Wildlife Conservation TrustCopy the link

Using the tiger as a metaphor for all of nature, Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) was envisioned to preserve and protect India’s rich natural heritage. Currently, WCT works in and around 160 Protected Areas across 23 states and four Union Territories in the country covering 82 percent of India’s tiger reserves, 24 percent of the national parks and sanctuaries, and impacting a population base of approximately 3.5 million people. WCT uses a 360° approach to conservation by placing equal emphasis on wildlife conservation as well as community development. WCT works closely with Forest Departments across the country to fortify on-ground protection by training and equipping frontline forest staff. WCT collects scientific data from the ground to understand conservation needs and devise robust, scalable solutions. Over the years, WCT has grown into a think tank for state Forest Departments and other government agencies and is deeply involved in finding long-term solutions to myriad conservation issues. This is achieved through robust collaborations - national and international - with government bodies, NGOs, research institutions, and individuals. WCT's core focus areas of work include : • Guiding conservation policy through wildlife research and monitoring. • Developing long-term conservation strategies and collaborating with the government and communities to protect highly endangered species such as the tiger, leopard, Indian pangolin, Ganges river dolphin, and the gharial. • Mitigating human-wildlife conflict situations using sound science and providing ecological inputs to the Forest Department. • Monitoring the inter-species spillover of diseases from livestock to wild herbivores and vice-versa through long-term disease surveillance and vaccination of livestock in villages in and around forests. • Deploying conservation dogs to assist the State Forest Departments in snare-detection and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. • Understanding behaviour of people and their relationship with nature to reduce their negative influence on natural ecosystems. • Mitigating the negative impacts of linear infrastructure by conducting road ecology surveys, addressing policy gaps, and building capacity of various constituencies. • Restoring degraded ecosystems such as grasslands, and arid and forested habitats to reinstate ecosystem services and revive native flora and fauna. • Training forest guards in wildlife law, crime scene investigation, forensics, and trauma management. • Providing preventive healthcare to frontline forest staff. • Equipping forest protection camps, improving mobility through vehicle donations, and providing equipment to forest staff to enhance work motivation and performance. • WCT is part of several important government-constituted committees and think tanks at both State and National levels.