the local politicians.

5 Although this effort was unable to prevent the transfer of the Police Chief, it demonstrated for the first time that finally a small minority of people were beginning to realise the worth of their environment and wanted to save it. While direct enforcement will always be the first line of defence for the protection of the environment, it can never work unless that minority can be turned into a majority. Our efforts are aimed not only at reducing the pressure on the natural resources of the park by helping local people find alternatives but also at generating the much needed local support for enforcement to work. Without it, Ranthambhore’s days are numbered. Dr. G. S. Rathore Executive Director Prakratik Society

6 Background:

Ranthambhore National Park is a fragile island of dry deciduous forest in south-eastern Rajasthan. The Chambal and Banas Rivers surround it on two sides. The other two sides are walled with people. In 1973 when India launched “Project Tiger” approximately 70,000 people lived in the 96 villages and two townships. Today, over 200,000 people inhabit the same area. Most are poor, dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry, and as a result there is intense pressure upon the park for fodder and fuel wood. Although the extraction of forest produce continues to remain at a subsistence level, currently the sheer number of people pushing into the forest to graze their animals, harvest its grasses, and hack at its trees makes even this unsustainable. Though the population has multiplied, virtually no social or economic development has taken place in the area. Literacy is an appalling 6% among girls and 36% among boys. Hundreds of children continue to be crippled by polio and other preventable diseases every year. Tuberculosis is rampant. So is malaria. Malnutrition is common among children, and maternal and child mortality remain very high. And the human population continues to grow at a staggering annual rate of 3.2%.

Prakratik Society:

The Prakratik Society, a registered charitable society, has been working around the

Ranthambhore National Park for the past seven years. Through various integrated projects the Society aims at helping the local people understand their immediate environment and make necessary changes in the way they live their lives—adopting smaller family norms, education, using alternate energy sources by growing their own wood plantations and using bio-gas, stall feeding their cattle and improving their breed so that fewer animals are more productive; also provided by the Society is legal support to follow up and bring about conviction in wildlife crimes, the creation of a wildlife crimes information network, teaching Forest Guards how to make a tight case when catching poachers, training village leaders in democratic leadership and mobilising them towards environmental consciousness. All the programs of the Society are aimed at bringing about a social change that is environmentally conscious while at the same time improving the over all quality of life.

The threat to Ranthambhore and its tigers comes from its human neighbours. It is our belief

that only a project that aims to find local solutions with local people can ensure its long-term survival.

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The target area and beneficiary population:

A total population of over 200,000 people lives along the edge of Ranthambhore National Park. Most of these people depend upon agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood. The population is represented by the Meena tribe at 32%, 25% are Gujjars, 13% are Berwas, 6% are Muslims, 5% are Jats and Rajputs and the rest are from other tribes.

Staff :

The Prakratik Society is made up of a

team of 20 permanent staff and 16 honorary Village Health Workers (VHWs). Another ten people are employed at the recently constructed Fateh Public School. It is headed by Dr. G. S.

Rathore who grew up in Ranthambhore, and who has witnessed the metamorphosis of the Park from being an unknown forest in the early seventies, to becoming India’s best known tiger reserve by the mid-eighties. Dr. Rathore is the son of Fateh Singh Rathore, Ranthambhore’s most celebrated Park Director, and shares his father’s commitment to the Park and its people. He started his work with the Ranthambhore Foundation in 1989 in an honorary capacity as Field Director and continues to hold that position. As the Field Director, Dr. Rathore has guided and administered the Foundation’s pioneering fieldwork in the region. He later joined Parivar Seva Sanstha (PSS), the Indian branch of Marie Stopes International in 1990, taking over their mobile health care project to serve the needs of thirteen villages along the northern periphery of the Park. The service now extends to 50 villages. In 1994, Dr. Rathore launched his own Prakratik Society, which took over the PSS project and has expanded its scope. Dr. Rathore also works in an honorary capacity as Chairman of the Rantham-bhore School of Art and Convenor of INTACH. Both these work to promote art and culture in the region.

