CSE's Thirteenth Media Fellowship: Backs to the wall: tigers, tiger habitats and conservation in India

March - May 2012

This fellowship is supported by Jamshedji Tata Trust

In 2009-10, 51 tigers were killed in India, in spite of all the conservation programmes, awareness drives and public campaigns to save them. India hosts the majority of the world’s tiger population -- about 1,700 tigers, according to the May 2011 census.

But a combination of threats is holding this meager number to ransom, and poaching and trade in wildlife parts is just one of them. A shrinking habitat, conflicts with humans, growing tourist interference… the tiger has a lot to contend with.

The Siberian tiger, mostly found in China and Russia, is down to a mere 20 in number, and its Indian cousin is travelling down the same road. Policy intervention, protective legislations and international pressure have not made much of a difference, and if action is not taken effectively, the tiger will dwindle towards extinction.
 
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, 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

6. Science and wildlife protection

Duration
Three months – March to May, 2012

Application deadline was February 20, 2012

Compensation and funding
Selected fellows will each receive a stipend of Rs 50,000 (subject to tax deductions at source) to support research, travel and writing between the given period.

The stipend will be released in two instalments – the first as a travel grant at the start of the fellowship programme and the second after its successful completion.

Fellowships output
Selected applicants from the print media will be expected to generate feature and news article/s totalling 5,000 words or three stories, based on the research carried out under the fellowship. Original clippings of these articles will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme. They will also be expected to take and submit photographs of the areas they travel in for their stories.

Selected applicants from the audio-visual media will be expected to generate either a single film/broadcast or a series of episodes, based on the research carried out under the fellowships. Video and audio CDs of these outputs will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme.

For any queries, please get in touch with Souparno Banerjee (souparno@cseindia.org / 9910864339) of The CSE Media Resource Centre.