WWF-India’s Annual Corridor Walk is an yearly event, bringing together a diverse set of participants from different spheres of life to understand the importance of wildlife corridors in the present day conservation scenario. The walk aims at providing an immersive experience in order to inculcate a holistic understanding of the subject amongst the participants, who can then become emissaries of conservation in the varied geographical regions and professional spheres to which they return.
Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor ensures connectivity and is significant for sustenance of tiger population of Achanakmar and for meta-population of Kanha- Achanakmar complex in Central India. The corridor is also an important dispersal and breeding ground for tigers between the two reserves. The corridor not only hosts a multitude of fascinating rich floral and faunal diversity, but is also home to diverse local communities. These communities are diverse in their skills, beliefs, norms, values and traditional knowledge. This diversity, in synergy with ecological services, acts as a lifeline for the people living in the corridor. In order to secure this rich socio - ecological heritage, understanding and working towards protecting this corridor is of critical importance.
This year, the walk returns in its 5th edition, charting the route between Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) in Madhya Pradesh to Achanakmar Tiger Reserve (ATR) in Chhattisgarh. The ‘Kanha-Achanakmar Walk 2017’ is a six-day trek between KTR and ATR through the Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor. The average daily walking distance would be 8 kms passing through villages and forests across hillocks and streams. This year, the walk will commence from Sajalagan, a village in the periphery of Kanha Tiger Reserve. The Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor Walk is being organised by WWF-India in collaboration with the Forest Departments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The walk in the wilderness provides an ideal opportunity to understand the significance of biodiversity and how forest dwellers harmoniously coexist with forests and wildlife.
It also helps participants understand the intimate relationship local communities share with ecosystem and understand how tigers indirectly manage ecosystem by functioning as keystone species.
“Through this walk, I have learnt that WWF-India is deeply involved in not only the conservation of animals but also in the development of villages in the buffer zone and corridor. I understood how getting the goodwill of the village people is imperative in conservation efforts.”
- Aparna Pal Chauhan
“The community interaction sessions helped me understand that the people who reside within the forest are as important to the forest as the forest was to them. I used to be of the opinion that these people were responsible for destroying the forest and posed the most serious threat to the forests around them. However, in the period of 8 days I began to understand that it is not they who are responsible for the depletion of forests and instead they are the biggest victims of the degradation of forests. It is beautiful how these communities coexist with the forest and the wildlife species which reside within it, bearing all their hardships with such grace and with a smile on their faces.” - Anuraag Singh
“This walk has helped a great deal in developing a perspective about the complex relationship between wildlife, the government and forest dwelling communities. It has given us a great platform to observe and appreciate different species of insects, trees, butterflies and birds, and to learn about their behaviour. The knowledge I have gained is immense and has made me much more aware about the environment and its conservation.” - Ritu Vinaik