Indian Wildlife Club Forum

This village has no electricity, no transport or even the basic medical facilities.  “People here either depend on wood smuggling or prawn seed collection for livelihood.  The first encroaches into tiger territory, while the second completely disrupts the ecological balance of the area, because the salinity of the waters is affected due to excessive prawn seed poaching” says Kakoli Banejee, assistant coordinator of the Sunderbans landscaping project, WWF. 

WWF have also provided the village with tillers, solar-powered spice grinding machines, deep tube wells and medicinal plant gardens for sustenance.  Children have formed nature clubs and teach the parents the importance of saving the tiger.

There are countless villages close to national parks, who need these facilities for creating an alternative income source far from exploiting the forests.  A case in pont would be Kailashpuri, near Ranthambore National Park.  Our short film “Living With the Park” gives voice to the problems faced by displaced villages.  You can read a synopsis of the film at http://www.wildscapes.net/cd_synopsis.aspx

( Details of Chhoto Mollakhali from India Today dated 6 November 2006)