WWF-India, in partnership with Oracle India, recently distributed 200 solar lanterns in the villages of Shyampur, Bagcha and Badagaon in Madhya Pradesh. Bringing light to remote villages where permanent electricity solutions have never reached before, the initiative highlights the possibility and value of renewable energy in our country.
“My child studies by the light of this lantern, my wife uses it for everyday chores and during the night we hang it outside the house to keep wild animals away,” says Sonu Verma, a villager from Badagaon. Smoke free and cost effective, the lanterns are environment friendly and reduce the villagers’ need to walk long distances to get subsidized kerosene oil. Arhal Mogiya, a villager from Shyampur, talks about how these solar lamps and the installation of two hand pumps by WWF-India, with support from Oracle India, (one each in the Shyampur and Badagaon villages) have made life easier for many like him. “Earlier we had to trek for miles to get kerosene oil and water. Now a water hand pump has been installed in our village. Two of our biggest problems – darkness and water scarcity – have been solved,” he says.
However, providing clean energy to remote villages is only one of the many objectives of Oracle supported WWF-India’s project 'Protecting the Tigers in and around Ranthambore’. Shyampur, Bagcha and Badagaon lie between the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan and the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Tigers, unable to establish territories in the Ranthambore Reserve (because of its limited carrying capacity), make their way to Kuno through these three villages and other surrounding areas – often venturing into human settlements in the dark, sometimes in search of prey and inadvertently at other times. The lights, by helping keep wild animals away, reduce instances of tiger attacks in the region, preventing loss of human lives and retaliatory killings of tigers.
Attempting to strike a balance between development and conservation, the project is helping village communities meet their basic energy requirements, encouraging children to study and promoting an environment-friendly life by reducing people’s excessive dependence on the forests. The support is also helping WWF-India strengthen its conservation efforts in the region. “These people know the forests like the back of their hands,” says Sunny Shah, landscape coordinator, WWF-India. “
With their support and knowledge – we can go a long way in protecting this important landscape, its people and the endangered species that inhabit it,” he adds.
Speaking about the partnership, Colleen Cassity, Executive Director, Oracle Giving & Volunteers says
“Oracle is very proud to support WWF-India. We appreciate the intelligent way they build alliances across different sectors to achieve our common goal of protecting the natural world. It's thrilling to see the tiger population rebounding in India. Mitigating human-tiger conflict, reducing forest dependence, and promoting sustainable livelihoods -- it's all vital for people and wildlife to thrive together.”
Speaking about the project, Yash Shethia, Associate Director, Species & Landscapes, WWF-India says,
“Oracle India, through its intervention in these villages, is helping create an environmental impact that brings everyone within its purview. Developing a well-connected network of forests in and around Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, where tigers and other wildlife can move freely in a safe and protected habitat, while benefiting local villages, the project is both sustainable and inclusive.”
About the 'Protecting the Tigers of Ranthambore Project'
Under 'Protecting the Tigers in and around Ranthambore' project, WWF-India, with support from Oracle India, is working towards protecting one of India's oldest and most famous tiger reserves (the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve) by building a strong network of trained and empowered frontline forest staff, monitoring the movement of tigers and other wildlife in key wildlife corridors using state-of-the-art technology, promoting the use of smokeless fuel efficient stoves and providing interim relief for livestock kills to reduce retaliatory killings of tigers.
For further queries, please contact:
Aditi Pokhriyal
Sr. Manager, Conservation Alliances
WWF-India, 172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi, India
Direct: +91 11 4150 4831 | Mobile: +91 99990 28102
Mr. Sunny Shah,
Landscape Coordinator
WWF-India Western India Tiger Landscape Office
Opp. Pankaj Sadan, Vigyan Nagar
Street Park Resort, Ranthambhore Road,
Sawai-Madhopur, 322001
Rajasthan
Tel : 0746-2221365
Email : sshah@wwfindia.net
