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The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve authorities have introduced community kitchens and improved cooking stoves in 233 anti-poaching camps to safeguard the health of field forest staff who protect the one-horned rhino habitat.
The "Kaziranga model of conservation," which focuses on establishing anti-poaching camps, has played a crucial role in significantly reducing poaching incidents in recent years. Dr Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve said that Kaziranga currently has 233 anti-poaching camps (one camp per 5.82 sq km), one of the highest concentrations compared to similar setups in South Asia and Africa. "Each Anti-poaching camp is manned by 4-8 personnel whose primary duty is to carry out foot patrol and keep poachers and intruders at bay. While poaching numbers have declined, continuation of these arrangements is vital along with ensuring high morale and efficiency among field staff. The majority of these camps are in remote locations and difficult to access, especially during the monsoon season when a significant number are affected by floods. Due to remoteness and inaccessibility, the APCs largely rely on fuel wood-based traditional self-made cook stoves. This has several drawbacks including time-consuming firewood collection, space required for storage, inefficient burning of fuelwood and health hazards caused by wood smoke," Dr Sonali Ghosh said. The Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve further said that, while the Forest department is working to improve the supply of LPG cylinders, firewood will remain an important source of fuel for many camps due to the remoteness of location and access. "In this scenario, introducing industry-manufactured, efficient wood stoves presents a practical solution. The improved cook stoves are expected to reduce firewood consumption by up to 50 per cent, lower emissions and smoke by up to 80 per cent, reduce cooking time and decrease firewood storage needs. The Kaziranga Park authority with support from Wildlife Trust of India's Rapid Action Project, provided 47 improved cooking stoves across 45 anti-poaching camps and two community kitchens. The improved cook stoves are a mix of two pot stoves for 37 APCs, a single pot stove for 8 APCs and two 50-litre capacity stoves, that can cook for up to 100 people, for the kitchens at the Assam forest battalion and the Elephant camp," Dr Sonali Ghosh said. The handover ceremony at each range between March 16 to March 21 was accompanied by a training and demo-cooking session, engaging APC teams from each of the 9 ranges. "A post-usage survey will be carried out one month after installation which will lay the case for a larger scale intervention in the next phase," Dr Sonali Ghosh said. The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam, home to over 80 per cent of the country's population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros, is a global stronghold for rhino conservation. (ANI)
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