Help Save the Tiger! URGENT!!
Tigers are on the threshold of extinction. According to WWF, Tigers are amongst the ten most endangered species in the world. Over the last century more than 95% of the Tiger population has been wiped out & three sub-species are already extinct. Less than 3500 tigers remain in the wild today with around 50% in India & their numbers are declining fast.
Initial results from the Wildlife Institute of India Tiger census (released on 24 May 2007) are warning that India has far fewer tigers living than had been previously thought. Complete stories on BBC & Discovery Channel. The next five years are going to be extremely critical if we are to save India's Tigers & forests. This is a small attempt to mobilise people like you & me to connect with conservationists out there with plenty of energy but very little money (Click here for more details on the Tiger situation & the Satpura Forests - the largest tiger habitat in the world).
I am selling prints of two tiger cartoons & doing custom caricatures to help raise money for a Community Conservation Project in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra.
The conservation project involves setting-up a field station in Moharli, with three conservationists for a year. They will work towards improving the living conditions of the tribals who live in extreme poverty & reducing biotic pressure on the forest. The project will thereby help protect one of the largest Tiger habitats in the world. It will be executed by Satpuda Foundation (http://www.satpuda.org/), a registered grass-root NGO & will cost 2.76 lakh rupees (Click here to learn more about the project).
Every single paisa raised will go to the charity. All transactions will be transparent & available on this blog below. If at any time you are not satisfied - I will refund you all your money & you can keep the cartoons.
Buy Cartoons to Contribute
The Tiger Cartoons are A4 size digital prints on Snow-white Matte Art Card . The cartoons are based on the two biggest threats to Tigers – Poaching & Habitat Loss. Only that the Tigers are on top for a change. They can be bought individually or as a set. Each print costs Rs.1000/$25/£12.50 (plus postage for prints – Rs.200/$10/£5).
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You can also order custom caricatures. So, if you send me a snap of yours (or your boss) – I will do the caricature & email it back to you (jpeg 300 dpi 5"x5"). Each caricature costs Rs. 1000/$25/£12.5 (no postage this time).
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You can buy via Paypal/CreditCard/DebitCard below. In case you prefer paying by Cheque / Bank Draft - just drop me an email.
You can buy via Paypal/CreditCard/DebitCard below. In case you prefer paying by Cheque / Bank Draft - just drop me an email.
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Feel free to email me if you have any questions/suggestions on save_the_tiger@yahoo.co.in.
PAYPAL SHOPPING CART
Your cartoons/caricature will reach you within 10 days of your payment being processed.
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You can also buy cartoon prints from Imagekind gallery if you are looking for different medium (paper/canvas) & framing options.
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All transactions will be transparent & available on this blog below. I will forward the money raised to Satpuda Foundation at the end of every month. You will also be able to track the progress of the project at the bottom of this blog.
About the TATR Community Conservation Project
There are 53 villages on the fringe of the reserve with 60% landless families & no means of livelihood. The project involves establishing a field station at Moharli in TATR and keeping field staff working on employment and other essential works to reduce the biotic pressure of communities on the forest & Tigers.
Your donation will fund a team of 3 conservationists for a year to work towards understanding the problems faced by the tribals in the villages in the area and designing viable & sustainable solutions beneficial to the villagers and the forests.
Project Costs:
Salaries for 1 Conservation Officer & 2 Staff (1 Year) = Rs. 1,56,000
Travel & Office Expenses (1 Year) = Rs. 1,20,000
Total = Rs. 2,76,000
Benefits:
1) A key aspect of the project will be to gather community support and indigenous knowledge for framing and later implementing biodiversity conservation programmes in the Reserve.
2) Man-tiger conflict will fall, and incidences of poisoned waterholes and kills will reduce in frequency. The project will help in strengthening protection to the entire tiger belt, ensuring the genetic viability of this region’s tiger population. In the absence of such proactive measures, it is unlikely that the project area will survive in the long run.
3) Employment opportunities from the district administration will improve, with villagers paid to protect their own source of survival, the forest which provides them food, shelter, water and fodder.
Your donation will fund a team of 3 conservationists for a year to work towards understanding the problems faced by the tribals in the villages in the area and designing viable & sustainable solutions beneficial to the villagers and the forests.
Project Costs:
Salaries for 1 Conservation Officer & 2 Staff (1 Year) = Rs. 1,56,000
Travel & Office Expenses (1 Year) = Rs. 1,20,000
Total = Rs. 2,76,000
Benefits:
1) A key aspect of the project will be to gather community support and indigenous knowledge for framing and later implementing biodiversity conservation programmes in the Reserve.
2) Man-tiger conflict will fall, and incidences of poisoned waterholes and kills will reduce in frequency. The project will help in strengthening protection to the entire tiger belt, ensuring the genetic viability of this region’s tiger population. In the absence of such proactive measures, it is unlikely that the project area will survive in the long run.
3) Employment opportunities from the district administration will improve, with villagers paid to protect their own source of survival, the forest which provides them food, shelter, water and fodder.
