• When humans and wildlife live alongside each other, there is bound to be some interaction. Often, humans perceive such interactions as conflict, endangering the lives of both people and wildlife. WCT works closely with state forest departments to mitigate conflict and minimise losses on either side. WCT’s Human-Wildlife Interface Management (HWIM) division trains forest staff in reducing damage during conflict situations and assists the Forest Department in devising long-term solutions.
  • Equipping Frontline Forest Staff: Forest guards make up the frontline of the government’s wildlife protection framework. Their importance in conserving India’s Protected Areas cannot be over-emphasised. The Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) envisions building the capacity of frontline forest staff to strengthen the on-ground protection of Protected Areas across India.
  • WCT’s Conservation Dogs Units (CDU) comprises, at the moment, three specially trained working dogs to carry out varied tasks related to detection of target species or indirect evidence left behind by wildlife or wildlife poachers, and a well-trained staff which works in tandem with these extraordinary dogs. The olfactory capabilities of dogs aid in ongoing conservation efforts and investigations.
  • WCT’s Connectivity Conservation team combines the scientific powers of camera trapping, conservation genetics and GIS to study and predict the movement of tigers through complex landscapes that include tiger reserves, other Protected Areas (PAs), relatively less protected but good quality corridors, linear infrastructure, highly degraded forests, revenue land and agricultural land. This helps us identify the most viable corridors, as well as the bottlenecks within them. The research finally feeds into policy recommendations at the state and national levels.
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Our 360° Approach

Six hundred rivers originate from, or are fed by, the tiger-bearing forests of India, making these habitats crucial to our water security. With several million people living in and around forests, we cannot separate communities from conservation. Recognising this, WCT has adopted a 360° approach to conservation by focusing equally on wildlife protection and community development.

Wildlife Conservation

Our flagship science-based conservation programmes focus on highly endangered species such as the tiger, leopard, pangolin, otter, Gangetic river dolphin, gharial, and freshwater turtles, to highlight the ecological importance and strengthen the protection mechanism of large land- and river-scapes.

Ecosystems & Communities

We are working on harnessing public finance to safeguard all types of natural ecosystems including grasslands, deserts, marshlands, mangroves and forests, along with the development needs of communities that live in and around them.

Impact

We currently work in and around 170 Protected Areas across 23 states and four Union Territories of India, covering 82 per cent of the country’s tiger reserves, 25 percent of the national parks and sanctuaries, and impacting a population base of approximately 3.5 million people.

Climate & Conflict Mitigation

Our long-term ecological research in Central India, followed by economic and psychosocial studies, has led to the development and large-scale adoption of our biomass-fuelled, energy-efficient water heater, which is reducing firewood consumption, forest degradation, and human-carnivore conflict.

Ecosystem Restoration

We have embarked upon a rewilding programme that will look to restore natural vegetation and biodiversity across degraded scrublands, grasslands and forestlands with the help of local communities and landholders.

India is home to a dazzling diversity of wildlife, and 1.3 billion people. Our growing needs put immense pressure on our forests, river systems and biodiversity, and intensify the effects of climate change. At the Wildlife Conservation Trust, we are tirelessly working to protect India’s rich biodiversity and life-giving ecosystems through a robust and tested 360 degree approach, which takes into consideration the needs of both wildlife and people.
Ecofiles’, a podcast by Wildlife Conservation Trust, aspires to bring forth stories from the natural world, the art and science of conservation, deep dives into natural history, voices of the grassroots workers and field experts, and much more. Tune in to listen to diverse conversations centered around our natural world.

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