Furthermore, his work in the field of Family Planning and Environment Conservation is well

recognised and was given a certificate for outstanding work in the field of family planning by the State of Rajasthan on World Population Day, 11th of July 2000. He was also awarded the ESSO Honour for Tiger Conservation for Special Effort on February 2001, in Mumbai, by the Chief Election Commis-sioner Mr. M.S.Gill.

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Various Prakratik Society Projects

A. Health & Family Planning: General Out-patient Department: During the year over 12,235 people were seen in the out-patient department. The main

ailments were cataracts, diarrhoea, malaria, scabies, amoebiasis, boils, middle ear infectious, URTI, UTIs and skin disease (mainly ringworm infestations) and gynaecological problems. Some people have also been given treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis using the short-course chemotherapy for six months.

These services were provided mainly at the Health Centre in Sherpur Village. Health care is

also being provided to remote villages using two vehicles. Speciality clinics: Speciality-related health services were provided at the Sherpur Health centre. It has two

Operating Theatres and two wards and enough extra space to house more than 200 patients during an eye camp. At this centre we were able to provide highly specialised surgical care using state-of-the-art equipment to patients suffering from ailments ranging from kidney stones and hernia to prostrate enlargement and perforated eardrums. In this manner 33 surgeries were conducted in five surgical camps. Specialised microsurgical reconstruction and other ENT surgeries were provided to another 16 people.

This centre is also the only institution providing much needed ophthalmic care to the people

of the region. In the past year we have been able to provide highly sophisticated ophthalmic surgery to 1152 people. Of these 865 of them were intra-ocular lens (IOL) implant surgeries for cataract, which is endemic throughout the community.

Another 101 IOL implants were done using the state-of-the-art Phako emulsification

technique where no sutures are applied and post-operative recovery is much faster. The cataract surgery running cost is entirely supported by the Save the Tiger Fund of the

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the Exxon Mobil Corporation, USA, along with some contribution from the local people in the form of service charges.

Dr. Anna Grenfell, well known diabetic consultant from UK, has been extremely kind to offer

her services to conduct diabetic and hypertension clinics once a month. Hundreds of patients have benefited from her expertise. Dr. Grenfell has provided all diabetics dependent on insulin injections free insulin supply, which has been able to provide tremendous relief to such patients, most of whom were finding it hard to afford the medicine.

The health centre is the only place where these facilities are available in the entire Sawai

Madhopur district comprising a total population of 2 million people.

9 Gynaecology and Obstetrics: Maternal mortality figures of over 700 deaths per hundred thousand live births a year

(typically 8–12 in western countries) in the region has been shocking. Despite considerable effort, this has not been reduced. This has been mainly due to the lack of any referral units at the block level, although difficult environment, cultural barriers, customs and beliefs have also played their role. Keeping this in mind gynaecology services were started for the first time last year. However it suffered its major setback when the gynaecologist and anaesthetist left within a few weeks of starting. Due to the rural location of the clinic it has been extremely difficult to retain qualified manpower like doctors most of whom prefer to stay in cities.

Due to unavailability of a doctor this service is currently run by a trained senior nurse having

over 30 years of experience in maternity care. This year 35 deliveries have been done. A gynaecologist and paediatric doctor couple is expected to join in July 2003. As the normal practice in the region has been to have the delivery done at home by untrained midwives, it has been an uphill task to encourage institutional deliveries. Once we have the doctor, a unique registration scheme of Rs.550 (Rs.2 per day) for the full period of the pregnancy has been started. This small amount provides full antenatal checkups including preliminary ultrasound scans, blood tests, admissions and actual delivery charges. By this the person is encouraged to have regular antenatal checkups and delivery in the hospital. Already 40% of all the deliveries have been of high risk in nature. Timely intervention has saved all their lives.

