Environmental conservation work in India

Latest news

26 Aug 2008
“Don’t Buy Trouble” Warns Traffic India’s New Film on Illegal Wildlife Trade
New Delhi – TRAFFIC India today released “Don’t Buy Trouble”, a new film, advising consumers/tourists against buying illegal wildlife products. The five minute film captures glimpses of the burgeoning illegal wildlife trade in India that threatens our precious flora and fauna, and is the latest addition to TRAFFIC India’s consumer awareness “Buyers Beware” campaign. It is anticipated that the film will be shown in airports and other locations where tourists gather. The film was shot by renowned wildlife filmmaker Himanshu Malhotra and has been produced with support from WWF-India.

India is home to many charismatic species of wildlife and is rich in biodiversity. It is also one of the few nations to have elaborate wildlife protection laws. However, the recent spate of illegal wildlife trade, mainly fuelled by demand in other countries, has taken a heavy toll on India’s wildlife. TRAFFIC India’s ground-breaking Don’t Buy Trouble film highlights aspects of this trade with images of poaching and trade in charismatic flagship species such as Tiger, Leopard, rhino and elephant as well as lesser-known species such as mongoose, reptiles, marine turtles, birds, primates, butterflies and other insects, musk deer and medicinal plants.

Besides highlighting the gruesome reality for many species in illegal trade, the film also draws attention to the various national and international laws that protect them and informs viewers about the legal consequences of engaging in such trade.

Targeted mainly at domestic and foreign tourists, the film sends out a clear message that it is not only the poachers and traders who fuel the illegal wildlife trade, but also those who purchase and use such products. “The end consumer is as much as a partner in wildlife crime as the trader or the poacher,” said Samir Sinha, Head of TRAFFIC India If found guilty, offenders are liable to hefty fines and up to seven years of imprisonment. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Sinha added: “In recent years, illegal wildlife trade has become an international, organised criminal activity that can only be curbed through action at the grassroot-level as well as international co-operation and collaboration at the highest levels.

“Equally important is the need to sensitise potential buyers about the dangers of buying illegal wildlife goods, and this film, part of TRAFFIC India’s awareness campaign aims to make buyers beware they could be buying trouble.”

In October 2007, TRAFFIC India launched a Consumer Awareness Campaign with the release of the leaflet, “Are you committing a Crime? Think before you buy”, followed by a release of four posters in February 2008 on shahtoosh shawls, reptile skins, marine products and ivory. These can be downloaded at www.traffic.org or www.wwfindia.org/traffic


ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Dilpreet B. Chhabra at 011- 41504786/ (0) 9899000472

Notes
1. Illegal wildlife trade is widespread globally, and is probably only third in value behind the illegal narcotics and arms trade. The most commonly known products in illegal wildlife trade in India are: Tiger and Leopard claws, bones, skins, whiskers, elephant tusks, rhino horn, mongoose hair, snakeskin, deer antlers, turtle shells, musk pods, bear bile, medicinal plants, timber and caged birds such as parakeets, mynas and munias.

2. TRAFFIC is the world’s largest wildlife trade monitoring network and a joint programme of WWF, the conservation organization and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to the conservation of nature in India.
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12 Aug 2008
Reaching out to Young people on Climate Change
New Delhi, August 12, 2008: As the world celebrates International Youth Day, WWF-India reinforces its commitment to the cause of Climate Change – this years' theme of the Day – and youth by reaching out through several programmes and activities that were organized across the country.

International Youth Day is a political day designated by the United Nations. As with other political awareness days, the purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding an endangered demographic. It was designated by the United Nations in 1999. It is meant as an opportunity for governments and others to draw attention to youth issues worldwide. Concerts, workshops, cultural events, and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organizations take place around the world in honor of International Youth Day

Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India, said, "Climate issues have assumed centrestage of discussions and negotiations globally and its impacts are proven and visible." He added, "It is important for young people to come forward and contribute more in terms of spreading awareness on climate issues."

Some of the youth-centric activities that WWF-India is a part of are profiled below:

Celebrations at WWF-India Secretariat
A special film screening and interactive session for college students was organized with Climate experts from WWF-India. Students from leading colleges of Delhi University took part in the proceedings and pledged to become "Climate Ambassadors".

Young Climate Savers
WWF in partnership with Tetra Pak launched a student orientation programme called the Young Climate Savers last year. The mandate of these workshops is to sensitize hundreds and thousands of school and college students on Climate Change. The programme aims at covering 200 schools from across ten cities in India and the schools were selected based on their high resource consumption levels at the school, student and parent level. The ten cities include Dehra Dun, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. Students' workshops have been organized in all these schools followed by an interschool competition and field visits.

The Young Climate Savers project identified key teachers in selected schools and carried out capacity building programmes for them on technology based environmental education and education for sustainable development with specific focus on climate change. The teachers were provided with an exhaustive Resource Material titled, 'Teachers' Manual on Climate Change. The manual provides a detailed understanding on the history, science and impacts of climate change. The last few chapters also discuss the various adaptation response and mitigation measures that are being taken up and also has hands on activities that children can take up to understand the issue of climate change better. Care was taken to integrate the project as a process in the main curriculum so as to become an ongoing activity even after the completion of the project period.

