COMMUNITY & COEXISTENCE

The first time I met Vipul Gupta was during a tiger sighting in Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) in 2017. Fuelled by the love and passion he had for the forests even then, he spoke about giving back to the landscape that has done so much for him at a personal level. Today, as the founder of Earth Focus Foundation (EFF), Vipul has not only given back to the landscape but has been the dynamic changemaker of our forests and its people's need and deserve. It is to this end; we celebrate him as the green warrior of the month

- Bhavna Menon

Could you tell our readers a little bit about the EFF journey, and what motivated you to work in the KTR landscape?

EFF envisions a harmonious KTR landscape, where both people and nature can thrive together. Our mission is to empower forest-dwelling communities and restore nature by promoting sustainable livelihoods and providing contextual education tailored to their needs. We believe that, in the landscape, it is possible to set tribal families on a path to better lives while actively protecting the local ecosystem, through nature-based solutions. By combining scientific and technical expertise with traditional knowledge, our community-oriented approach aims to build resilient livelihoods and robust learning interventions.

Ultimately our goal is to build a new paradigm of community-centric intervention, which can be scaled/replicated not just by us in Central India, but by anyone else in similar situations.

How did you identify education and livelihood as the most urgent needs in the landscape?

The Baiga and Gond communities residing near the KTR in Madhya Pradesh, India, often grapple with subpar education, insufficient nutrition, limited livelihood opportunities, and inadequate access to their legally sanctioned rights. Intergenerational poverty persists among these tribal families due to various factors, including a lack of formal education among adults and elders, restricted access to forest produces - essential to their socioeconomic cycles, limited understanding of how to utilize government programs and funds, and inconsistent access to water resources. These challenges affect not only the current generation but also impede the educational progress of future generations, and leading to distressed migration.

How is the education support provided by EFF strengthening the current system?