VAN DHAN YOJANA – a game changer for forest India by Valmik Thapar, Wildlife Conservationist, Naturalist, Author. Van Dhan means forest wealth and is a strategy to involve local communities into the process of enhancing the wealth of the forest. His latest book titled Saving Wild India – A Blue Print For Change is available on www.amazon.in
Van Dhan Yojana is the convergence of all prevalent schemes in different government departments both of the central and state governments towards a green mission and modifies existing schemes to dovetail into the objective of protecting our best forest areas with the participation of local people. India has created hundreds of schemes in the last 68 years since independence. Most of them have been severely neglected. Conflict resolution is essential for effective conservation and Van Dhan will offer quick livestock and crop compensation and other grievance redressal measures when animals like tigers and leopards attack animals or when crops get devoured by wild animals.
Valmik Thapar, Foremost Tiger Conservationist, Naturalist, Film-maker and Founder of Ranthambhore Foundation is author of over 25 books on tigers and conservation. He was appointed a member of the Tiger Task Force of 2005 by the Government of India. He criticized the majority Task Force view in his dissent note as excessively focused on the prospects of co-existence of tigers and humans, which was, in his view not consistent with the objective of the panel. Thapar’s writings have analyzed the perceived failure of Project Tiger, a conservation program created in 1973 by the Government of India
His latest, Tiger Fire, is a magnum opus on 500 years of the tiger in India from the 16th century till date. He has also produced many documentaries on India’s habitat for the BBC, Animal Planet, Discovery and National Geographic.
He is married to the theatre personality Sanjana Kapoor and the couple have a son, Hamir. They live in Delhi.
Grab these books by Thapar:
SAVING WILD INDIA – A BLUE PRINT FOR CHANGE
TIGER FIRE: 500 YEARS OF THE TIGER IN INDIA
MY LIFE WITH TIGERS; RANTHAMBORE AND BEYOND
TIGERS/MY LIFE: RANTHAMBHORE AND BEYOND with photographs by Fateh Singh Rathore
THE LAST TIGER: STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL
© Valmik Thapar