International Polar Year
Through yet another outreach activity - the International Polar Year - WWF-India has reached out to more than 1200 schools on the issue of Climate Change. This outreach was a part of the International Polar Year celebrations that were organized with Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Through teachers the project aimed to target students in major cities of India to create technology based knowledge and awareness to set right attitudes among them which will lead to suitable actions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Activities like demonstrations, hands on experiments, small projects, cross learning through networking will make the students participate in the project enthusiastically.

Commonwealth Youth Baton Relay
Another interesting intervention of WWF-India around youth is participation in the Commonwealth Youth Baton Relay that was flagged off from New Delhi on August 1, 2008. WWF-India's Signature Campaign - Roar of the Tiger - is an integral part of this relay which will cover 199 town and cities in its 73-day journey to Pune where the Commonwealth Youth Games will start in mid-October.

For more information, please contact:
Anshuman Atroley, Communications Manager, WWF-India
Tel: +91-98101 69262, E-mail: aatroley@gmail.com
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06 Aug 2008
Wipro and WWF sign a Partnership Agreement for Sustainable Development
Bangalore, August 6, 2008: Wipro Limited, a leading player in Global IT and R&D services in partnership with WWF-India, one of the largest conservation organizations in the country, today unveiled an initiative to explore the use of Information Technology to drive sustainable development. It will directly deal with issues of climate change, water and waste management and biodiversity conservation. It is an attempt to develop ideas and actions for sustainable growth based on relevant dimensions of environmental sustainability.

The initiative intends to tap the synergy between Wipro’s IT Innovation, R&D deployment and Systems Approach and WWF’s deep expertise in areas of ecological sustainability, catalyzing relevant solutions and leadership in global advocacy.

The two organizations will collaborate in the areas of innovative IT and R&D applications for environmental sustainability. Some of the areas of joint work would be related to IT solutions as drivers for low carbon economy such as virtual meeting enablers, environment friendly ICT products, devices and systems that drive energy efficiency of a variety of economic assets and advocacy for ecologically sustainable standard practices in the IT industry. Other areas of joint work would include optimizing the ecological footprint of Wipro’s own operations and biodiversity conservation through pilots on Wipro’s campuses and WWF priority sites.

Mr.Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Limited said, “Innovative IT Applications, and relevant R&D Services will be key drivers for becoming a low-carbon economy. Information Technology must play a critical role in catalyzing ecological sustainability”

Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO of WWF-India said “We are now in a phase where the unsustainable trend of increased CO2 emissions and overuse of natural resources is undermining the future of the planet. Progressive institutions must move outside their comfort zone and join hands to address this challenge. IT solutions can play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions and we are looking forward to the partnership with Wipro to set an example. “

Wipro has a leading position in Global IT and R&D Services, a significant presence in ultra-pure water equipment and green lighting solutions, and is also offering eco-energy solutions to its clients. Its initiative for communities, Wipro Cares, has taken up biodiversity conservation. Wipro continues to explore how it can play a pivotal role in ecological sustainability.

WWF-India is one of the leading conservation organizations in the country, working on key areas of environmental sustainability including biodiversity conservation and climate change. WWF believes that role of business and industry is rapidly gaining importance in the area of sustainable development and that it is important to develop partnerships between environmental organizations and Businesses and industries.

Wipro runs a corporation wide initiative - Eco Eye, which drives ecological sustainability. It is a comprehensive program that drives increasing ecological sustainability in all its operations, as also areas of its influence. The initiative attempts to engage with increasing levels of intensity with all stakeholders – Wipro’s own employees, partners, suppliers, customers and immediate communities. It will focus on areas such as how to become carbon positive (i.e. contribute more to emission reductions than the company emits), water balance, waste management and bio-diversity. WWF will be a key partner for Wipro in the Eco Eye program.

WWF-India through its Climate and Energy Programme, aims to bring in a paradigm shift towards climate smart development. A core element of the programme is to look at resource smart solutions for ecological sustainability and low carbon economy. The programme will work in strategic partnership with Wipro to bring a transition towards low carbon development path.

For Further Information, please contact:

Wipro Limited
Media: Radha Radhakrishnan +91 – 80 – 25056159
Investors: Aravind Viswanathan +91 – 80 – 25056143

WWF
Media: Shaila Sam +91 – 11 – 43516248
Programme: Shirish Sinha +91 – 11 – 43516245
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New or updated projects

Modified: Nov 2008 - Started: Jan 1998

Securing the Future of Medicinal Plant Resources

This project seeks to address the problem of dwindling medicinal plant resources and the consequent effects on both health care systems and wild popul... » Read more Modified: Nov 2008 - Started: Jan 2008

Less Water More Rice

This project will progress the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India. It builds on the 3-year work of the Dialogue in Water, Food and Environm... » Read more Modified: Apr 2008 - Started: Jul 1999

Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS)

WWF initiated the development of an Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS), following priorities defined in the WWF Asia/Pacific Regional St... » Read more