This year through a grant from the Irish Embassy we are in the process of starting an

Emergency Obstetric Ambulance for the underprivileged people living in the villages along the periphery of the park. This will be equipped with wireless communication network to reduce time of travel to hospital in an emergency.

Family planning: The Save the Tiger Fund of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation supports the entire

family planning and immunisation program in partnership with the Exxon Mobil Corporation, USA. This has been the main thrust of the project. Although we distribute condoms (Nirodh) and oral pills (Mala N) supplied by the Government free of cost. Because these condoms are given free it is usually very difficult to quantify the free condom distribution in terms of user benefit as it is extremely difficult to access how much of it is actually used and how much of it is blown into balloons by children. We do try to minimise this by maintaining a person-to-person record of users.

However, we have been trying for some years to introduce a scheme where condoms and oral

pills are sold to the beneficiary at a subsidised rate. As a result of this it can be said with certain conviction that the products were used for family planning only. For this we use the Pearl brand of oral pill and the ‘Masti’ brand of condoms.

Masti: During this period we have been able to sell 3383 packets of ‘Masti’ condoms to an

average number of 141 beneficiaries per month. A total of 141 people used Masti during the year of which 16 did not continue regular use. Of those that used it regularly, 29 were new couples added during the year while 96 were those carried over from previous years.

10 Mala N (oral pills): 3132 cycles of Mala N were given to an average of 261 women per

month A total of 261 women used Mala N during the year and 72 women stopped use during the year. Of those who continued to use Mala N, 88 were new additions during the year.

Pearl Oral Pill: During the year 101 women chose to use Pearl as their method of oral

contraception. Of these 43 stopped in between and of the remaining 16 were new users. In total 1210 packets of pearl were distributed to an average of 101 women per month.

CuT: 71 women were protected through the use of CuT an Intrauterine Contraception Device.

If all CuT insertions since the start of the program are taken into consideration approximately 210 women (2.8 %) of all eligible couples in the target area are protected using CuT. This has effectively averted 508 births considering the Age-specific birth rate in Rajasthan as published in—“Rajasthan—The Health Scenario by IIHMR, 1987.”

Sterilisation : During the year 229 people chose to use sterilisation as their method of family

planning. Since the start of the program, 1,566 or 21.48 % of all eligible couples have been sterilised with the average age being 27.7 years. Considering total fertility rates of Rajasthan as published in “Rajasthan—The Health Scenario by IIHMR, 1987 ” a total of 1,778.9 births have been averted as of 31st March 2003 and a cumulative total of 5653.26 births have been averted by sterilisation if total fertility of each woman is considered.

In this manner, total eligible couple protection in the target area during the current year is

approximately 2786 couples (38.2% through our effort, without considering Nirodh distribution and 43.7% if Nirodh is considered)

The net result being, eventually a reduced number of local inhabitants interacting with

the Park. Effectively this means 10% less births are taking place in the target area. Nothing could mean more to the long-term-survival of the tiger

Vaccination: During this period 362 children were given BCG, 492 children OPV & DPT 1st dose, 482

children were given OPV & DPT 2nd dose, 440 children were given OPV & DPT 3rd dose and another 423 children were given Measles. Through this effort we have effectively been able to provide full immunisation cover to 40% of all the children under one year of age in the target population. Of the women seen for antenatal check-ups 320 were given TT I and another 230 were given TT II. The vaccination program has less due to reducing vaccination schedule to once a month instead of two visits per village because of extremely poor conditions, which was increasing cost of project due to high maintenance and fuel cost.

School health: Our team of field educators regularly visits different schools in the area to examine the

children for signs of malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency, anaemia and other ailments. At the same time they talk to the children about preventive health care with an emphasis on malaria, diarrhoea, nutrition, vaccination, hygiene, sanitation, and tuberculosis. During this year 297 such school visits were made in the area.

