Only 1411 tigers left in India is sad....but what is truly disappointing is the campaign. Thousands of dollars wasted on a mass media campaign to save the tigers!
Who is killing the tigers, poachers with the active help of hungry tribals and villagers living in the fringe of the forests...they for sure are NOT reading the billboards in the cities, they probably have no electricity so are NOT watching the heart wrenching TVC, they for sure are NOT reading the outpouring of rage and concern on the internet- blogs , facebook.
Who can stop these killings, the consumers of the tiger by products ( if there is a word like that), and the administration. The largest consumer of tiger by products make it to the markets in China and south east Asia...they too are not reading or watching this magnificent campaign. And for god's sake is there any reasoning with a man who thinks his machismo can be enhanced by eating a potion made of tiger's testicles?!
Now the administration, well....our very well meaning forest officials , the ones who actually want to protect the tigers, are horribly under equipped, outdated rifles, no night vision, faulty satellite phones, I even met one who had not received his salary for the last 3 months. Its a little miracle he has not joined the poachers to keep his family from going hungry!
I heard a suggestion that this campaign is inviting 'volunteers'....to do what?! If i did volunteer today ...what will i do....talk to the hungry villagers living in the fringes of the forests and explain that actually the tigers' safety is more important than the few extra bucks he makes with the poachers...which actually keeps his family , marginally, yes just marginally afloat?
Or am i supposed to take on the poacher mafia , just on the strength of my good will?
Or am i supposed to write a blog so that no one of the intended target audience is ever going to read?
My friends, i write this for the creators of the campaign....save the money. Public opinion cannot save the tigers. Political will can, money well spent on the poor tribals and villagers living below the poverty line can, empowering the forest administration with better equipment can, vigilance at the porous borders can.
Use the money smartly please, as much as the sad , scared tiger cub pulls at our heart strings...this campaign wont save it!
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Agreed!! This is CSR taken to the extreme, without any thought on follow-up action. As a very learned fried of mine put it, there are three types of information: information for the sake of information where you cannot act upon it; information which outlines the problem, but not the solution, so it is upto the individual to act on it or not; and information that can lead to collective action - actively or passively. This is definitely in the first category, not even in the second, definitely not in the third!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree with you more, I've been myself wondering on this huge mass media spend. Are they even targeting a small % of the right TG through this buzz? How exactly tiger-killings are going to be stopped by me or you writing a blog in favor of "save tigers"...clueless I am.
ReplyDelete-Kanupriya
Nice to hear a sane voice amidst all the useless media blitz.
ReplyDeleteBTW, came here from Blogadda.
I completely agree with you. For quite some time people have been clicking on the `Save the tiger' campaign on FACEBOOK. What have they actually done ? Just clicked ...that's it. What can one really do at the ground level ? What action can we take to ensure that the number doesn't lessen further.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points that the campaign wont make much of a difference unless real effort is put in.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments. Irresponsible posturing really gets my goat.
ReplyDelete