Elephant Proof Trench Awareness
KANS is organising a socio-economic survey of the villages that lie on the forest boundaries. Elephant proof trenches which will be cut in the vicinity of these villages are being opposed by villagers because their access to forests will be curtailed. KANS proposes to understand their dependance on forest resources and help them find viable alternatives.
Plastic pollution control at Dabguli, Urigam forest range
Dabguli belongs to the Urigam range in Hosur Reserve forest under the Tamil Nadu Forest Dept. Situated on the banks of the river Cauvery surrounded by hills on the one side from Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary a haven for the wild animals, especially the elephants that descends down to quench their thirst.
A temple dedicated to Basava stands on a bare hillock in Dabguli. This temple sees a trickle of devotees descending down throughout the year. Every once a year around the time of Shivaratri a gathering of 15-20 thousand people swarm this once peaceful region to be a part of the Jathre organized by the surrounding villages for 2 days.
Medical Camp – 1
The village of Kodakerai lies at the border of the dense Gutherayan forests. The inhabitants have to travel (mostly by walk) more than 20 kms to reach the nearest medical facility. In order to secure the support of the villagers to conserve the forest, KANS conducted a medical camp where free medical check-up was done on more than 250 villagers, including women and children, and medicines were distributed to them.
On occassion of its first anniversary and to celebrate the Wildlife Week, KANS conducted another medical camp, this time for the staff of the Hosur forest division. The camp was inaugurated by Mr. TNA Perumal, world reknowned photographer and environmentalist and Honorary member of KANS. Free check-up was done for more than 40 staff members and their families.
Roadkills awareness campaign
Many protected areas are crisscrossed by busy roads, that carry hundreds of vehicles a day. Road accidents have emerged as one of the threats facing the already endangered wildlife. KANS has taken up couple of initiatives at the Bandipur National Park and Rajiv Gandhi National Park, to reduce this risk.
Roads, railways and other infrastructure projects have emerged as one of the major threats to wildlife. Between 2003 and 2007, the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka saw the death of 89 mammals, 73 birds and 53 snakes on the National Highway. Similar incidents occur regularly in Forested areas across the country that have roads cutting through them. Apart from roadkills, the other threats are habitat fragmentation and changes in animal behaviour.
Safari Visitors Awareness campaign – Nagarhole
Every time we take a safari ride in a Protected Area (PA), we expect to see the elusive tiger. What we don’t realize is that tigers are solitary and nocturnal in nature and hence sighting them on safari rides is extremely difficult. This holds good for other predators too. Secondly, since these are ‘wild’ animals, by natural instinct they avoid humans. Also, PAs like National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are spread across several hundred sq. kms. of forest and animals are widely spread through the entire PA, and that clearly explains that wildlife sightings are just a matter of luck and nothing else.
KANS initiated an awareness programme to educate the visitors to the PAs. This programme was conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarhole) National Park in association with Wildlife Conservation Society, India Chapter
