Dr. Anish Andheria is the president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (wct), a not-for-profit, and set up to preserve, protect and conserve wildlife and fight climate change. Currently, WCT works in and around 130 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries spread across 23 states of India and catalysis path-breaking conservation action. He is a member of both the Maharashtra state board of wildlife' and the 'first state expert appraisal committee' for projects related to industries, mining and irrigation in Maharashtra. He is also a member of the steering committee of the Madhya pradesh tiger conservation foundation. He has been awarded the prestigious Carl Zeiss conservation award 2008. He is a fellow of lead, an international leadership programmer on environment and development spread across 80 countries. He has helped set up kids for tigers, a nation-wide conservation education programmer in 2000. The programmer is in its 17th year and reaches out to nearly a quarter million school children.
An individual can be attracted to different aspects of wildlife conservation. Someone might want to concentrate on saving a particular species; some others may want to protect a vulnerable ecosystem, while some may be interested in policy. Whatever be the motivation, the path to becoming a successful conservationist is similar and full of challenges. One might put in years of hard work to get a policy implemented, but a change in government can overturn things overnight. A conservationist who has spent a lifetime saving a patch of forest can lose it any day to a man-made forest fire. So, one has to be prepared for all kinds of mishaps when stepping into the field of conservation. Nowadays, our efforts for wildlife conservation could contribute to the restoration of positive economic consequences in these less than stable world economic circumstances. Wildlife which makes for a good part of ecosystem activities has had an effect on the quality and quantity of fresh water that we drink. It might happen that our efforts to artificially purify water to compensate for relevant ecosystem damage could be nothing but a heavy financial loss. There is another reason why we must plan for wildlife conservation. Different wild animals and plant species often work as indicators of various environmental problems and catastrophes. Also, conserving wildlife brings us some educational benefits, psychological improvements, and positive economic factors. Although many governments and non-government agencies have been on the lookout for viable conservation techniques, more balanced approaches and long-term initiatives are to be made for the ultimate success in wildlife conservation.
