|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Positive |
Our Partners The partners of WEPA have a crucial role in making the achievements possible. WEPA does nothing alone, and the success in Nepal has to a large extent been a result of the skill and dedication of our Nepali co-workers. WEPA continues to widen its network of communication and welcomes any interested elephant-related organizations and institutions to contact it and discuss potential co-operation or matters of mutual interest. Partners outside Nepal WWF Finland, an office of the World Wide Fund for Nature that supports WWF Nepal in conservation programmes, also is one of the funding sources for the scheme to improve the training and management of elephants serving in conservation. Australia Zoo has supported WEPA from the beginning of 2009 by funding their elephant trainer Laurie Pond's time in the field in Nepal. Elephant Care International is an NGO of veterinary experts working for healthcare and conservation of elephants. WEPA and Elephant Care International collaborate by exchanging information and planning for field activities in areas of mutual interest. WSPA, World Society for the Protection of Animals, was one of the funding bodies that made the creation of the programme possible, by their start-up grant covering the years 2006 to 2008. Several private donors have also helped make the work possible by their kind donations.
Discussing the work in Nepal: some of the senior staff of the Elephant Breeding Centre in Chitwan and others are listening while the elephant veterinary expert Dr. Kamal Gairhe (second from left) talks about the benefits of the co-operation. | Partners in Nepal One of our most important co-operating partners is DNPWC, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation of Nepal. By the kind approval of the Director General Shyam Bajimaya, DNPWC is co-operating with WWF Nepal and WEPA for improved elephant training and management. In the working group to further plan the co-operation, DNPWC is represented by Shiva Raj Batta. One aspect of the co-operation is DNPWC’s decision to assign the government-owned Hattisar (elephant stable) at Bardia National Park to serve as a piloting site for the Positive Learning Method. The method is already in use in training of young elephants there. After attending WEPA workshops, the head of the Bardia Hattisar, Chandra Man Tamang, started applying the method with the kind permission of the then Chief Warden of Bardia National Park, Phanindra Raj Kharel. The work has been continued under the two subsequent Chief Wardens, Puran Bhakta Shrestha and Tika Ram Adhikari. Another Hattisar of major importance for the project is the Khorsor Hattisar, or the Elephant Breeding Centre of Chitwan, at which the previous workshops have been organized. The senior staff of the Hattisar and the consecutive Chief Wardens of Chitwan National Park have kindly allowed the use of their premises and elephants for this purpose. The open-mindeness and co-operativeness of the senior staff as well as workers of several Hattisars has been remarkable, and it has been one of the crucial factors without which the co-operation would not have been possible. The same qualitieshave also been shown by those owners and managers of hotels and other private elephant owners whose staff has participated in the workshops. Several Nepali experts have contributed to the co-operation in various ways, such as giving lectures at the workshops and providing valuable information. WWF Nepal, an office of the World Wide Fund for Nature, has been a key partner from the very beginning of the co-operation. Santosh Nepal, Co-ordinator for Policy and Special Programmes, and Project Manager Purna Kunwar, as well as several others under the supervision of the CEO Anil Manandhar, have contributed a most fruitful input without which the programme would not have been possible.
Santosh Nepal of WWF Nepal has participated in the scheme from the very beginning, introducing the idea to potential participants and thus laying foundations for the programme. |
Chandra Man Tamang, here interviewed by two journalists, is the Subbha (head) of the Elephant Breeding Centre of Bardia, Nepal, and widely recognized as a highly skilled elephant trainer. His success in applying the Positive Learning Method at Bardia earned his centre the position of an official governmental piloting site of the method. Shiva Raj Batta (on the right) of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), and Purna Kunwar of WWF Nepal are also among key people in carrying out the co-operation. Mr. Batta represents DNPWC in the working group of the new co-opertation scheme between DNPWC, WWF Nepal, and WEPA, by which the Positive Learning Method continues to be piloted at Bardia. Mr. Kunwar has carried out the main responsibility for organizing the workshops and other field activities in Nepal. Subbhas (heads) of the Hattisars (government-owned elephant stables) that have participated in the co-operation are also crucially important partners. Rameshwor Chaudhary (on the right) is Subbha of the Khorsor Hattisar, also known as the Elephant Breeding Centre of Chitwan, at the premises of which the workshops of 2006 and 2007 were organized. Buddhan Chaudhary (on the left) is the Subbha of the Koshi Tappu Hattisar, who also participed in both workshops. The co-operation would have been impossible without the open-mindedness and co-operativeness of the dozens of Nepali elephant trainers, handlers, and senior staff that have participated in the workshops. In the photo, a discussion is going on among the participants of the 2007 workshop.
|
|
|
In Memory of Our Distinguished Partners WEPA honours the memory of Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung, Dr. Tirtha Man Maskey, Narayan Poudel, and all the other conservationists who tragically lost their lives in a helicopter accident in Nepal on September 23, 2006.
| Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung was the CEO of WWF Nepal and an exceptionally gifted conservationist. In addition to a wide range of novel conservation activities initiated by him, he also was a co-founder of the international co-operation that gave rise to WEPA. Based on an idea proposed by Helena Telkänranta, now Director of WEPA, Dr. Gurung and she started developing the plan in 2005. Dr. Gurung's commitment was highly instrumental in bringing it into reality. Dr. Tirtha Man Maskey, who had recently retired from his position as the Director General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), and Narayan Poudel, who was the current Director General, gave their kind approval and support to the programme from its beginning, which also was crucial for its development. Even though these exceptional personalities are no longer with us, their memory remains cherished and continues to be a source of inspiration. | WEPA also honours the memory of Bhaggu Tharu, whom his exceptional skills and wisdom had earned the position of the most repected mahout in Nepal of his lifetime. In the first workshop of the co-operation programme that later gave rise to WEPA, Bhaggu Tharu was one of the key participants. He continues to be remembered with admiration and respect.
|
