Photo Credit: @Vedanta_Group
Clear Cut Skills & Livelihood Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: Sep 05, 2025 02:48 IST
Written By: Janmojaya Barik
Vedanta’s The Animal Care Organization (TACO), under the Anil Agarwal Foundation, has announced a ₹30 crore conservation push for 2025–2028. The plan doesn’t circle around a single park or species but tries to cover multiple fronts such as anti-poaching, habitat repair, and people-linked awareness. From solar-powered guard posts in Rajasthan’s Ramgarh Vishdhari to wetland and mangrove projects in Odisha and Assam, the move ties environmental protection with local development narratives.
At Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve, five double-storey anti-poaching camps have already gone up, equipped with solar panels and basic facilities. For reserves stretched thin by grazing, woodcutting, and poaching, these camps mean patrols don’t end at sundown. Similar projects are being floated elsewhere, including surveillance centers in Kaziranga and smaller restoration work along coastal belts.
The ₹30 crore pool is being sliced into several tracks: infrastructure like vehicles, watchtowers, and guard camps, alongside softer interventions—folk theatre, street plays, school workshops, and training sessions to cut down human–animal encounters. In Korba, for example, TACO volunteers have fitted cattle with reflective collars to reduce night-time accidents and run awareness drives where children learn how waste management can lower monkey conflict. In Assam, the initiative overlaps with “Mission Vanraksha,” which backs a surveillance hub and staff housing inside Kaziranga. In Andhra and Odisha, the money leans toward mangrove belts that shelter fishing cats and otters while buffering coastal villages against cyclones.
“They are more than just beauty, they are our living heritage.Through Mission Vanraksha, Vedanta is protecting habitats, empowering communities, and securing the legacy of India’s wildlife. With ₹30 crores committed over three years through The Animal Care Organisation (TACO), we are creating a safer future for every roar and every horn. Because protecting them is, in truth, protecting us.”
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This isn’t starting from scratch. TACO had earlier delivered seven patrol vehicles to Ranthambore and ran monsoon rescues that saved thousands of stranded animals. Veterinary camps for cattle and strays, para-vet training programs, and basic welfare measures like water troughs in drought-hit zones have already created a base that the new conservation fund wants to scale up.
During the 2023 monsoon floods in Assam, rising waters threatened both wildlife and local communities. TACO teams rushed to rescue animals stranded in flooded wetlands. The logistical challenge such as narrow village roads and submerged forest paths made it nearly impossible to transport rescued animals to safety. Volunteers had to improvise with small boats and temporary enclosures. While many animals were saved, some fled back into the rising waters, and this shows how climate-induced disasters complicate even well-planned conservation efforts.
In a remote part of Odisha, TACO staff encountered repeated instances of crop-raiding elephants, which were venturing into farmland as their forest corridors narrowed. Villagers reported damaged fields and frightened livestock. To address the issue, teams set up temporary buffer zones with early-warning alarms and community awareness sessions. Yet, challenges persisted: elephants often ignored warning signs, and night-time patrols strained limited human resources. This instance underscored the difficulty of balancing wildlife protection with the livelihoods of people living at forest edges.
While money and structures remain only part of the puzzle. Poaching networks adapt quickly, forest corridors are narrowing under highways and mines, and frontline staff remain outnumbered. Conservationists note that declaring a sanctuary doesn’t instantly restore prey or vegetation and the recovery takes time. Climate shocks add another layer, with floods in Assam or wildfires in Uttarakhand wiping out years of work overnight.
India’s conservation track record shows how tricky this ground can be. In Banni grasslands, tree plantations meant to fight salinity ended up creating an invasive mess with Prosopis juliflora. Tourism-driven parks often see revenue pooling with private operators, leaving local communities with little benefit and plenty of restrictions, fueling resentment. These cracks make it clear: corporate-backed interventions like TACO’s are welcome, but long-term results will rest on steady state support, political follow-through, and active participation from people living at the forest edge.
