Clean-Up Drive around Ramnagar town, Corbett Tiger Reserve
5-6 June, 2010
Earlier this year the Aircel ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign was launched in partnership with WWF-India bringing in the much needed awareness about the dwindling number of wild tiger population in India. Courtesy the campaign, many individuals came forward to volunteer for conservation activities. To give them a platform, WWF-India organized a two day ‘Clean-Up’ drive on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 June. Volunteers from Delhi, UP, Chandigarh and as far as Chennai, travelled to be a part of this activity.
Non-biodegradable waste from Corbett Fall and Barati Ro, two well known tourist spots around Corbett Tiger Reserve near Ramnagar town, was removed. This waste was transported to the central waste collection point in Ramnagar, where recyclable material was separated from the garbage, and rest was disposed. The event was inaugurated in the presence of officials from the Uttarakhand Forest Department including the Director and Deputy Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, and the D.F.O of Terai West, who spoke about the impact of non-biodegradable waste on the environment and the pressing need to declare Ramnagar a plastic free zone. A sticker on Corbett Tiger Reserve with a slogan, as well as brochures on the issues affecting tiger conservation and WWF-India’s responses to the same were released.
Non-biodegradable waste from Corbett Fall and Barati Ro, two well known tourist spots around Corbett Tiger Reserve near Ramnagar town, was removed. This waste was transported to the central waste collection point in Ramnagar, where recyclable material was separated from the garbage, and rest was disposed. The event was inaugurated in the presence of officials from the Uttarakhand Forest Department including the Director and Deputy Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, and the D.F.O of Terai West, who spoke about the impact of non-biodegradable waste on the environment and the pressing need to declare Ramnagar a plastic free zone. A sticker on Corbett Tiger Reserve with a slogan, as well as brochures on the issues affecting tiger conservation and WWF-India’s responses to the same were released.
Inauguration of the event
On the first day of the clean-up drive, the volunteers along with forest guards took up the task of cleaning the Corbett Fall area. This tourist spot is visited by more than 80,000 tourists from around India every year! Unfortunately, the growing pressure of tourism has begun to take a toll on it as visitors leave behind traces of their presence in the form of plastic bottles, tin cans, disposed clothing and old footwear. The volunteers encouraged approximately 1000 visitors present on that day to carry waste out of the fall area to dispose it in a proper way. Three hours of rigorous cleaning resulted in the removal of a truck load of non-biodegradable waste. This was an eye opener to all tourists present at the fall on this day.
Volunteers collecting non-biodegradable waste at Corbett Fall
The event was carried over to the second day. An orientation session was organized for the volunteers by the WWF-India field officials Mr. Hem Tiwari and Dr K.D. Kandpal. They were given an introduction to the Terai Arc landscape, and briefed about the conservation issues in the area. This was followed by a trek into the forest towards Barati Ro, another water fall that is visited mostly by local tourists from Ramnagar. The volunteers worked hard to remove most of the plastic from the area, and rewarded themselves by cooling off under the fall.
It was an enriching experience for the volunteers, both in terms of contributing towards conservation and learning more about the issues related to landscape and species conservation in India. Many of them were volunteering for an environmental cause for the first time, and were inspired to spread the word about such causes further amongst their peers.
It was an enriching experience for the volunteers, both in terms of contributing towards conservation and learning more about the issues related to landscape and species conservation in India. Many of them were volunteering for an environmental cause for the first time, and were inspired to spread the word about such causes further amongst their peers.
This sticker on Corbett was released on the occasion