Small protection huts, or anti-poaching camps (APCs), dot tiger reserves across India. Forest guards, forest watchers, special tiger protection squad members and occasionally, senior staff may all use these camps, but the focus here are forest guards, the ‘lowest’ in the rung, but along with the watchers, the first line of defence for wildlife and the ecosystems that support our wilds.
Often a uniform renders the wearer invisible. We overlook the intelligent and sensitive human inside. These are people that the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) wishes to acknowledge. Environment and nature conservation appear low down in the list of priorities of Central and State governments, consequently these sectors are given short shrift and forest guards, more so.
WCT has worked for the well-being of forest guards for years. Initially, we focused largely on improving work conditions by donating necessities (winter gear, vehicles, water purifiers, digital cameras, walkie-talkies, GPS, etc.), conducting health check-ups, trauma management training, and law enforcement and forensics training. It soon became clear that the mental health of the staff and their well-being determined their motivation and was therefore critical to the effective protection of our natural heritage.
Conservation psychologist Prachi Paranjpye interviews a forest guard in the Panna Tiger Reserve. Conducting such interviews in a familiar environment is vital to creating the right atmosphere for them to express themselves. Photo courtesy: Wildlife Conservation Trust.
To deal with the myriad pressures intricate management interventions are required, including human-wildlife interface management, water and soil conservation measures, fire control, and a whole lot more in-between. Much of the onus for implementing these objectives falls on forest guards, whose jobs are challenging… both physically and psychologically
The Maharashtra Forest Manual (Volume 2011), stipulates that a forest guard’s duties include foot patrolling (average weekly target 35-45 km.), monitoring wildlife populations, water resource management, drawing and maintaining fire-breaks, fighting forest fires, handling human-wildlife interface (may escalate into conflict), paving and cutting new and old roads in known tiger forests. Additionally, our foot soldiers must check on intrusions and illegal activities, investigate wildlife crime… the list goes on. They usually reside in modestly-equipped protection huts, usually situated kilometres away from the faintest hints of civilisation. Aside from the one to three daily wage workers assigned to each guard, they remain deprived of normal human contact.
All employees need a conducive working environment with tangible benefits, to foster psychological well-being. Productivity and efficacy are directly proportional to good working conditions, as affirmed by extensive psychological and social studies. India has far to go in this regard, but investment of time and resources would greatly improve their work and living conditions and this would result in better forest protection and law enforcement.
A paper, authored by social scientists Deci E.L. and Ryan R.M. in 2014, on the importance of universal psychological needs for motivation in workplaces, argues that:
“…Human beings have deeply evolved psychological needs to be competent, autonomous, and related to others, such that, in contexts, where these needs are satisfied, people evidence more volitional, high-quality motivation and greater well-being, and when these psychological needs are thwarted, people display various forms of diminished motivation and more symptoms of ill-being.”
In the past, there have been surveys and studies conducted on forest rangers and workers in Asia, and specifically India, but few focussed on the psychological, motivational and work performance of these critical women and men. WCT’s social scientists have set out to address this gap by assessing the motivation levels of forest guards in the tiger reserves of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The survey has been designed by psychologists, including Dr. Vivek Belhekar, Professor, Dept. of Applied Psychology, University of Mumbai; Aniket Bhatkhande, Conservation Economist, WCT; and Rushikesh Chavan, Head, Conservation Behaviour, WCT. We expect this initiative to deliver vital data that would help State Forest Departments to more sensitively engage with and enhance the working conditions in which forest guards operate.
Prachi Paranjpye, leader of the study is possibly one of India’s first professional conservation psychologists and is part of WCT’s Conservation Behaviour team. In her words: “We have data from roughly 40 per cent of forest guards in every range, in 11 tiger reserves and one wildlife sanctuary across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Each forest guard is guaranteed confidentiality, critical to putting them at ease.”
About 440 forest guards have been interviewed thus far. We now look forward to working with the Forest Department to translate the findings into meaningful policy-level interventions.
