VAN RAKSHAK TRAINING PROGRAMME IN KALAGARH

New Delhi, August 18, 2000: The Van Rakshak Training Programme was held from 9th to 17th August at Corbett Training Centre, Kalagarh. 88 participants of the training programme including Range Officers, Forest Guards, Dy.Rangers and temporary staff attended the sessions.

This programme was divided into three batches and the course contents were :
Day 1 - Legal Training.
Day 2 - Kit Distribution, Fundamentals of Patrolling.
Day 3 - Weapons handling & Firing practice.

Past experience of training programmes involving field forest staff had shown that the modules and the course material provided were theoretical and user-unfriendly. The information provided in these programmes tended to be bookish and impractical.

We had also noticed the ad-hoc distribution of items of personal use, many of which were unsuitable for use in the forest. The ad-hoc distribution also made the staff feel like they were at the receiving end of some cheap give-aways.

We therefore decided to create a composite anti-poaching kit that any field forest worker would need in the forest. After consultations with those who actually live in the forest, guards and rangers, the WTI designed an anti-poaching kit.

To give the participants a feeling of having earned it, the kit distribution was combined with an enforcement training programme.

An oft-neglected part of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, was chosen for the first package.

Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary is rich in habitat and supports a large number of species that include elephants and tigers.

OBJECTIVES

1. Boost field staff morale for effective anti poaching operation.
2. Curb poaching in the reserve, especially of elephants and tigers, and check forest degradation.

EVALUATION

The participants by and large felt that the course duration was very short and asked for a larger law component. It may be more meaningful to spread the law module over two days. The range-level participants were more aware of the law than those below, and would be benificial if this section were to be given a periodic refresher course.

The best candidates out of this group if selected for an intensive course, will at least yield a bank of the latest information in any given area.

Since the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary had not provided a list of participants with their shoe sizes this information was collected during the training programme and shoes will be supplied at a later stage. Participants were more than satisfied with the kit and there were no suggestions for any change or replacement. A monitoring trip has been planned in October to evaluate the performance of the kits.

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