Uttaranchal, November 11, 2006 – A new brand of emissaries takes center stage to promote wildlife conservation in Tibetan settlements across the country.
These emissaries work as devoted guide to spread conservation message through various educational and awareness activities, Pasang Lhamu of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said.
In the first phase of the project, two northern Indian states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal and Karnataka in southern India are being covered.
Tibetan monasteries, schools and settlements in Dehradun, Ponta Sahib, and Mundgod etc. are visited to conduct talks, quiz and drawing competitions, and special screening of wildlife movies.
The aim is to discourage Tibetans on the use of wildlife products and those involved in the trade, Lhamu said.
Use of garments made from tiger, leopard, and otter hides (Chubas) as well as their bones in traditional Chinese medicines in China significantly reduced their numbers in the wild.
Raw materials are suspected to have been smuggled from India and other range countries. Though, some involved in the crime have been arrested many are still at large.
50 Tibetan settlements, 54 schools and 95 monasteries in 11 states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Shillong, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh etc. will be covered.
The programme is initiated under the Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign of WTI with support from the Care for the Wild International (CWI).
The campaign was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April last year. Nearly, 3000 Tibetans signed pledges in support of the campaign.
