Centre for Ecological Movement volunteers at Rajhat, in Hooghly, where they work to save the peacock

Wildlife can be preserved only if people living close by are encouraged to lend a helping hand.

Guided by this motto, the city-based Centre for Ecological Movement (CEMO), a consortium of NGOs and NGIs (non government individuals), has been working with villagers of Bankura and Hooghly to save elephants and peacocks.

“Our objective is to fight poaching and preserve endangered species and their habitat by extending financial assistance to the local people and helping them manage their resources better,” said Purnima Dutta, the secretary of the centre, which had recently organised a two-day camp on the Army Territorial Ground to spread awareness about the environment.

More than 20 schools participated in the “eco-jamboree”, which included extempore speeches and skit contests on nature.

The centre, with 50 registered members — it had 20 when its started out in 2003 —is working in Rajhat, in Hooghly, to save the national bird and in four villages in Bankura on an elephant project.

“The peacock count in Rajhat increased from around 150 when we started the project three years ago to around 250 now,” said an official of the centre.

There are several brick kilns in the area, where people from outside the state come to work. “These workers and the picnic crowd often disturbed the bird. Picnics are not allowed there any more and the villagers have been persuaded to play a pro-active role in protecting the birds and their eggs from the outsiders,” said Dutta.

The centre, with assistance from the panchayat, is helping the local residents earn a living by teaching them organic farming, and in return, asking them to support its drive to protect peacocks. “The response has been encouraging,” said a volunteer.

In the Barjora villages, in Bankura, where elephants often stray in from the forests in the nearby Dalma hills, the centre is arranging for micro-credit for the residents and teaching them rainwater harvesting and organic farming, in return for a pledge that they would not attack the herbivores.

“We have explained to the villagers the dangers of hula operation. Whenever elephants enter the villages, people light fires and burst crackers in a bid to drive them away. But this causes the elephants to scatter and those getting separated from the herds go on a rampage, damaging crops and mud houses,” said Dutta.

The centre, which has its office on Rashbehari Avenue, holds awareness programmes in schools, colleges and clubs on solar power, carbon credit, rainwater harvesting and bio-diversity.