11 This year a special screening camp was organised due to the generous help of Ms. Jyoti Dave

who is an optometrist in the UK. She volunteered her time to help with the screening and also provided money to provide spectacles to the underprivileged children. In this manner, the eyes of 691 children from seven schools around the park were checked. Of these twenty-one children were found having diminished visual acuity and were provided with free spectacles.

Information , education and communication (IEC) activities: During this period a team of dedicated health workers supported by village health workers

(VHWs) have regularly visited peoples homes, organised small group meetings and mothers’ meetings to explain through flip charts about preventive health care and family planning. Our team visited 49561 homes and organised 826 mothers’ meetings and 759 group meetings.

Training for Village Health Workers: Monthly training workshops are organised at our base office in Sawai Madhopur and at the

newly constructed clinic where all the VHWs and field educators come together and are taught by a doctor about the various aspects of preventive health care and family planning methods. In this way 12 VHWs were given basic training in primary health care with special emphasis on child nutrition, pregnancy and delivery, immunisation, first aid and family planning. These workers form the backbone of our outreach project.

B. Alternate energy sources: This project has been supported entirely by the Save the Tiger Fund of the National Fish and

Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the Exxon Mobil Corporation, USA for the past four years. As a result of this support we have been able to construct 200 bio-gas units in the villages situated along the periphery of the Park. Three new villages have been added this year. Farmer Selection Process: First the farmers had to be selected to participate in this project. Farmers were identified according to land holding, number of cattle, number of family members, whether the cattle are stall-fed and whether water was available nearby. Once these criteria were fulfilled, the farmer was asked to dig a pit and provide a trolley of sand for construction as his contribution to the project. He was also required to provide all the labour other than the mason for the construction of the plants. Once this was done, the Prakratik Society provided trained masons along with all the materials such as bricks, cement, pipes, stoves and lamp. In this manner 200 bio-gas units have been built over the past three years, and they are all working well. As a result of this activity alone 200 families have become self-sufficient in fuel. Approximately 481 tons of fuel wood per year is saved considering a family consumes a daily average of 6.6kgs of wood.

12 This year three new villages have been added to this project, bringing the total number of villages to 29. We have tried to ensure that at least 1 to 5 units are placed in all the 96 villages surrounding the National Park. This has been done so as to ensure that there is one example of alternate energy using bio-gas is being used in every village. This then forms the core group to help motivate others to join the program by seeing first-hand this method of energy being used. As a result, the demand for bio-gas units has increased and we are hoping to slowly increase the farmers’ contribution to ultimately reduce the subsidies. This year we will try to increase the contribution of the farmer from just labour to also include some raw materials worth Rs.1000 per plant. The smaller quantity wood being removed from the forest directly benefits the Park and the Tiger. (See Map and chart for details of Bio-gas plant sight and beneficiary list)

C. Dairy Development: The Society has been running a dairy demonstration farm in Sherpur village using agroforestry techniques for growing fuel wood and fodder. This farm houses 20 cross bred cows. Over 6,000 children and adults visit the farm to learn about better animal husbandry and fodder management techniques. The objective of this program is to encourage farmers to use stall-feeding and therefore eliminate the need for taking cattle into the Park. As a result of this program hundreds of cross bred cattle have been born around the Park with an increase in stall feeding practices. This project is partly supported by the Ranthambhore Foundation.

