Wildlife Research and Conservation Society

Wildlife Research and Conservation Society (WRCS) was established in 2005 for conserving wildlife and biodiversity based on scientific principles and scientific information. WRCS is a non-profit organisation based in Pune (Maharashtra, India).

The work of WRCS largely centres around ecological research & community conservations initiatives in the Western States of India. These include:

• 1. Tiger conservation in protected areas of North-eastern Maharashtra
• 2. Study forest birds & owls in particular
• 3. Human elephant conflict
• 4. Conservation of private forests in Western Ghats
• 5. Conservation of corridors for large carnivores in Western Ghats

WRCS has done seminal work on the highly endangered forest owlet. WRCS has also been working in North Karnataka on human elephant conflict & developing techniques to mitigate it.

At each project site, WRCS works closely with the local/tribal communities who have been living near the forested project sites for many generations. This is essential because these communities play an important role in protecting the biodiversity of their region. The cooperation & involvement of these communities in the protection of the adjoining forests and the wildlife therein is critical to the success of conservation efforts.

In the course of their work, the WRCS researchers repeatedly witnessed the severity of man-animal conflicts at our various project sites. One of the strategies WRCS has devised to promote participation of local communities in conservation initiatives is by developing Community Initiative Programs.

In these Community-based Initiative Programs, WRCS is focusing on empowerment of women. Towards this end, they have been training local women and men to make handcrafted products. These handcrafted products are themed on the various wild species with whom they share the landscape.

All WRCS products have been stitched and / or painted by local/tribal communities and their excellent work and skills can be seen in these products. This livelihood generation program gives local communities an additional source of income that is offsetting some amount of economic loss incurred due to crop damage by wild animals.

WRCS has been founded by a couple Jayant Kulkarni & Dr. Prachi Mehta, who are dedicated to achieving the long-term sustainability of India's wildlife havens. Jayant is a Chemical Engineer from IIT Bombay by training, turned into a conservationist. Prachi holds a Doctorate from the Wildlife Institute of India and is a committed wildlife researcher. She is now internationally recognised for her research in owls.

These tribal communities face economic hardships due to damage of crops by elephants from adjoining forests that stray into their small agricultural farms. Your purchase of these wall hangings will support the creation of an additional source of income for these tribal communities, which will partially offset the economic loss incurred due to crop damage by elephants and other wildlife.

WRCS's project is supporting the coexistence of wildlife and these tribal communities. The elephant motif on many of the designs helps to develop a sense of kinship with elephants in the community members.