About Satpuda:
Satpuda Foundation is a grassroot NGO works towards the protection of the Satpura landscape which is spread in Central India across two states i.e. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It is supported by Born Free & Wildlife Conservation Trust, India. Satpuda is a registered NGO & is headed by Kishore Rithe. Kishore gave up his job to work for wildlife conservation. In view of his contribution, he has been appointed Honorary Wildlife Warden for Amravati and to the Maharashtra Wildlife Advisory Board. He has also been awarded Marathwada Friends of Birds Award in1997, Tiger Link Award in1997, Ashoka Fellowship in 2000 & Conde Nast Traveller's Environmental Award in 2003.
Read his interview here - http://www.satpuda.org/Kishor%20Rithe.doc
Satpuda Foundation is a grassroot NGO works towards the protection of the Satpura landscape which is spread in Central India across two states i.e. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It is supported by Born Free & Wildlife Conservation Trust, India. Satpuda is a registered NGO & is headed by Kishore Rithe. Kishore gave up his job to work for wildlife conservation. In view of his contribution, he has been appointed Honorary Wildlife Warden for Amravati and to the Maharashtra Wildlife Advisory Board. He has also been awarded Marathwada Friends of Birds Award in1997, Tiger Link Award in1997, Ashoka Fellowship in 2000 & Conde Nast Traveller's Environmental Award in 2003.
Read his interview here - http://www.satpuda.org/Kishor%20Rithe.doc
Project Update
Save the Tiger Quarterly Report (Q2 2007-08)
1. Fundraising: Thanks to your generous support, we have raised over 50,000 rupees in the last three months.
2. Appointments: As planned, a Conservation Officer & two community officers have been appointed at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). Satpuda Foundation (SF) has also set up a field office in Moharli to support the team.
3. Resettlement Assistance: TATR field staff are assisting resettled villages from TATR viz. Botezari and Kolasa. Villagers are facing plenty of problems at the new site as this is their first year at the new place. SF is working towards resolving these issues with the help of district administration. SF has also provided monetary help to villagers for ploughing their lands. Rs.4 Lakhs has been distributed to 116 families resettled at Tolewahi through Wildlife Conservation Trust.
4. TATR Socio-Economic Survey: SF has launched a socio-economic survey of 11 villages on the periphery of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) as part of this community conservation programme. The house-to-house survey to establish a database on the social and economic conditions of villagers living near the Reserve was started. The database will provide the inputs for the SF to undertake capacity-building workshops through its Employment Cell unit and to address development issues faced by the villagers.
5. Good News: And the icing on the cake, a Tigress has been reported to have given birth to two cubs in TATR. The conservationists, however, have had no hand in it :D
Many thanks to all those who helped us make this happen, I would request or rather urge all those who linked, contributed and supported this cause to link this report as an update.
Donation Tracker
Date, Name & Amount
01/06/07 Vikram Nandwani - Rs. 5000
01/06/07 R K Nandwani - Rs. 2000
01/06/07 Devyani Chatterjee - Rs. 1000
01/06/07 Tilottama Chatterjee - Rs. 1000
01/06/07 Sunil Ankalgi - Rs. 1000
01/06/07 Dushyant Singh - Rs. 2000
01/06/07 Kusum Rohra - Rs. 1000
01/06/07 Nirmal Patel - Rs. 1000
01/06/07 Nisha Menon - Rs. 2000
01/06/07 Priyankara Nandwani - Rs. 5000
01/06/07 Saakshi Juneja - Rs. 1000
02/06/07 Pai Family, Mysore, India - Rs. 1000
08/06/07 Shweta Foulger - Rs. 1000
10/06/07 Krishnan Subramanian - Rs. 1000
11/06/07 Anupam (Bombay Addict) - Rs. 1000
11/06/07 Sandhya Surap - Rs. 2000
16/06/07 Abhishek Mukherjee - Rs. 1000
18/06/07 Ketan Kansagra - Rs. 1000
19/06/07 Name Withheld 01 - Rs. 1000
25/06/07 Rashmi Nair - Rs. 1000
25/06/07 Rashmi Singh - Rs. 1000
02/07/07 Mrinal Singh - Rs. 2000
02/07/07 Mike Payne - Rs. 1000
02/07/07 Kim Ward - Rs. 1000
02/07/07 Sunil Samal - Rs. 800
02/07/07 Sriprasad Giri - Rs. 2000
02/07/07 Anna Wakeman - Rs. 800
02/07/07 Nitish Khetavath - Rs. 2000
05/07/07 Simon Foster - Rs. 1000
06/07/07 Steve Concannon -Rs. 800
06/07/07 Diane Smith - Rs. 400
08/07/07 Poonam Arora - Rs. 1000
11/07/07 Vinitha & Rajan Srinivasan - Rs. 2000
13/07/07 Lalit Patil - Rs. 1000
01/08/07 Puneet Malik - Rs. 1000
21/08/07 Andreas Thulin - Rs. 2000
24/08/07 Prashant Karandikar - Rs. 1000
10/09/07 Alexis Leon - Rs. 2000
10/11/07 Isha, Piyul & Anjan Mukherjee - Rs. 3000
15/01/08 Chinmay Pangarkar - Rs. 1000
24/02/08 Ash Nallawalla - Rs.1000
25/04/08 Lavina Melwani - Rs. 1500
