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Earlier, India was known as the land of the Royal Bengal tiger with a healthy number of tiger population in the country. But due to excessive deforestation and poaching issues, the tigers of the country are in the verge of extinction. Tiger tourism is also one of the most important aspects of the tourism sector in India, which has been affected significantly. Conservation of this species has become extremely important to save it from extinction and also revive tiger tourism. As part of its corporate social responsibility, since 2008, Aircel, a telecommunication company in India, is doing its bit to save the ecosystem by conserving tigers, one of the most important animal at the apex of the ecosystem.
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By No.
|
Name of the tiger reserve |
State
|
Year
|
Central provided Assistance (Rs. in lakhs) | Amount spent States (Rs. in laks) |
|
1.
|
Corbett | Uttarakhand | 2008 – 09 |
93.00
|
–
|
|
2.
|
Dudhwa | Uttar Pradesh | 2008 – 09 |
93.00
|
–
|
|
3.
|
Ranthambore | Rajasthan | 2008 – 09 |
93.00
|
–
|
|
4.
|
Simlipal | Odisha | 2010 – 11 |
30.00
|
30.00
|
| 2011 – 12 |
240.00
|
–
|
Brinda Malhotra, head of corporate social responsibility (CSR) division, Aircel states, “Tigers are at the apex of the ecosystem or the food chain. Tiger is an animal which can survive in every setting, the only thing it needs is an area to mark its territory. A tiger on an average needs around 60 to 100 square kilometres of land to survive. If we have to protect tigers, indirectly we have to conserve the forest land, trees, other animals for the food chain to function smoothly. So this initiative ‘Save Our Tigers’ not only conserves tigers, but indirectly the whole of nature.”
|
Sr. No.
|
Name of Tiger Reserve
|
State
|
|
1.
|
Dudhwa | Uttar Pradesh |
|
2.
|
Corbett | Uttarakhand |
|
3.
|
Ranthambore | Rajasthan |
|
4.
|
Pench | Madhya Pradesh |
|
5.
|
Kanha | Madhya Pradesh |
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6.
|
Bandhavgarh | Madhya Pradesh |
|
7.
|
Pakke | Arunachal Pradesh |
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8.
|
Bandipur | Karnataka |
|
9.
|
Pench | Maharashtra |
|
10.
|
Tadoba – Andhari | Maharashtra |
|
11.
|
Mudumalai | Tamil Nadu |
|
12.
|
Kaziranga | Assam |
|
13.
|
Simlipal | Odisha |
|
(Source: PIB)
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Aircel has actively deployed its CSR team to spread awareness about tiger conservation in most of the sensitive tiger reserves and villages around them and they are also closely working with reserves such as Ranthambore, Dudhwa, Sundarban, Bandipur and Pench. This year with the help of their partners, Aircel has created a new tiger agenda which has six key demands:
- Involve local communities in conservation
- Strengthen and modernise the forest department to step up protection
- Improve man-animal conflict mitigation measures
- Increase protection in buffer-zones and corridors
- Zero tolerance approach to poaching
- Make political parties accountable for loss of biodiversity.
Inspiring young minds
To further strengthen its initiative, Aircel has partnered with Sanctuary Asia and organised ‘Kids for Tiger’ (KFT) National Camp at Pench National Park from June 13- 15, 2014. Children from different schools across India were selected to attend the national camp. These children were selected on the basis of their contribution towards spreading awareness and their commitment towards the cause. The children were exposed to complexities of wildlife, nature and environment, and also got the opportunity to interact with the forest department officials and other tiger conservationists. The selected children were called ‘Tiger Ambassadors’.
Speaking on this, Malhotra states, “Aircel has been working diligently towards tiger conservation since 2008. Tigers today, are among the 10 most endangered species in the world and need active protection. Aircel initiated the ‘Save our Tigers’ campaign, which has been very successful in spreading awareness on tiger conservation over the last six years. Taking this commitment forward, we are happy to be partnering with Sanctuary Asia to work in and around Pench National Park. The objective to organise the KFT National Camp is to nurture our young generation and develop a positive mindset whereby these kids become the champions of the cause in future.”
Special protection
In 2008, Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan lost all its tigers to poaching, that was the time when Aircel along with its partners launched a massive signature campaign to save the tiger. They collected around a million signatures which was then presented to the prime minister asking him to take urgent measures to save the national animal. This movement led to the announcement of the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF).
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Karnataka was the first state to create STPF in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Under the ongoing centrally sponsored scheme of Project Tiger, 100 per cent central assistance is provided to tiger states for raising, arming and deploying STPF in sensitive tiger reserves. Based on tiger abundance and vulnerability, 13 tiger reserves in the country have been identified for raising, arming and deploying STPF.
However, under this centrally sponsored scheme of Project Tiger, central assistance is provided to all the tiger reserves for anti-poaching measures. This includes deployment of local people as well in protection to complement the field staff.
