We have been providing direct and indirect employment to families in the area since our inception. The jobs are not menial ones. The locals work with us in the capacity of wildlife guides, housekeeping staff, management staff, service staff, drivers, kitchen staff etc. Families we employ now have steady and considerably increased incomes. Consequently, their children are able to attend school regularly and have a better shot at a brighter future. Over and above this, we also sponsor school fees and books for several of our staff’s children, from primary through high school.
Dependency on the jungle for livelihood has also decreased dramatically.
In addition to employing locals, we run a ‘specialist guides programme’ wherein we train and provide work opportunities to members of the local community as nature guides. We teach them the importance of environmental interpretation, wildlife safety and natural history.
Additionally, we impart a variety of vocational skills like communicating effectively in English, cooking, driving etc.
We have also built and encouraged local interest in ornithology. Our guides are provided with binoculars and birding books. We got many of our guides interested in nature photography and encouraged them by teaching them how to use state-of-the-art cameras like the Canon 5D Mark 2. They now assist us in documenting the local fauna and birdlife.