CREW LEADS
FROM FRONT
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CREW (Crusade for Revival of Environment and Wildlife) began it's journey in 1997 when the water-table across the country was going down at a rapid pace, and the Government of India and State Governments had launched the Watershed Mission on a massive scale; forest eco-systems were getting destroyed by human pressure; and the tiger that sits at the apex of the biotic pyramid was on the verge of extinction
IN MISSION MODE.
After the then Madhya Pradesh Governor Bhai Mahavir launched the first educational CD on Tigers produced by CREW at a special screening function the Technical Teachers Training Institute in Bhopal, Crew published the path-breaking reports on the status of tigers in central India. These reports titled Vanishing Stripes and Vanishing Stripes-II were released in quick succession in the year 1999 and 2000.
CREW took the lead and raised voice to demand a Central Wildlife Protection Force through Vanishing Stripes-II. This report was published before Sariska in Rajasthan had raised the alarm with zero tiger count in 2004-05. Madhya Pradesh was also on the downward slide vis-a-vis the tiger around the same time and in 2008-09, we had lost the last of the Panna Tigers. Credit however goes to the Wildlife Wing of the State Forest department and its committed officers, that an ambitious programme to repopulate Panna habitat has been implemented successfully and the tigers are once more thriving in the Panna Tiger Reserve.
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PEOPLES'
MOVEMENT.
A 400 kilometer stretch of the Chambal River in Central India has been declared as the National Chambal Sanctuary.
Tigri Rithora, along the Chambal River, is one of the best breeding grounds for the special crocodilian the endangered Gharial and every year eight to 10 gharial nests can be spotted around this place.
The breeding of Gharial in the natural environment was greatly threatened by human pressure and more particularly illegal mining.
Gharial Crisis - the film produced by CREW on the Chamabal Gharial - was screened by Toxics Link at India International Centre in New Delhi in June 2008 to build public opinion on the critical issue linked with the survival of the endangered Gharial. The Secretary General of WWF India was especially present.