Wildlife Conservation India Project #36385

Gentle Giant Summit for Stakeholders in Kerala

by Voices for Asian Elephants

Gentle Giant Summit for Stakeholders in Kerala

Project Report | Aug 9, 2019
World Elephant Day

By Sangita Iyer | Project Leader

Support World Elephant Day Campaign Monday Aug.12

First up a quick update on the Gentle Giant Summit...

Some prominent keynote speakers have confirmed attendance for our GROUNDBREAKING summit:

Mr. Noyal Thomas - Project Elephant Director, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. His topic is going to be "Elephant Conservation in India and the Role of Government Agencies"
Dr. Rajan Gurukkal - a world renowned scholar - will focus on how to apply ecosystems principles in communication and fostering cooperation
Hariraj Madhavan - Kerala High Court Lawyer - will elaborate on the wildlife and animal welfare laws of the land that many agencies are totally unfamiliar with
The Chief Wildlife Warden OR the Head of Forest Force OR an authoritative personnel will provide an overarching view of the challenges faced by the forest department
Dr. Easwaran, Kerala's Chief Veterinary Officer will be focusing on the laws pertaining to veterinarians and the need to strengthen communications with the temple and forest authorities to prevent spread of zoonotic diseases
We've invited the Director General of Police (DGP) to discuss the challenges faced by police officers on the ground and how to enhance communicaitons between the forest and police - we are positive that there will be large representation of police officers from across the 14 districts. We do not have a confirmed person yet, but we're positive that an authoritative official will be presenting
India's Wildlife Crime Control Additional Director, Mrs. Tillotama Verma, has been invited and she will confirm attendance after the 15th of August. Her topic is "Strengthening cooperation to curb wildlife crime"
Yours truly will focus on Systems Thinking in relation to communication and cooperation - whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts ... I will also be facilitating and moderating the discussions

Four speakers will be making presentations each day, and we are expecting between 75-100 participants. The site is the Apollo DiMora conference rooms, where 50 rooms have been booked to accommodate officials traveling from various districts. We will share with you the invitation and agenda as soon as they have been designed by our graphics designer.

Meantime, August 12th is the World Elephant Day, and The GlobalGiving Foundation's Little X Little campaign also kicks off on the same day. We are incredibly fortunate to have been selected to participate, as the campaign runs starting the 12th throughout the week. I'd LOVE for you to participate in this campaign... Take a look at how your support can MULTIPLY and help meet our goal. CLICK HERE on the WORLD ELEPHANT DAY --- not today --- but during the entire week of August the 12th and your donation will be matched as per the attached graphic. Again, this campaign begins on the WORLD ELEPHANT DAY!!

Infinite Love and Gratitude for your unending support!! We are now left with only $4,180 plus to raise to meet our goal and we can collectively achieve our goal next week.

Yours truly,

Sangita

Links:

Between Aug. 12&16 Pls Click Here to Support World Elephant Day

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Apr 29, 2019
Finalized the Dates!

By Sangita Iyer | Project Leader

We are delighted to report that we have consulted with the Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden and are going to jointly launch the event on November 2nd and 3rd 2019.

In June we will be hiring an event organizer in Kerala to begin the task of booking a convention center, hotel/ accommodation, catering services, contacting key decision makers, preparing invitation, creating symposium material etc. So much to do, but it's all very exciting! I will be in contact with you closer to time to provide details.

Also, VFAES is proud of partner with Future for Elephants - a German based organization - that has helped us raise $5,000 for this very worthwhile project. We still need to raise at least $7,000 + to meet our target. So, if you're inspired to spread the word and help us raise the balance of the funds we'd be immensely grateful!

On a different note, FYI we've just wrapped up a fantastic Project Asian Elephants 101 youth empowerment program for the Student Police Cadets. It was deeply inspiring to see the support of authorities - the State Police Chief attended the closing ceremony and handed out the certificate of "Elephant Ambassador" to all the attendees.

Please find attached some images from the PAE101 project - a week long experiential learning program that began on the 13th and ended on the 19th of April (inclusive). We arranged catering, bus services, gifts, certificates etc for the SPC who participated and the videos from our events have gone totally viral (attached below)

We'd like to deliver a similar, high calibre program, in relation to the Gentle Giant Summit, and we can do this with your support! Thank YOU so much from the bottom of my heart for your unbending support!! Deeply grateful to you!!

Sincerely,

Sangita

Links:

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Jan 29, 2019
A Quick Update!

By Sangita Iyer | Project Leader

It has indeed been a fantastic start to the New Year, thus far!!

I'm currently in Kerala, India and have had numerous meetings with the forest officials and the new Chief Wildlife Warden and I have discussed launching the Gentle Giant Summit (GGS) in mid to late October 2019 due to the kind of logistics that need to be worked out. Mr. Surendra Kumar, has just taken office in January 2019, but we've already met at least twice, with another meeting to finalize a few steps scheduled for the last week of February.

The good news is, we are already creating waves across Kerala, and when we launch the GGS it's going to be a great success because we are now collaborating with the forest department, fostering inclusivity, rather than just the VFAES presenting the entire weekend workshop.

Meantime, POSITIVE AND PROGRESSIVE STEPS IN KERALA: Here’s The Hindu coverage of the mahout training that took place on January 28, 2019. The story about me getting emotional during the presentation is related to Raja, the baby elephant. When I was at the Kottoor Elephant Rehab Center I heard a mahout ruthlessly whipping Raja, the poor five-year old baby crying in distress. I ran after the sound, and when I saw what happened, I yelled at the mahout to stop beating the little one. I was so livid that I continued to ask questions. It drew the public to the crime scene. I filed a complaint. The forest department launched an investigation. The mahout will be reprimanded (will let you know the outcome). Please read the entire article to also understand the sobering plight of mahouts. Deeply grateful to the new CWLW and the Social Forestry department! The details have been provided in the link below.

There was also a screening, followed by a Q&A and then a presentation for the trustees of the legendary, Ayurvedic institution, Arya Vaidya Sala (AVS) in Kerala, where Gods in Shackles was screened on the 17th of January. You will find link below for this as well!

In fact, AVS is also partnering with VFAES, and they will be presenting the ancient Ayurvedic traditions to heal the elephants of Kerala, which is a huge deal too!!

I will keep you updated every step of the way!! We are currently just over $5,000 and we still have more than $12,000 to raise by the time we launch the program. If you don't mind, I'd be immensely grateful if you shared our project and helped us raise some funds on your own. Link has been provided below for your kind consideration!!

Thank you so much for your unwavering support!

Sincerely,

Sangita

Links:

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