The Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) was founded to safeguard India’s life-giving ecosystems in a holistic, sustainable manner. Recognising the interconnectedness between people and ecosystems, WCT uses a 360° approach to conservation by placing equal emphasis on both forest and wildlife conservation and community development. We work closely with Forest Departments across the country to fortify on-ground protection by training and equipping frontline forest staff. We collect scientific data from the ground to understand conservation needs and devise robust, scalable solutions. Through partnerships with a multitude of sectors including business houses, the Trust is attempting to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and also provide alternatives to fuelwood to reduce the anthropogenic pressure on natural ecosystems and fight forest degradation.
The idea is simple—secure key wildernesses to safeguard wildlife, people and rivers, and mitigate climate change.
Using the Tiger as a metaphor for all of nature, WCT was envisioned to preserve and protect India’s rich natural heritage. Currently, WCT works in and around 160 Protected Areas across 23 states in the country covering 82 percent of India’s tiger reserves, 24 percent of the national parks and sanctuaries and impacting a population base of approximately 3.5 million people.
WCT’s core areas of work include application of conservation methodologies on the ground; long-term conservation research; understanding behaviour of people who live in and around forests to understand the inter-relation between them and the natural ecosystems; human-wildlife interface management; conducting scientific studies to suggest mitigations on linear infrastructure passing through wildlife corridors; building capacity of the Forest Department in wildlife law enforcement and forensics; conservation education; livelihoods; health of frontline forest staff; and road ecology. We team up with state Forest Departments to assess the protection mechanism of tiger reserves, and fill the gaps by donating essential equipment, building capacity in the frontline forest staff, conducting health check-ups for the forest staff and providing training in managing medical emergencies.
We believe that healthy natural ecosystems and engaged, empowered communities are the bedrock of economic growth. We remain committed to conserving India’s wildlife for posterity and working towards sustainable development of the communities that share their space with wildlife such as tigers, Asiatic lions, leopards, Asian elephants, Gangetic dolphins and gharial.
Over the years, WCT has grown into a think tank for state Forest Departments and other government agencies. We are a team of scientists, conservationists, economists, legal and forensic experts, analysts, medical doctors, social psychologists, educationists, social workers and communicators who are deeply involved in developing sound strategies and long-term solutions to myriad conservation issues. This is achieved through robust collaborations – national and international – with government bodies, NGOs, research institutions and individuals.