News from the Field: Introducing Tiger Tribes
It’s wonderful to write to you with some great news from the field.
It is summer time and Pench Tiger Reserve is busy with eager tourists out to catch a glimpse of the elusive tigers. There is no better month to share our latest initiative than May!
It is with great pride we present to you ‘Tiger Tribes’. An idea born out of the love for meaningful travel and the identification of an opportunity for an alternative livelihood for the community members residing around the Pench Tiger Reserve, Tiger Tribes is a Community Managed Rural Tourism (CMRT) endeavour.
Along with our partners, the forest department of the Pench Tiger Reserve and Grassroutes Journeys, a venture promoting responsible tourism, we have launched Tiger Tribes in Pench.
A means to showcase the rural lifestyles of the communities around the reserve and experience more than only the thrill of spotting a tiger, Tiger Tribes enables tourists to connect with Pench on a more profound level.
Visitors trying their hand at some daily activities in the lives of the villagers of Pench.
To understand what goes into living harmoniously alongside the elusive cat and its forest home is something we hoped to showcase to the outside world through Tiger Tribes.
Village tours conducted by Gond community members gives the tourists the most authentic experience of a central Indian village, from bullock cart rides by the farms to participating in a harvest of a crop of wheat.
We hope the next time you find yourself in Pench, you will take the path less taken and experience the village life around the tiger reserve.
Our Program Manager, Santosh, applying dung to the floor of one of the homes in Pench.
Here are a few testimonials from our visitors:
“Thoroughly enjoyed it. Being Indian, there is unfortunately so much more to learn from our villages because we in urban areas are so cut off from all of this. Thanks!”
Bhumika K, visitor
“This project is much needed in Pench and elsewhere in India.”
Julian Matthews, visitor
