The second wave of COVID-19 in April, 2021 left India in deep distress, with rural and remote communities affected severely. These areas have a huge shortage of essential supplies and medicines, with primary health centre (PHC) workers being short staffed and overworked. Due to CWS’ strong on-ground presence and the implementation of Wild Surakshe workshops in rural Karnataka and Goa, we were able to directly observe the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on people in rural India.

The Wild Surakshe program has enabled us to build a network of several hundred people to act on the ground. Thus, our local field staff are well-equipped to provide support and help curtail the rapid spread of COVID-19 and similar zoonotic diseases in these areas.

We are currently using our resources to support over 500 PHCs across Karnataka and Goa by procuring COVID-19 essentials like face shields, PPE kits, oximeters, thermal scanners, gloves, masks, and medicines. Our field staff are also closely monitoring the state of these PHCs to offer any additional immediate assistance they need. By providing such immediate assistance during emergencies in our project areas, we want to ensure people are getting help when they really need it, and strengthen our ties to local communities and stakeholders.  

Key stakeholders such as Department of Wildlife Conservation, Divisional Secretariat & District Secretariats, Ministry of Environment, UNDP, Ocean Resources Conservation Association, University of Wayamba, IUCN, Sri Lanka Navy, Coastal Conservation Department, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency were involved in this project. Together the technical knowledge and experience of experts in the field, demarcation of the Bar Reef, designing of buoys, buoy deployment and allied activities were implemented.

While above named institutions provided the neccessary technical expertise, training and awareness and input for monitoring and evaluation, key local community members, such as members of the 'Tour Boat Society' (a society which was established for tour guides in the area), were also given the opportunity to participate in the demarcation activities to identify the GPS locations of the areas to be protected at Bar reef with the participation of specialists and other stakeholders. An identified team of locals, such as tour boat operators/guides were also involved as local volunteers to assist in monitoring and maintenance of the buoys and the protected zone.

Before and after each Wild Surakshe workshop, we conduct pre and post surveys. The surveys allow us to record the baseline level of knowledge of participants and to receive feedback about the workshops. So far we have conducted more than 3000 pre surveys and 2500 post surveys. We are currently analyzing the information collected from these surveys from over 150 workshops.To enable offline data collection in remote areas we have developed an application and platform called Wild Connect. Our staff download the app on their phone to access the forms they need to fill. Once the data is entered, the forms are stored locally, then uploaded to the cloud whenever internet connectivity is available. This cloud data can be accessed and downloaded by our central office staff for validation and further analysis. Our staff also use the app to collect data on human-wildlife conflict incidents. Wild Connect is only used by CWS staff to collect data, and is not used for any insurance or compensation payments. The results and outputs from the Wild Surakshe program will be shared with relevant government and private agencies and published in peer-reviewed scientific articles and reports to develop targeted long-term interventions to prevent future outbreaks and the rapid spread of zoonotic diseases.

Workshops are conducted in vulnerable villages focusing on public health and safety by trained CWS staff. Participants usually consist of families, frontline workers, government staff, and members of other non-profit and self-help groups. The workshops are conducted using illustrations, videos, and demonstrations. Each workshop has five sessions. The first session titled “ Our Wildlife'' introduces the participants to various wildlife species found in their landscape and their significance. The second session, “Preventing Injuries due to wildlife” teaches the participants how to coexist with wildlife and the do’s and don’ts of wildlife encounters. The third session titled “Responding to Wildlife Encounters” takes participants through the steps one can follow if a conflict incident such as livestock loss or injury takes place. The fourth session “Zoonotic Diseases'' shares important information on seven relevant zoonotic diseases - COVID-19, Nipah, Scrub Typhus, Kyasanur Forest Disease, etc. The fifth and final session “Basic First Aid'' teaches participants various basic first aid techniques through demonstrations. After each workshop, we also distribute safety guidelines and emergency contact information. To obtain feedback and evaluate effectiveness, we conduct pre and post surveys before and after each workshop.

Before conducting workshops, we build connections with local key stakeholders who are at the frontline of managing zoonotics and human-wildlife conflict. First, we contact the state health ministries. Currently, we have support from the Directorate of Health Services in Goa and the Department of Health and Family Welfare in Karnataka. We then identify districts for conducting workshops and obtain permissions from the District Commissioner, District Zilla Panchayat CEO, District Health Officer, and Forest Department officials. So far, we have done this in 10 districts. We also meet and get permissions from taluk (sub-district) officers including Taluk Executive Officers of Panchayats, and Block Medical Officers. Next, we identify the Village Gram Panchayats where we will conduct workshops and get permissions from Panchayat Development Officers and Primary Healthcare Centers. Lastly, we visit and invite local prominent citizens or organizations relevant to our program such as previous partners, teachers, child development program officials, veterinary officials, and farmer cooperatives. We use these interactions to understand local health and infrastructure challenges. Based on our findings and the local ecological and socioeconomic context, we adapt the content of our workshops.

For program implementation, we recruit field staff who conduct the workshops, deliver the content to participants, and collect evaluation data. Each team works in a specific region of the Western Ghats. We select people who are local to the area and can speak in multiple languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Tamil, and Malayalam. Once staff are hired, we teach them to disseminate the workshop content and ensure they understand the intended impact of each session. We train them in first aid using demonstrations and real-life examples. We also teach them best practices for community engagement and ethics. So far we have trained 1 Program Manager, 6 Project Coordinators, and 13 Educators for Wild Surakshe. Having well-trained, passionate, and dedicated field staff has been instrumental in allowing us to cover 11 PAs. Wild Connect, our app for offline data collection, has also helped us streamline data management making it easier to manage the program. These factors will be key for scaling to 69 PAs over the next 3-5 years. Currently, our teams conduct the workshops in local languages (eg. Kannada) but enter data on the app in English. We plan to incorporate multilingual services on our app.