What's a Big Win?
After I got back from Thailand… I was invited by WWF International to attend a regional workshop in Romania, in a very beautiful mountain area, called Retezat (we also have a big national park there). The location was specially chosen by the WWF team as the theme of the workshop was “Protected Areas for a Living Planet”.
WWF Madagascar's Public Health & Environment Project
Six volunteers joined WWF Madagascar's Public Health and Environment project at the beginning of 2008 to promote family planning while using this education as a catalyst for WWF to promote conservation and environmental programs in the area.
Recommendations on environmental journalism
Environmental journalism can act as a bridge between state and federal government, between governmental and non-governmental institutions, and between India and other countries.
New narratives are needed to help guide and inspire social transformation and changes in the practice of science and education, religion and ethics, and policy and economics. Narratives ranging from sacred texts to national myths to individual life stories give meaning, order, and direction to the lives of individuals and entire societies.
Environmental journalism and its challenges
Environmental journalists are expected to be advocates for changes to improve the quality of the planet. They should educate people about the serious state of the environment and use the power of the news media to bring about changes to improve the quality of the air, water, wildlife and natural resources.
Wildlife-Human Conflict
One of the causes of wildlife-human conflict in India is the high dependence of rural Indian livelihoods on environmentally unsustainable practices such as harvesting and illegal wildlife trade.
A trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
Interviews with senior journalists (November 7th-9th, 2008)
For the purpose of this project, I was lucky to interview senior journalists in India who have been working on the coverage of wildlife/forestry issues in India. The purpose of these interviews was to get a closer look at the task of wildlife journalists in India. The following paragraphs describe my experience.
Mes journées débuteraient au lever du soleil
Mes journées débuteraient au levé du soleil et aux appels du coq. Il serait cinq heures du matin, mais qui s’en soucierait, personne n’aurait de montre. Ensuite, j’irais travailler à la rizière, chercher du bois de chauffe ou aux cours d’alphabétisation donnés par des volontaires du WWF.
What can you do in seven weeks to help save the world?
Of course, I wouldn’t say “nothing”, but I wouldn’t say we changed the world either. Who could?!! Let’s be realistic and humble: we contributed…
Living in India
During my volunteering, I stayed almost eight weeks in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. After waking up because of an ugly throat sound that is made by (almost) all Indian men in the early morning, I went on my bicycle to get breakfast while children were waving at me, kitschy trucks were passing me (with a lot of honking), cows were walking on the street and people were looking at the only white blonde guy in the area.
WWF in the Satpuda Maikal Landscape
For my placement, I worked for eight weeks in the Satpuda Maikal Landscape (SML), which is situated along the Satpuda and Maikal hill ranges in Central India. To conserve the nature in this area, WWF India applies several measures. Roughly, these measures can be divided into three categories: measures reducing human pressure on the forest, awareness programs and measures reducing the human-wildlife conflict (HWC). From here on I will not mention measures that focus on legislation and international relations.