Vanjeevi Didi Initiative

Vanjeevi Didi Initiative

Why in News? 

Recently, the Palamu Tiger Reserve launched the Vanjeevi Didi Initiative (VDI) to empower local women in protecting forests and wildlife, motivating communities to prevent poaching and habitat destruction.

What is Vanjeevi Didi Initiative (VDI)?

• About: The Vanjeevi Didi Initiative (VDI) is a community-based forest and wildlife conservation programme to empower local rural women in biodiversity protection. 

• Objectives: The initiative focuses on integrating grassroots participation into environmental governance by training women to act as forest ambassadors.

• Launched By: The initiative has been launched by the Forest Department authorities of Palamu Tiger Reserve under the Government of Jharkhand’s Forest, Environment and Climate Change framework, as part of region-specific conservation outreach. 

• Coverage: The programme was officially rolled out across 17 identified forest-fringe villages located in remote hinterland areas such as Henar, Surkumi, Hasua, Armu, Kotam, and Pandra. These villages often experience forest degradation and wildlife threats.

• Selection: Under VDI, 18 educated women from each village have been selected and trained as “Vanjeevi Didis”. Many participants are college graduates, diploma holders, or students pursuing higher education.

• Responsibilities: Selected Vanjeevi Didis are responsible for:

• Spreading environmental awareness, discouraging poaching and deforestation

• Supporting forest surveillance, reporting illegal activities

• Assisting in community mobilization

• Promoting eco-friendly livelihood practices aligned with biodiversity conservation goals

• • • Promoting school enrolment and rural education support
    • Promoting awareness about government employment schemes, and developmental programmes

• Incentives: Each Vanjeevi Didi receives a monthly honorarium of ₹3,000, incentivising participation in conservation activities. 

• Implementation: The programme is currently planned as a pilot project for two months, after which performance-based evaluation will determine expansion and formal funding approval by the State Forest Department. 

Significance of The Initiative 

• Combating Wildlife Crime: The initiative addresses the critical need for effective deterrence against poaching and timber felling. By empowering women to influence male family members, it achieves results legal threats often cannot; last year, women from over 12 families prompted their men to surrender illegal country-made guns, demonstrating the power of domestic social pressure in preventing crimes. 
• Bridging Staff Shortages: PTR has suffered from a 95% vacancy rate in frontline staff since the 1990s, leaving its 1,129 sq km area vulnerable. The initiative fills this gap by training 18 educated women from each of 17 identified villages (like Henar and Surkumi), creating a 306-member civilian surveillance network that acts as a vital link between the administration and 191 villages.
• Reducing Economic Dependency: Extreme poverty drives illegal resource extraction within the reserve. To mitigate this, each Vanjeevi Didi receives a monthly incentive of ₹3,000. Based on the Sakhi Mandal model, they promote internal micro-banking and financial literacy, providing tribal households with legal economic alternatives and reducing their reliance on forest-based livelihoods. 
• Improving Social Indicators: Low literacy in the hinterlands correlates with higher ecological pressure. These “Didis,” often college graduates, serve as primary educators to boost school enrollment. They also disseminate government employment notices, ensuring locals access state developmental schemes, which shifts the community focus from forest exploitation toward formal socio-economic growth.
• Safeguarding Keystone Species: With PTR’s tiger population recovering to six tigers and 51 leopards (as of early 2025), habitat protection is urgent. The initiative fosters “Jan Bhagidari” (public participation) to protect the habitat of 174 bird species and 56 mammals, including community-led drives to remove plastic waste from critical river confluences like the North Koel and Auranga. 
• Inclusive Environmental Governance: It exemplifies inclusive environmental governance by institutionalising women’s roles in natural resource management — a crucial aspect of sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Similar Community Based Wildlife Conservation Initiatives 

• Thengapalli (Odisha): Groups of 4–6 women in Nayagarh patrol forests in three shifts daily. This movement has protected over 500 acres from timber mafias through physical surveillance. 
• Hargila Army (Assam): A network of 10,000 women protects the Greater Adjutant Stork. Since 2007, they have stabilized the population from near-extinction to over 1,000 birds. 
• Yaongyimchen (Nagaland): Three villages established a Biodiversity Conservation Area in 2012. It protects millions of Amur Falcons annually, shifting from hunting to eco-tourism.
• Van Mahila Samitis (Jharkhand): Women use “Tree Raksha Bandhan” to protect Akarshani forests, leading to a 15–20% increase in household income via sustainable forest products. 
• Solar Mamas (Rajasthan): Barefoot College trains rural women to install solar grids. This reduces firewood dependency, mitigating approximately 37 tonnes of CO2 per village annually. 
• Blackbuck Protection (Odisha): Residents of Ganjam protect the Indian Antelope as a sacred deity. The population increased from 573 in 1990 to over 7,000 in 2023. 
• Mangrove Pitta (Odisha): Women in the Bhitarkanika fringe villages monitor nest sites. This has led to the first census recording 179 birds in the region.
• Snow Leopard Scouts (Ladakh): Local villagers act as “High Altitude Scouts,” receiving livestock insurance to prevent retaliatory killings, protecting an estimated 500 leopards.
• Kudumbashree (Kerala): This 4.5 million-member network integrates organic farming and watershed management, restoring 1,500 hectares of fallow land into productive green belts.
• Sacred Groves (Meghalaya): Communities manage over 10,000 groves through religious taboos. These act as “gene banks,” preserving 1,200 plant species found nowhere else.