Global Nature Fund

An awareness program on the development of hygiene infrastructure at 5 schools – 4 at Katarniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and 1 at Valmiki Tiger Reserve was initiated by Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS) under the project ‘Development of cross-border approaches to mitigate conflicts between humans and elephants and to protect small farmers at the foot of the Himalayas’ supported by the Global Nature Fund (GNF) in collaboration with SIKA. To curb open defecation and lack of proper hygiene, the Indian government launched the ambitious Swachh Bharat programme in 2014 to provide access to the toilet to 600 million people by 2019. To date, even though the programme has been a success, still, India’s remotest villages especially the forest-linked villages have so far only been very marginally reached by the measure which probes the high risk of safety and security from diseases, abuse as well as animal conflicts.  NEWS is working towards raising awareness through Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) workshops with the school students of the remote villages. Textbooks have been designed for this workshop, keeping in mind the overall integration of hygiene, sanitation as well as environment and wildlife education. Community awareness programmes are also organized to better reach an awareness. An inauguration program was held at Katarniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary where the textbooks were launched through the hands of honorable DM, DFO, and SP of Bahraich, UP. A total of 300 books were distributed, 100 each in English, Hindi, and Maths.  NEWS has also expressed gratitude to the forest department personnel of all the ranges of the project sites – Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar and Katarniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) for their continuous support by distributing 100 reflective vests to the forest range staff of Katarniyaghat, Nishangarh and Motipur range in KWS on 30th April 2022. These reflector vests are immensely useful in the night patrolling to alert nocturnal animals and prevent conflicts.  #GlobalNatureFund #SIKA #NABU #reflectivevest #forestdepartment #endangered #environment #communityconservation #savetheelephant #repost #IUCN #elephantfamily #humanelephantconflict #savetheelephants #carnivores#katarniyaghatwildlifesanctuary #protectwildlife #savenature #elephantprotectiongroups #humananimalcoexistence #protectwildlife #conflictmitigation #wildlifeconservation #habitatloss #Gajmitra