Phase one project assignment

We received our first project assignments for Phase One (16 October – 3 November) this morning, and have spent the day planning the next two and a half days, when we will be going out on project sites, meeting project partners, doing risk assessments of the local area (project sites, transport to and from site and accommodation), as well as planning our emergency casualty evacuation (casevac) plans.

Zoe, Hamish and I are leading Phase One of the environmental project, building an anti-poaching camp in Bandipur National Park. We will be accompanied on our scoping visit by Antje the medic and Jerry, one of the Indian trek leaders.

Here's another pic of the intrepid three project managers for Phase 1 Environmental Project: Zoe, myself and Hamish (+ elephant)


Raleigh is working in partnership with the Karnataka Forest Department to construct two new anti-poaching camps in Bandipur National Park, which was one of the first areas to be given special projection by the Indian Government as a Tiger Sanctuary in 1973. Tigers… Gulp.

The project should enable the Forest Department to better protect the wildlife (tigers, elephants and others) and National Park ecosystems (in particular to protect the area from illegal harvesting of precious wood such as sandalwood and teak) from poaching by building observation posts for full time anti-poaching teams.

One site, the one in the Hediyala Range, is a tricksy beast as the camp will need to be built on a rocky hillside in an area where water is scarce. The other site, in the N Begur range, is in the depths of the jungle so we may need to build an elephant-proof trench to ensure the 'efferlumps don’t trample the site (or us!) down before building is complete!

Friday and Saturday’s project recce will involve visiting both project sites and sets of accommodation, as well as a nearby hospital. We are going to meet the Range Forest Officers for Karnataka Forest Department “Project Tiger”. I also spoke to the main project partner today on the phone, a senior Government official from the Forest Department. So I have now had my first ever contact with an Indian civil servant.

Personally, I can’t wait to get out in the jungle and meet the local wildlife! The only part of our project brief that worried me oh-so-slightly is the part about the forest being home to big cats (leopards and panthers), snakes (King Cobras, Spectacled Cobras, Saw Scaled Vipers, Common Kraits and Russell’s Viper), marsh crocodiles… and perhaps most worrying of all the part about unconfirmed reports that one of the local tigers has recently become a man-eater. Ummm…. aren’t they all man-eaters? Anyway, I’m going out there with 2 men, 3 including the driver, so have plenty of grub to offer hungry tigers if need be!

We will be back at Mysore fieldbase on Sunday morning, when I hope to be able to write another update post-jungle adventure.