D. Formal Education:

On 2nd of April 02, Fateh Public School formally opened with a total of 110 children enrolled. Of these 30 are from villages around the National Park. These village children are provided a scholarship. Girls belonging to rural families that have only two children, one of whom is a girl, and have adopted sterilisation as the means of family planning, are provided free education. By this we wish to further encourage small family norms and provide encourage-ment for girls to get educated. The school is designed to become the main resource centre for the region, providing much needed educational materials and facilities to as many children living around the Park. Efforts are on to develop a curriculum that takes into account the local environment and showing how small efforts can help save it. The major share of the school building construction is being supported by the generous support of the David Shepherd Conservation Foundation, UK. It is planned to take the school up to the 12th Standard or pre-university level. Efforts are on to link up our formal education effort with similar work being done by Tarun Bharat Sangh in Sariska Tiger Reserve. We plan to take two trips of village children from Ranthambhore to Sariska to help them understand environment-related issues in two different situations and share knowledge to enhance a better understanding of nature and its vital role

13 in the future survival of mankind. The curriculum development and environmental aspect of the school is kindly supported by the Save the Tiger Fund of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the ExxonMobil Corporation, USA. One of our faculty members, Mr. Hanuman Prasad Sharma, was recently given the Green Teacher Award for 2002 instituted jointly by Sanctuary Magazine and ABN-AMRO Bank at a ceremony organised in Bombay. Until recently Lekharam Meena was a habitual breaker of the law and would regularly go into the Park to collect wood or illegally graze his cattle inside the Park. On one occasion the forest department opened fire, and Lekharam was injured in his leg. Today he has decided to have only one child, and this child gets a free education at the Fateh Public School. Lekharam drives the village school bus. Soon there will be many such parents and children who will be giving up the path of conflict and learning to live in harmony with the forest. Once that happens the Tiger will finally be safe.

E. Legal Cell: Considering the high rate of acquittal and slow follow-up on wildlife crime in and around the Park, a strong need existed for an active legal support system to help the Forest Department. To do this a lawyer has been put on retainer to combat wildlife crimes in the local courts. This has proved extremely useful, with some convictions and better follow-ups on already registered cases. Through this cell, forest guards have been trained to maintain a proper case diary at the time of investigating wildlife crimes so as to make it foolproof in court. This cell also fights, free of charge, all false cases registered against forest officials who have been involved in apprehending wildlife criminals. On many occasions, criminals place counter-charges of corruption, rape and theft on the apprehending officer to harass the official and prevent him from pursuing the case. The efforts of the legal cell have been greatly welcomed by the Department and been a moral booster for the staff. The lawyer is currently handling over 70 cases involving violation of the Wildlife Protection Act. These cases range from illegal poaching, grazing, mining, woodcutting and land encroachments. Some cases have been lingering on since 1981. This year 14 new cases have been handed over to her. At the same time another eight cases have been decided. Some of these cases have become landmark judgements. A few examples are listed below:

1. State v/s Jhandu: This case has been in court since 1981. There were 54 accused. This year all the accused that were still living confessed to illegally grazing inside the Park and were fined Rs. 50 each were let off with a warning.

2. State v/s Umed: This case of illegal woodcutting has been in court since 1990. All 10

accused surrendered in court and were fined Rs.500 each and given a sentence of 15 days imprisonment.

3. State v/s Ghanshyam: This case has been in court since 1992 for illegal woodcutting

and encroachment on forestland. As all the accused were elderly, they were let off by depositing a bail bond of Rs.3000 each and warned not to repeat the crime.

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4. State v/s Chiranji: Case in court since 1997. Two people were accused of possessing illegal skin of Jackal and an unlicenced gun. Both accused fined Rs.500 each and given imprisonment sentence for 15 days.

5. State v/s Rajesh: Case of illegal mining since 1997. Arrest warrants issued against the

accused and a fine of Rs.500 imposed along with a 15day imprisonment sentence.

6. Ramphool v/s Ashok Kumar and others: False cases registered against seven forest officers. After arguing the case, all officers have been discharged of any criminal activity.

7. State v/s Jaidev: A truck full of illegal wood was apprehended on the Rajasthan and

Madhya Pradesh border. A strong case was put forward to not release the truck, as it was used in perpetrating the crime. For the first time this was upheld even in the high court of Rajasthan, and the truck was released only after the owners furnished a Bank Guarantee of One Million Rupees and a bail bond of Three Hundred Thousand Rupees in the court.

