TCF believes that only a healthy community can contribute to a healthy environment. Modern medical treatment is often not easily available to communities in remote locations and TCF is working to fill in this gap.

To establish a relationship of mutual trust between the organisation and the people living in and around Corbett Tiger Reserve, TCF pioneered the Rural Medical Outreach Programme (RMOP) in 1995. It was felt that if the local communities were to be won over to the cause of conservation, some reciprocal benefits would have to be provided to them. Based on the phenomenal success of this initiative in Corbett, the RMOP was extended to Kutch in 1999, and Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves in 2010.

At present, TCF operates a total of five dedicated mobile medical units to cover around 250-odd villages (every village is visited once a week) from around the tiger reserves of Corbett, Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Most of the villages in the above areas are remotely located. It is not uncommon for the villagers to walk for hours to the nearest Public Health Centre only to find that the doctor is unavailable. Such incidences not only create a feeling of neglect among the communities but they also are drawn towards quack doctors and witch doctors. The people of these areas suffer from several chronic diseases and disorders as a result of malnourishment. Immediate medical and healthcare facilities, either mobile or for few village clusters, must be provided to the communities. Only a healthy mind and body can appreciate and understand the need for the conservation of wildlife. Apart from medical check-up camps and treatment, the mobile medical unit also conducts health awareness programmes in schools and among community gatherings. Posters, pictorial handbooks, pamphlets have been printed on various ailments and issues such as Malaria, Water-borne Diseases, Tobacco / Liquor Addiction, etc. Successful and continuous RMOP implementation has created goodwill for TCF among the local communities. This grassroots approach is extremely important while undertaking any conservation programme. TCF has also been instrumental in creating awareness concerning health and hygiene for men, women and children. TCF has Out Patient Departments (OPD) across all its centres where locals can visit and receive primary health treatment.

TCF collects a nominal fee of INR 10/- per prescription to prevent misuse of medicines provided.

TCF is thankful to the support extended by Bajaj Auto Ltd., Friends of Conservation, and Exodus Travels Foundation for their support towards the Rural Medical Outreach Programme.

With growing population, the pressure on the natural resources is increasing day by day. It is no longer viable for tribes and communities living in close association with Protected Areas to exploit the natural resources as they did 100 years ago. Due to the lack of enough alternative options of livelihood, a majority of the population is dependant on forest resource based livelihood generation activities such as collection of Non-forest Timber Produce (NTFP) such as Tendu leaves for making bidi, Mahua flowers for brewing liquor, etc. and other dependency for sustainance such as colection of firewood for cooking. These activities often put them in conflict with the objectives of biodiversity conservation. At times, local communities are also involved in the illegal felling of trees and hunting of wild animals. Therefore the need to offer alternative livelihood / rehabilitation options to these local communities is necessary to divert them from forest-based livelihood options. Providing vocational training in skills that could fetch them employment and a decent livelihood is crucial to involve them in sustainable development of the area. Conservation efforts are most fruitful when there is active community participation. Local communities are the pivotal stewards of the natural environment and its inhabitants. TCF works towards empowering communities and improving their livelihoods, and in turn acquires their support in conserving India’s pristine wildlife.

A large number of local communities, especially those living in rural areas across India depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood, either as working animals for agriculture or in milk production. As a number of cattle in the areas TCF works in are working animals, and their ill-health directly affects the local economy. Veterinary care is of utmost importance in remote villages lacking such facilities since a large amount is invested in the upbringing of the animal, and lack of basic veterinary facilities as well as the lack of knowledge thereof can severely impact livelihoods. TCF provides timely primary veterinary services under the guidance of its veterinary experts and Livestock Inspectors (LI) across its divisions on a weekly basis. The LIs are also responsible for creating awareness on basic care and management of livestock, and for providing guidance in nutrition and upbringing of young animals.

Cattle constitute the primary means of livelihood for many communities living in and around tiger reserves. They form an imperative source of income for their use in agriculture and production of milk. To ensure that the livestock are kept healthy and provide maximum work output, TCF conducts regular veterinary camps in Bandhavgarh and Kanha Tiger Reserves, and in Kutch. The health of cattle is often neglected because of the lack of facilities and poor awareness. TCF’s veterinary team works around the clock, and treats cattle at doorsteps to ensure that locals follow sustainable and profitable animal husbandry practices to keep their cattle healthy and safe from diseases. Since these cattle often graze in forests, there is a threat of livestock diseases being transmitted to wild animals, and hence keeping them healthy is a step towards wildlife conservation.

TCF has set up four mobile veterinary clinics at Kutch, Kanha and Bandhavgarh, where skilled Livestock Inspectors work at the grassroots level to keep over 200,000 domestic cattle population healthy and free of communicable diseases. TCF has been appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department as the only NGO to conduct a Cattle Immunisation Programme covering all the domestic cattle population from the villages situated in the core and buffer zones of Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves in 2013 and 2014. TCF’s cattle vaccination programmes in Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves have benefitted over 150,000 cattle in 2013 and 2014. TCF promotes the use of stall feeding to reduce the numbers of free-ranging cattle in natural ecosystems. In addition to stall feeding, improving the domestic cattle breeds through introduction of high yielding bulls or artificial insemination of traditional Indian breeds is being promoted. The objective is to eventually reduce the number of cattle heads in the region. TCF tries to ensure that cattle venturing into the forest for grazing are healthy and the risk of disease transmission among the wild herbivores is minimized.

The Bombay Gow Rakshak Trust supports TCF’s Cattle Care Programme.

In addition to its flagship programmes, TCF also undertakes special projects that are directed towards the sustainable development, wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, watershed management and welfare of tribal and forest-dependent communities. Some of the special initiatives undertaken by TCF are listed and explained in the following sections.