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Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had invited applications from journalists in India to investigate the issues and concerns of tigers, their habitats, and their conservation in the country. Applicants can present proposals on the following areas of study:
1. India’s wildlife conservation policies, laws and regulations
2. Wildlife crime and trade in wildlife products
3. Who’s the encroacher – people vs wildlife
4. Wildlife tourism
5. Relocation: the social, economic and political agenda
Science and wildlife protection
The Centre has successfully conducted fellowships on subjects ranging from desertification, human-wildlife conflicts and climate change, to water bodies, the Forest Rights Act and transport and water-sewage issues in urban centres. Each one of these fellowships has generated a wealth of information.
Of total 40 complete applications, 12 fellows have been shortlisted by our jury members
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Mr Varghese George, Hindustan Times |
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Rajesh Gopal, National Tiger Conservation Authority |
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Madhu Sarin, Forest Rights Activist |
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Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment |
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This fellowship is supported by Jamsetji Tata Trust
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| North: Uttar Pradesh |
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Biswajeet Banerjee
bureau chief
The Pioneer, Lucknow
Location: Terai belt comprising Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Maharajganj
Focus: Encroachment, relocation of encroachers, vultures on
Jury suggestions
• focus on the issue of human-tiger conflicts.
Fellowship Reports
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| Uttarakhand |
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Anupam Trivedi
special correspondent
The Hindustan Times, Dehradun
Location: Corbett Tiger Reserve
Focus: Wildlife tourism, human animal conflict
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| North East: Arunachal Pradesh |
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Appu Gapak
senior sub editor
The Independent Review, Itanagar
Location: Namdapha National Park, Changlang district,
Focus: Pressures of tiger conservation in Namdapha
• habitat loss, logging, shifting cultivation, human settlements, poaching and hunting (human encroachment and poaching taking a heavy toll)
The Tiger Protection Force and its impact
Jury suggestions
• Investigate and report on the people and wildlife interfaces in Namdhapa. Study and analyse the reasons for the underlying tensions and the options for the future. Is an inclusive agenda – where the local tribals become a part of the conservation practices -- possible for Namdhapa?
Fellowship Reports
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| Assam |
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Teresa Rehman
freelancer,
Dainik Janambhumi, Guwahati
Location: Kaziranga National Park, Assam
Focus: Human-tiger conflict after Kaziranga was declared a Project Tiger reserve (2007)
• how are the locals adapting to this change in status
• how are the fringe areas faring?
Jury sugestions
• Illegal mining
• Rice cultivation and the use of pesticides therein – what this is doing to wildlife
• The encroachment of Kaziranga land by the rich and powerful
• The crisis of floods and how wildlife find no refuge during floods because of park politics
Fellowship Reports
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| Centre: Madhya Pradesh |
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Pavan Shrivastava
city head
Dainik Jagran, Bhopal
Location: Ratapani sanctuary
Focus: Who’s the encroacher –human-wildlife conflict in MP’s forests
Jury suggestions
• Look into the problem of illegal felling.
• Investigate the vested interests, and procrastination on the proposal to declare the area as a reserve forest.
Fellowship Reports
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P Naveen
chief state correspondent
DNA, Bhopal
Language: English
Focus: The case of Panna’s lost tigers
Investigate why the state is not handing over the case to CBI despite park rangers’ report that insiders were involved.
Increasing human animal conflicts in and around Bandhavgarh
Should tourism be banned in core areas?
Fellowship Reports
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| Chhattisgarh |
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Tikeshwar Patel
reporter
Central Chronicle, Raipur
Location: Achaanakmaar Tiger Reserve
Focus: The Achaanakmaar-Amarkantak highway: Supposed to be closed since 2008, but it continues to place animals at grave risk.
Timber mafia and cattle grazers: Rampant activities inside the
Jury sugestions
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The case of relocation of the six villages which were dumped in deforested land
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In the original villages which have been relocated/demolished, titles to the land had been given to the villagers. Have these land-holders been compensated and given land in the relocation site, or have they been left high and dry?
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Compliance with Forest Rights Act
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The Naxalite presence in this region and what it is dong to the forest and its conservation
Fellowship Reports
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| East: Odisha |
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Bijay Misra
freelancer
The Economic Page, Angul
Location: Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary and Baisipalli Sanctuary
Focus: Community wildlife tourism which will encourage communities living in and around tiger landscapes for sustainable livelihood support and will minimize human-tiger conflict and
Jury sugestions:
With respect to Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary.
• The fallout of declaring it a tiger reserve
• Implications on the people
• Growth of the tiger reserve and what it will do to more villages
The jury insisted that you broadcast your show on Doordarshan and AIR.
Fellowship Reports
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| JHARKHAND |
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Anupama Kumari
senior correspondent
Tehelka, Ranchi
Location: Palamau Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand
Focus: 20 elephants were released by the Maharaja of Surguja and they turned feral, subsequently increasing in numbers. Look at the elephant-human confrontations.
• The core area in the tiger reserve is facing the threat of submergence from a dam.
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| West: Maharashtra |
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Chandan Haygunde
senior correspondent
The Indian Express, Pune
Location: Satpura Tiger Reserve and Sahyadri Tiger Reserve
Focus: Wildlife protection, impacts of tourism, forest department-tribals conflict, saving tigers with help from local communities, FRA implementation inside the reserve
Jury sugestions
• For Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, look at the illegal mining operations, the mining lobby, and their clash with the conservationist
• A story on illegal windmills and small hydro projects in and around the reserve.
Fellowship Reports
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| South: Karnataka |
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G S Shashidhara
sub editor/reporter
Prajavani, Bangalore
Location: Bandipur, Nagarahole,Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sancturay and other reserve forests in Karnataka
Focus: Wildlife tourism and its impacts
• Violation of Wildlife Protection Act
• Using local tribals to promote sustainable wildlife tourism
• How private wildlife tour operators could contribute in protecting wildlife
• Difficulties being faced by government agencies in implementing rules and regulations.
Jury sugestions
• Tourism activities
• What the local people stand to gain or loose, and on the issue of corridor destruction.
Fellowship Reports
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Anil S
chief reporter
The New Indian Express, Kochi
Location: Periyar Tiger Reserve
Focus: Tourism, Sabarimala pilgrims
• Mullaperiyar dam, Pachakanam estate
• Inter-state boundary resulting in poaching and illegal trade, frequent forest fires, lack of sewage management or sufficient buffer zone
Jury sugestions
• Investigate and write on the status of eco-tourism in Periyar – whether there is any substance in the celebrated park's eco-tourism claims.
Fellowship Reports
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