The legal cell is kindly supported by Care for the Wild, UK and Tiger Action Fund for India, USA.

Conclusion: It is only when man’s most pressing needs for food, education, health care and employment are met that it is possible for him to consider saving the environment. For most people who are struggling to eke out a daily existence, looking into the distant future seems almost impossible. In its effort to protect the National Park, the Prakratik Society aims to first address the issues of survival of the Park’s local inhabitants by providing much needed health care and family planning, environment education, alternate energy sources, and income generation through better animal husbandry management, afforestation and formal education. Combined efforts of good community-based programs and better enforcement have once again created a safe haven for the Tiger. This year, after one decade, Ranthambhore has 10 new cubs. Their survival would result in the Park reaching its maximum carrying capacity. The Prakratik Society has learnt by demonstrating concern for the wellbeing of the local population, while simultaneously respecting and addressing their immediate needs, the journey towards ensuring the survival of Ranthambhore and her Tiger has begun. Today an increasing number of locals are participating in these environmental conservation programs, which will increase in number, and will continuously rely on the symbiotic nature of the relationship.

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RANTHAMBHORE NATIONAL PARK Map Showing Details of Bio-Gas Unit Construction: April 1999 To March 2002

16 Biogas Units Installed: 2002–2003 Three cubic meters (m3)of gas storage capacity serves a family of six. Unit capacities varied from 2 m3 to 3 m3.

Village No. of Units

Gas Storage Capacity

m3 Allahpur 8 22 Bairana 11 33 Bardpur 2 5 Bharawada Khurd 9 27

Chhan 3 9 Daulatpura 3 9 Enda 1 3 Jhopadi 4 12 Khawa 1 3 Khilchipur 1 3 Kutalpura 1 3 Padli 1 3 Shyampura 1 3 Sukhwas 4 11 Total 50 146

17

The Green Teacher Award given to Mr. Hanuman Prasad Sharma for his efforts of environment education around the Ranthambhore National Park.

18

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

No.

of p

erso

ns

89-90

90-91

91-92

92-93

93-94

94-95

95-96

96-97

97-98

98-99

99-00

00-01

01-02

YEARS

FAMILY PLANNING USING INTRAUTERINE DEVICE & STERILISATION

IUDSterilisations

0100200300400500600700800900

1000

No.

of u

sers

96-9

7

97-9

8

98-9

9

99-0

0

00-0

1

01-0

2

02-0

3

YEARS

ORAL PILL AND CONDOM USERS - FREE VS PAID

PAIDFREEPAIDFREE

19

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

No.

of s

urge

ries

YEAR

CATARACT SURGERY

PhakoIOLPlain

0100020003000400050006000

No.

of d

oses

89-90

91-92

93-94

95-96

97-98

99-00

01-02

YEARS

IMMUNISATION OF CHILDREN AROUND THE RANTHAMBHORE NATIONAL PARK

TT 2nd

TT 1st

MEASLES

OPV&DPT 3

OPV&DPT 2

OPV&DPT 1

BCG

20

Mr. Fateh Singh Rathore one of India’s foremost Tiger experts and Ranthambhore’s most illustrious Director talking to forest guards during a forest guard training workshop.

School children from the Fateh Public School during their regular nature walk where they learn about their environment.

21

News clippings of some of the legal cases that have been won in court

22

News clippings highlighting the tragic events of August 2002, when a police patrol was ambushed by villagers.

23

While the adults of Uliyana village choose to take the law into their own hands when prevented from illegally grazing their cattle in the park, their children voice their protest and urge them to save their environment through this street play organised at the Fateh Public School.

Mr. David Shepherd, Mr Fateh Singh Rathore and Mr. Michael Jackson with the school children at the 1st Founders day function at Fateh Public School held on 15th November 2002.

School children performing at the 1st Founders day at Fateh Public School