Around 30 children have gathered in front of a laptop placed in a small classroom of a government primary school in Raipur village of Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat. A team of researchers from WCB Research Foundation (WCB) would first make a Power Point presentation, then there will be a documentary screening after that children will watch an animation film, all these focused on sloth bear and its habitat, sloth bear ecology and conservation. Then team of researchers will distribute finely crafted little activity books to the children, to connect the dots, do colouring, and engaged in other interactive activities to gain understanding and knowledge about sloth bear.
This is an unique education and conservation outreach program by WCB in central parts of Gujarat, where solth bear population is in good numbers. The outreach program aims to educate the next generation of villagers living close to sloth bear habitat with scientific approach so that the coexistence between villagers and bears can remain conflict free in the future. This is indeed a very important aspect of any conservation project where children and villagers are involved actively and are part of the project. WCB’s conservation outreach program is led by Shalu Mesaria and her team members Pratik Desai and Shruti Patel.
Bear conservation in India has not grabbed the seriousness it needs despite the launch of The National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action plan in 2012. Four out of eight species of bears – the Asiatic black bear, Himalayan brown bear, Sun bear, and the most common Sloth bear – are found in the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear is the pride of India as it is found in almost 18 states and is a very important part of forest ecology. The sloth bear is placed in the ‘Vulnerable’ list by the ‘International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as its habitats are decreasing rapidly.
According to the survey done by Gujarat state forest department in 2016, estimated population of sloth bear in the state is 342. Biggest threat to any wildlife is loss of natural habitat and sloth bears are no exception, which is leading conflicts between humans and sloth bears in and around protected areas. Gujarat is leading the efforts in sloth bear conservation. For the first time in India, WCB has designed and is executing conservation outreach program for sloth bear with an aim to educate and share scientific knowledge and understanding to burst the myths about sloth bears and its habitat among people living near sloth bear habitat in central parts of Gujarat.
Why central Gujarat to start conservation outreach projects
Dr. Nishith Dharaiya, Associate Professor at Department of Life Sciences, HNG University, Patan (Gujarat) and Co Chair of IUCN SSC Sloth bear expert team, who is also the founder of WCB and bear expert said, “In 2014 to 2017 for three years along with ISRO, we did an extensive survey to find out the ecological corridors used by sloth bears in Gujarat. Our research indicated that most potential and widely used corridor by sloth bears in Gujarat is between Jambughoda and Ratanmahal Wildlife sanctuary This 40-kilometer of stretch is live corridor and there are many villages and human settlement in and around this corridor, which poses greater possibilities of becoming a conflict zone between sloth bears and villagers in near future. Conflicts forced people to develop hostile behavior towards sloth bears with whom they have been living for ages. Conservations works become very challenging when there is a hostility towards animal.”
Inclusive communication and education material design
For any conservation outreach program its information, education and communication (IEC) material plays very crucial role. If IEC material development and design process involves participation of beneficiaries it becomes more inclusive and effective. WCB research foundation team followed inclusive process to develop and design the IEC material. They organised a story writing competition on sloth bear and its habitat, best stories were selected form the submission and were further developed in documentary film, a comic book and the street play to impart scientific knowledge about sloth bears and its ecology. Bear experts from IUCN and other research scholars also provided scientific inputs in material development which has be easy to communicate even for layman and children. The Bear booklet and documentary film aptly explains dos and don’ts of living harmoniously with sloth bears.
In last one year WCB Research foundation has conducted several conservation outreach programs, targeting young adults and school children in tribal dominated central parts of Gujarat in collaboration with forest department as well education department of Gujarat. Involving children in the conservation outreach project is fruitful and a long term conservation strategy. Dr Dharaiya says, “while analysing the past conflicts incidents we found that most victims were aged between 30 to 45 years, as they venture out often in forest for their needs. If we educate young adults and children now, we are minimizing the future conflicts between humans and wildlife. As we are educating present and future forest dwellers about conflict management and conservation of sloth bear habitat.”
“In the area bear conservations, these are baby steps and much more needs to be done. Gujarat government and forest department is also convinced and supporting us.” Says Dhariya. Along with state forest department we also received valuable support from Bear Trust International, The Serenity Trust, EAZA sloth bear EEP, Zoo leipzing It is a cross sector collaboration project in which Wildlife researchers, state forest department, state education departments, and communities are involved with a single goal of protect bears and its habitat. With the speed at which wildlife habitats are vanishing we have to act before it vanishes to protect the wildlife and natural resource we have today.