Objectives

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The guiding principles of this process of Building Bridges have been:

The fundamental right to existence of all wild animals and plants, and the need for protected / conservation areas and legal measures to ensure this right.

The fundamental right of local communities to the survival and livelihood resources which they have traditionally enjoyed, and to participate equitably in conservation programmes.

The need for the full protection of threatened wildlife species across the country, for which certain inviolate zones (demarcated in a participatory manner), and changes in existing resource use activities, may be necessary.

The unacceptability of forced displacement of traditional communities from PAs or other habitats.

The unacceptability of imposing large-scale destructive modes of 'development' on wildlife habitats and local communities, and the necessity of finding alternative paths of achieving human welfare.