Rapid Action Project (RAP) is a division of the Wild Aid programme that seeks to tackle conservation issues of urgent and critical need. The projects undertaken are generally short-term in nature and conservation worthy.
Its primary objective is to respond quickly to wildlife emergencies in the country by extending all round help to wildlife in crisis and distress.
It also seeks to set up a countrywide network of implementers to facilitate a prompt response to any conservation crisis.
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Drive slow: Elephants have right of way |
Prevention of Elephant Deaths Due to Train Hits in the Rajaji National Park
Railway lines passing through forests pose a constant threat to wildlife. In the last 18 years, the broad gauge railway track passing through the Rajaji National Park has killed 18 elephants. This is a crucial, and only, lines that connects Dehradun, the capital of the newly formed state of Uttaranchal, with the rest of the country. Reacting to one such accident, Wild Aid carried out a rapid study to assess the need for elephants to cross the line, to delineate the problem areas and to mitigate them. Water was found to be the major limiting factor in the summer months. In search of water, the animals had to cross a railway line that was full of blind turns and so constructed in stretches that animals had no escape route.
The study suggested simple and elementary measures such as increasing visibility on the track, joint patrolling by forest department and railways on vulnerable stretches during summer and removing hurdles that trapped elephants on the tracks. Active lobbying by WTI's officer in the field led to workshops for train drivers and guards, clearing of obstructions and vegetation along the railway tracks and sign boards on vulnerable stretches. WTI also cleaned choked water bodies so that more water was available during the crucial summer months. The measures have ensured no elephants died due to train hits after 2002 in Rajaji NP.
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Preserving traditions: With new lifestyles |
Changing Tribal Traditions to
Conserve Hornbills
For centuries, tradition forced Nyshi tribesmen in India's remote north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to hunt the hornbill and wear its beak on their heads as a signature of their tribe and, more importantly, to get married. Increasing Nyshi population ensured the decimation of three species of hornbills.
WTI with generous support from the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), joined a local NGO, Arunachal Wildlife and Nature Foundation (AWNF) to encourage the tribesmen to adopt artificial hornbill beaks to give a modern conservation twist to the tradition.
The beaks produced by WTI and distributed with the help of AWNF and the Arunachal Forest Department became so popular that WTI decided to turn this into a sustainable activity. Tying up with the National Museum of Natural History and the Nyishi Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society it trained select local artisans to produce this beak with the result that a centuries old tradition has turned into a commercially viable activity.
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Spark of hope: Electric fence to mitigate human-animal conflicts in Kuthori village, near Kaziranga National Park, Assam |
Spark of hope: Electric fence to mitigate human-animal conflicts
Farmers in Kuthori village near Kaziranga National Park in Assam – troubled due to intense crop damage by wild animals – were compelled to abandon cultivation in 2003, despite agriculture being their primary occupation. With their livelihood affected, retaliatory attacks by farmers on wild animals was a threatening possibility.
Two local organisations – Duarbagori Cooperative Society and Kuthori Krishi Unyaan Committee, approached Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to help mitigate the farmers' losses for the welfare of the people of Kuthori as well as for the animals. With funds provided by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), WTI helped the two organisations install electric fence along 8 km stretch of the village boundary adjacent to Kaziranga NP. To generate the sense of ownership, operation and maintenance of the electric fence was handed over to the local people.
The electric fence, powered by solar energy, effectively provided protection to farmlands in Kuthori, encouraging the farmers to resume cultivation in 2007 and helping them earn a significant profit. As compared against less than 19 quintals of harvest from nearly 100 bighas in 2003, the farmers harvested over a hundred quintals of mustard from just about 65 bighas of farmlands in 2008. Following the success of this RAP, a few others have been sanctioned and successfully implemented in other parts of Assam.
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Preserving Toda culture and beliefs to conserve tigers |
Todas for Tigers
The indigenous Toda community inhabits small hamlets in the Nilgiri highlands, with their lives closely interlinked to their natural surroundings. Their unique culture, traditions as well as their economy revolve around an endemic breed of Asiatic water buffalo – the Toda buffalo. Believers of extreme purity, the Todas classify their buffaloes as ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’ for respective use in sustaining their livelihood and in religious rituals.
Increasing instances of predation on Toda buffaloes by tigers among other predators, threatened the existence of these buffaloes, thereby threatening the entire Toda culture. Although the Todas revere the tiger as a supreme divinity and had not retaliated the attacks, with their existence and livelihood under threat their tolerance was visibly wearing thin.
Dr Tarun Chhabra, a practising dentist who has long been associated with the Toda community, initiated a Rapid Action Project (RAP) with Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) supported by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) to establish a quick compensation scheme for the losses of the Toda community and to preserve their reverence of the tiger. A pool of Toda buffaloes was created to compensate for any individual lost to the predators. For sustainability, the beneficiary households were encouraged to contribute the first born calf to the pool.
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Taming traffic through awareness |
Taming traffic in Bandipur National Park, Karnataka
Live wild animals, as well as carcasses of those killed in accidents are a common sight for travelers along highways laid through forests in India. A study by an NGO - Wildlife Conservation Foundation (WCF) revealed that at least three large animals were killed every month along a 12.5 km stretch of state highway passing through Bandipur National Park in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The animals killed in accidents along this stretch included tigers, elephants and leopards among many others. These existing threats to wildlife notwithstanding, a proposal to upgrade this road to a national highway raised additional fears of possible increase in the number of roadkills.
With funds provided by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), WTI sanctioned a RAP to WCF to help minimise roadkills along this stretch. Barricades and signage were placed in critical sections to spread awareness among the road users. Enforcement officials were made aware to ensure adherence to the designated speed limit, by vehicles plying on the road.
Average vehicle speed was significantly reduced resulting in fewer accidents. The plan to upgrade the road to a national highway has also been put on hold with questions raised on the possible corresponding increase in instances of roadkills.
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Destruction caused by the tsunami |
Post Tsunami Assessment
Following the massive tsunami in 2004 that hit the south Asian coastline devastating parts of India, Wild Aid was able to quickly reach the sites for aid, and later for an assessment of the damage to the coastal ecosystems and came out with reports that were of use to the government in designing and prioritising post-tsunami packages. The survey also found huge damage to the coral reefs with virtually the entire Andaman coastline comprising of extensive beds of coral rubble, which was a cause of concern.
