Kishor Rithe

Kishor Rithe, India

The interview published in Ashoka’s newsletter, Washington D.C.in 2003.

Self-taught environmentalist Kishor Rithe, a software engineer with a passion for India’s wildlife, is creating ways for local forest conservators, government, the media, and Indian and global organizations to work together in order to improve forest- and species-conservation. The heart of Kishor’s idea is to build capable local networks that cover people living in the forests as well as those in surrounding villages and towns. Their concerted action breaks the isolation, on one hand, of forest-dwellers, and on the other, of city-based conservation groups.

Self-taught environmentalist Kishor Rithe, a former professor of computer software engineering with a deep love for tigers, is head of India’s Satpuda Foundation. He is forming a replicable, networked model for local forest and wildlife defenders that helps mobilize local conservationists, indigenous forest-dwellers, the government, journalists, children, and global organizations. He aims to create the world’s largest contiguous tiger reserve.

Q. Many of the indigenous tribes that were living inside the Tiger Reserve saw the tiger as their enemy and were involved in lucrative poaching activities. In the early 1990’s, the state government used these tribes’ isolation as an excuse for building expensive roads that ruined vast stretches of forest, and led to villages with a miniscule number of residents. But, over the last few years, entire tribal villages have been relocated to more central areas. What role did you play in this process?

A. Villagers, particularly tribals, they are wanting to live modern life and avail all modern facilities. So they are demanding black top roads, electricity, big hospitals, schools, shops, transportation facilities etc. If we create all these facilities in such remote and very tiny places (30 houses in a village) the area won’t remain forest area any more. So it will disturb the breeding wildlife population.

So finally I liked the idea of relocation of those villages from the sanctuary or National Park who are willing to resettle. But again we opposed mass relocation and convinced the Govt that it should be done in a phased manner. All the top most Government authorities were invited in a village to listen villagers demands. The relocation package was prepared in a village only, and not in the Ministry. My NGO had accepted the challenge and promised to Govt as well as villagers to help them permanently. We ensured regular meetings of the top most authorities in the village and also invited media, politicians to interact with villagers, listen their problems, see whether they got everything promised in the package or not. This has been created the constant pressure on the administration to fulfill the demands of the resettled villages.

I had also established contacts with a few donor organisations to provide assistance to villagers for a few important things which they can’t get under the package like Gobargas (biomass). Villagers who were earlier surrounded by forest were having ample fuel wood at the old place and now the place where they are relocated do not find enough fuel wood. So we donated three Gobargas plants. Now the villagers understood its importance and the entire village is asking me for Gobargas plants. I need help from donors here.

To date, three villages have been relocated successfully, and many others are demanding to be relocated as well.

Q. What are some recent developments in Amravati?

A. Within the last month a smuggler was killed while trying to collect protected medicinal plants; five people were arrested in connection with this case. Moreover, the state government created a new Tiger Cell to investigate tiger-related affair. And, finally, I completed a field survey of local birds and wild buffalo.