SUPPORT INDIAN WILDLIFE RESCUE
PROJECT
Across India are small, often voluntary organisations that are working towards wildlife conservation. They have limited guidance and minimal resources, yet their work is unquestionably important. They rescue wild animals, mitigate dangerous conflict situations, protect natural habitats, create community awareness, build bridges between the forest department and the public, and give wild animals a chance at survival in an increasingly human-dominated world!
Cara is a wildlife conservationist and writer with the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, where she leads conservation initiatives. Her current campaign seeks to raise funds for four voluntary organisations working in Indian wildlife conservation and rescue.
We are now taking pre-orders for our pilot collection, which will ship by June 30, 2019. This collection includes a variety of accessories and utility items made from our leftover fabric, helping us eliminate material wastage and prevent useful scrap fabric from entering our already oversaturated landfills.
70% of the funds raised from our accessories will contribute directly to supporting these voluntary organisations engaged in wildlife conservation. The remaining 30% goes to the village girls who constitute our design and production team.
Visit our online store to view our wares and pre-order your clothes and accessories to support the following organizations:
NATURALIST FOR THE REHABILITATION OF SNAKES AND BIRDS (NRSB)
Manoj Gogoi, founder of NRSB and bona fide 'animal whisperer', is based on the outskirts of Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. Manoj is a wildlife rehabilitator. Over the past decade, he has saved the lives of countless animals ranging from leopards to kingfishers and more. Manoj is also a fantastic community enabler – he trains youth to become naturalists which increases their employability and holds regular workshops for children and adults alike! Manoj has received support from the Sanctuary Nature Foundation for the past two years. Though his project term has now come to an end, Cara is committed to helping him raise resources to construct his dream Conservation Education Centre. This will be a space where he can store resources and equipment, and hold community events targeted at conservation awareness.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND ANIMAL WELFARE ASSOCIATION (WCAWA)
WCAWA , founded by Dhaval Kansara, operates the Injured Sea Turtle Treatment and Transit Centre in Dahanu, Maharashtra. As the name suggests, the centre focuses on the rescue and rehabilitation of injured sea turtles. The centre is quite rustic, and sophisticated machinery and equipment are still a distant dream. Volunteers at the centre employ good old desi jugaad to make ends meet, and look after the rescued turtles. They also patrol and protect turtle nesting sites, engage with the local fishing community on conservation issues, and support the local forest department. WCAWA helps turtles that have been injured reclaim the ocean and we can help them!
Anirudh Nair has profiled WCAWA’s work, check it out here. This campaign aims to raise funds for five fibre plastic tanks for sea turtle recovery and a solar water thermoregulation system to regulate the temperature of these recovery tanks.
WILD ANIMALS SECURITY, STUDY AND RESEARCH CENTRE (WASA)
Founded by Shubham Sayanake in the Amravati district of Maharashtra, WASA works for the rescue and rehabilitation of distressed wild animals, with a focus on snakes. Though WASA is a registered organisation, its members are voluntary and they undertake petty jobs such as daily labour work, cleaning water tanks and washing dishes, to keep their conservation work afloat. Wildlife rescue can be dangerous work and it’s important that the WASA team has the appropriate equipment to handle complicated rescue scenarios. Unfortunately, this equipment is expensive.
This is why, part of the funds raised will go towards purchasing Wilderness Safety Kits for the WASA team. These kits include items such as rope ladders, helmets, jungle knives, GPS navigators and more. Shubham is also part of the Indian Snake Rescue Network, and you can read more about him here.
THE MUD ON BOOTS PROJECT
Mud on Boots Project is a programme of the Sancuary Nature Foundation, started to enable grassroots wildlife conservationists across the country. The project has stayed true to their vision despite the dozens of obstacles faced to run a project of this flexible and collaborative nature. With its principal focus being to send funds to the ground, the project requires some fuel to keep their own engine running. Project Coordinator Maitreyee desperately needs a laptop for work, they want to invite a botanist to conduct ecological assessments at a sacred grove in Maharashtra, they would like to send two grassroots conservationists for a wildlife crime control training workshop in Karnataka, they need to print copies of an elephant conservation book for children at a Project Leader’s field site in Chhattisgarh … and so much more!
While this crowdfunding campaign is obviously about raising money towards specific causes, Cara also seeks to actualise a culture of collaboration and not competition in the field of wildlife conservation. To show that we can support one another and do good work without pulling out the rug from under someone else's feet.
Thank you for contributing to this ambitious target and bringing your strength to this frenzied race against destruction, extinction and indifference!
P.S: Handling wild animals can be dangerous for both you and them! We do not encourage or endorse untrained animal handling and are only supporting organisations that are being guided by professionals and have permission from the forest department to work with wild animals.
