Wild Surakshe program focuses on 69 wildlife reserves in Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We target populations living in and around these wildlife regions, with little or no access to health care.

Our public health and safety program, empowers communities near wildlife reserves to cope with zoonotic diseases and human-wildlife conflict.

Goals

Expanding public health and safety awareness on wildlife related diseases.

Enabling people and communities to safeguard their lives and livelihood. 

Empowering collaborations and partnerships across the Western Ghats

In a rapidly changing world, there is an emerging focus on the increasingly visible connections among the well-being of people, wildlife, and ecosystems. For 39 years, understanding these interrelationships between wildlife and people have guided our research and conservation efforts at the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS). Infections that emerge from wild animals, spread to domestic animals, and ultimately to humans are zoonotic in nature. Almost 75% of the emerging diseases in the 21st century are from wild animal reservoirs, and have spread to people. Scientific research has established that human actions cause spillovers of diseases into human populations.

In 2020, we launched the Wild Surakshe program (‘Surakshe’ means ‘safety’ in Kannada). Wild Surakshe is designed to deliver public health and training workshops in five states around 69 wildlife reserves of the Western Ghats. These outreach workshops focus on preventing wildlife-related disease transmission to people and livestock, preventing accidental encounters with wild animals, safety measures for when such encounters occur, and access to emergency service providers. We also discuss basic first aid which can be lifesaving in these remote areas.

These inclusive and participatory workshops provide a safe platform for participants from varied sectors and backgrounds to attend, learn and contribute to challenges related to spread of infectious wildlife related diseases such as COVID-19, Nipah, Kyasanur Forest Disease, Rabies, Rinderpest, Leptospirosis and Scrub Typhus, and human-wildlife conflict situations. We aim to build a network of community leaders and frontline responders along the Western Ghats, while forming partnerships with local government departments like rural development, forest, education and primary healthcare centers.

Impact

1,000
Workshops Completed

5
States Covered

28,195
Lives Impacted

69
Wildlife Reserves Reached