Meet the youths working with the forest department – designated as “Protection Assistants” – to prevent poaching, stop illegal timber logging in Similipal National Park and spread the word about the benefits of park protection.
At 9 AM, Hemanondo Dhir walks the forests of Similipal every day.
With care and attention, he notes everything – a new track here, a fallen branch there – covering some 15 km and not stopping until 5 pm.
He is one of Similipal National Park’s team of young eco-warriors, officially called protection assistants. They are chosen from nearby villages to patrol the forest each day, keeping a close watch on poaching, illegal timber felling and any sign of forest fires.
Similipal is a national park and tiger reserve in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. Known for its black tigers and stunning scenery, the park spreads over 2,750 sq km. But it faced threats of poaching and hunting.
Until the protection assistants started patrolling the reserve. They’ve helped reduce the incidences of poaching and hunting and helped the government keep track of the tigers.
Involving local youths for forest protection began in 1992, when Vanoo Mitra Acharya – the founder of the local non-profit organisation Sangram – started the Green Brigade.
Recalling illegally logged timber being taken out of the forest on cycles, Acharya resolved to end the practice. He met local youths, discussed how to tackle the problem and that is how the brigade started.
Inspired by Acharya, Rabindra Mahanta joined the brigade more than 25 years ago and is still an active member of the brigade.
“In the early ‘90s illegal timber was openly sold in rural markets,” he recalled.
The Green Brigade continued to patrol the forests despite ups and downs. The young people worked free of cost.
“I felt that their work should be incentivised. So, I requested the forest department to hire them,” said Acharya.
Initially the department gave them food and paid Rs 15 per day, which was later increased to Rs 25.
But now the protection assistants, like Dhir, get paid Rs 315 per day.
“The protection assistants are paid through a joint funding of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the state government,” said Yogajayananda, regional chief conservator of forest, Mayurbhanj.
There are now a total of 380 protection assistants with the forest department.
There is a long history of hunting in Similipal. Villagers from the area, and sometimes even outsiders, would hunt herbivores, like deer, chital and wild boar for bushmeat.
But Dhir and his colleague Arjun Mohakud said that poaching has come down thanks to their patrolling and awareness programmes.
The forest department cites the number of poaching and illegal logging cases booked over the last few years as proof to the positive result of patrolling.
The tiger reserve has 209 beats, each of about 15 sq km and covered by one member of the forest staff and two or three protection assistants.
Technology also helps in the monitoring. The protection assistants have been using the Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES) since 2017.
The assistants feed data about flora, fauna, habitat disturbance, photos of animals spotted and patrolling distance covered into the app. The NTCA then analyses the wealth of information.
“Similipal is the second among India’s tiger reserves in patrolling intensity,” said Yogajayananda. This has had a positive result. “There is no tiger poaching here,” he said.
Eight adult tigers were identified within the park, as per the tiger status report of 2018.
Culling the annual mass hunting party
Running awareness drives about the fragility of the land and animals is also having a big impact on Similipal.
For instance, tribes in the area used to hold an annual mass hunting party every April.
Thousands of tribesmen would enter the forest with bows and arrows, hunting birds and small animals to be feasted upon. With 65 villages inside the reserve this led to a loss of biodiversity.
“This hunting has vastly been reduced in the last five years due to awareness drives,” said Yogajayananda.
But hunting is not the only problem hurting the environment in Similipal.
Controlling the threat of forest fires
While conflicts between humans and animals is now low, forest fires pose a serious threat.
Sanjukta Basu, a social activist associated with Sangram, said fires happen mostly during the mahua flower collection season of March-April, since the gatherers set fire to the undergrowth to collect the small flowers easily.
Both the protection assistants, who help prevent fires from February till June, and the Green Brigade work on sensitising the communities on how best to protect the fire and prevent sparks.
Similipal is full of sal trees. Their dry, fallen leaves – which are prone to ignite – can sometimes pile up two feet high.
“Also, most villagers living on the fringes of Similipal light fires to repel reptiles, insects and ticks. Sometimes, they burn bushes to ensure clear footpaths for easy movement,” said Yogajayananda.
But the changing climate is making it harder to control forest fires.
“The biggest reason for forest fires here is that the regional climate is changing – with the absence of summer showers and long dry spells,” he added.
With the fire season approaching, the trusty protection assistants are ready.
Once again, they use their affinity and aptitude for technology to help them.
“We have data of fire-prone areas. We identify vulnerable patches and deploy additional fire watchers,” said Yogajayananda.
Developmental projects can also eat up areas of natural beauty.
But at a time when deforestation is rampant in many areas across the country because of developmental projects, Similipal fares better in conservation.
And that is in no small part due to the dedication and care of its young eco-warriors, who are growing up to be leaders and caretakers of the land.
Deepanwita Gita Niyogi is a journalist based at New Delhi.
