In the last half century, India's once rich biodiversity has become considerably depleted. Rapid human and livestock population increase and a rather lopsided distributive development pattern have marginalized or unjustly exploited the country's bountiful wilderness areas such that the species richness and the range of habitat types that the country used to be proud of are today highly eroded and fragmented. How can this fall be checked and reversed is now a question being pondered over at most forums.

Amidst such a situation, the need was felt for an organization to help and strengthen endeavours for recovery. It was important to have an agency which, while looking at forests holistically, combined their management with conserving their biodiversity and protecting the interests of the people in their vicinity in a manner that would be practical and scientifically oriented. Such a thought process led to the setting up of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) at Dehra Dun in 1982 with a mandate to train government and non-government personnel, carry out research, and advise on matters of conservation and management of wildlife resources.

For WII, it was a challenging task, particularly when education in forest management had nothing on wildlife, and wildlife science itself had not yet been established as a subject of any significance in the university education curriculum. With no precedence to go by, WII had to virtually single handedly not only give forest education a wildlife slant but also create and develop the very resources with which it could go about fulfilling its tasks.

This apparent disadvantage ultimately became the institute's strength because the freshness of approach gave it a strong foundation and prevented its programmes from becoming mere academic exercises. WII's programmes are field based and seek an integration of biological, socio-economic and human aspects of large regional  landscapes. As a result, wildlife conservation today means not just providing  protection mainly to a few splendid species but that it be holistic and have considerations for humans living in the vicinity as well.

WII's research projects being conducted in field sites across the length and breadth of the country are the primary sources of scientific information to help conservation. They are also the means of keeping the institute's faculty abreast of current field situations and the latest technology.

In its endeavours, WII has had the benefit of international and bilateral collaborations for institutional building, faculty development, infusion of modern technology and creation of a scientific infrastructure. These collaborations are worked out with wildlife organizations, scientific institutions and universities at the national as well as international levels.

WII was accorded autonomy in April 1986, which furthered its pace of growth. With many countries in south and south-east Asia region regularly sending their personnel to its training programmes, WII is already considered an important regional centre for training and education in wildlife management and conservation.

MISSION

The  mission of The Wildlife Institute of India is to:

         Train managers and biologists for protected area management and wildlife research

         Train education and extension specialists for those involved in land use management.

         Provide orientation courses for those involved in land use management

         Conduct and coordinate applied wildlife research and evolve relevant techniques suited to Indian conditions

         Create a database for building up a wildlife information system employing modern computerized analytical techniques; and

         Provide advisory and consultancy services to central and state governments, universities, research institutions and other official and non-official agencies.

OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of the Wildlife Institute of India are as follows:

  1. Build capacity and develop human resources in Wildlife Science.

  2. Develop as a centre of excellence in Wildlife Science.

  3. Provide consultancy and advisory services in Wildlife Conservation.

  4. Advocate issues relevant to Wildlife Science and Conservation.

  5. Develop as a regional centre for South Asia and South -East Asia for training and research in Wildlife Conservation.

  6. Develop as a deemed University in Wildlife Science.

The prime concern of the Institute is to build capacity and develop skills for providing solutions to problems of wildlife conservation in general and protected area management in particular. The dissemination of the skills to ground level for use by wildlife managers should be the ultimate goal of the institute. The tools to achieve these goals are Developing excellence in research; undertaking consultancies in relevant fields; sharing experience with other institutes and organizations working in the field of wildlife conservation particularly the state wildlife wings/state forest departments; using of experience of officers/ staff engaged in the field of wildlife management and developing proficiency in imparting knowledge to the trainees and students.

Contact: