Kalpavriksh began its engagement with protected areas in November 1982, when five people were killed in police firing at the Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. A three-member team investigated the issue and established that the root cause of the problem was the ban on grazing in the sanctuary and that the villagers’ entry was justified considering that the ban had been imposed without making provisions for alternative fodder sources, thus endangering their very livelihood. This investigation was Kalpavriksh’s first brush with the people and parks issue. Various debates and discussions conducted over four decades through field engagement, analysis of ground-level situations and detailed studies, have helped evolve our stand that wildlife conservation cannot be successful if it alienates local people.
