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{{Orphan|date=September 2015}}

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2013}}
[[File:NWEA-Radcliffe fishing hut.JPG|thumb|NWEA-Radcliffe fishing hut in [[Mukurthi National Park]]]]
'''Nilgiri Wildlife and Environmental Association (NWEA)''' is a [[non-governmental organization]] registered in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]. Their objective is to [[Conservation (ethic)|conserve]] the [[wildlife]], [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]] and [[natural resources]] of the [[Nilgiri Hills]].<ref name="NWEA">{{cite web|url=http://www.nwea.in/|title=Welcome to NWEA |last=Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association|year=2009|accessdate=5 March 2010}}</ref>

NWEA conducts programs on [[environmental education]], [[tree planting]], [[bird watching]], [[Field study|animal census]], [[soil conservation]] and arrange trekking parties to [[Mukurthi National Park]].<ref name="Veena">{{cite web|url=http://onayahuasca.blogspot.com/2008/03/mukurthi-info.html|title= Mukurthi Info|last=Veena|date=23 March 2008|work=Yossarian Lives|publisher=Google|accessdate=2009-11-07}}</ref> NWEA has more than 500 members and is headquartered at [[Udagamandalam]]. [[District Collector]] of Nilgiris is the ex-officio president of the NWEA, and the Nilgiri North, Nilgiri South and Gudalur ([[Deputy Conservator of Forests (India)|DFOs]]) and the [[Conservator of Forests|Field director]] of [[Mudumalai National Park|Mudumalai Tiger Reserve]] and [[Mukurthi National Park]] are its official members.

==History==
The NWEA was founded in 1877 as the ''Nilgiri Game Association'' by a group of British planters and [[big-game hunter]]s concerned with the alarming decline in [[Game (food)|game]] for [[Hunting#Modern sport hunting|hunting]]. It was the first [[wildlife conservation]] organisation in India.<ref name="Kumar"/> As a direct result of their actions in 1879, the Nilgiris Game and Fish Preservation Act was passed by the [[Madras Presidency|Government of Madras]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Davidar|first=E.R.C.|title=The Nilgiri wild life association and status of wildlife in the Nilgiris|publisher= Bombay Natural History Society|location=Bombay|date=August 1968|series=Journal|volume=65|issue=2|pages=431|url=http://www.ces.iisc.ernet.in/biodiversity/sahyadri/documents/title95th.htm}}</ref>

This act empowered the association to regulate hunting and fishing in the Nilgiris. Thus all game was controlled by the Association, who imposed restrictions on the types of game to be hunted and the opening and closing of seasons for [[Hunting#Shikar (Indian Subcontinent)|shikar]]. They issued game licenses to the British elite to serve their recreational needs. Local tribal groups were legally excluded from their traditional use of wild animals as food, however their snaring of small animals like monitor lizard and porcupine, fishing and scavenging the kills of predators continued.<ref name="prab">{{cite web|title=Resource use, culture and ecological change : a case study of the Nilglri hills of Southern India|last=Prabhakar|first=R.|year=2005|url=http://144.16.72.131:8080/bitstream/2005/143/1/G14086.pdf|work=Phd Thesis|publisher=Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science|pages=55|accessdate=2009-11-05|location=Bangalore, India}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The ''Rules of the Nilgiri Game and Fish Preservation Association'' were amended in 1893, including that:
# The name of the Association shall be ''The Nilgiri Game and Fish Preservation Association''.
# The objects of the Association are the preservation of the existing [[Indigenous (ecology)|indigenous]] game and the introduction of game birds and animals and fish, either [[Introduced species|exotic]] or indigenous to India.<ref name="eagan1">{{cite book|last= Russell|first=C. E. M.|title=Bullet and shot in Indian forest, plain and hill. With hints to beginners in Indian shooting|publisher= W. Thacker & co.|location=London|year=1893|pages=503–504|chapter=The rules of the Nilgiri game and fish preservation association, as amended at the general meeting held on the 23 August 1893
|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletshotinindi00russiala/bulletshotinindi00russiala_djvu.txt}}</ref>

The 1916 edition of the ''Nilgiri Guide and Directory'' published the complete details of the Institution, management, Shooting Limits, Residences, shooting Licenses, conditions, notes on rules, fishing rules, licenses, notes on rules, rewards for vermin, Hodgson's Hut, and the [[dak bungalows]] of the Nilgiri Game Association.<ref name="eagan2">{{cite book|last=EAGAN |first=J. S. C. |title=Nilgiri Guide and Directory, A handbook of general information upon the nilgiris for visitors and residents |publisher=S.P.C.K. PRESS |location=Vepery |year=1916 |pages=145–161 |chapter=The Nilgiri Game Association |url=https://archive.org/stream/nilgiriguideandd031416mbp/nilgiriguideandd031416mbp_djvu.txt |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017074739/https://archive.org/stream/nilgiriguideandd031416mbp/nilgiriguideandd031416mbp_djvu.txt |archivedate=17 October 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:Memorial stone at NWEA fishing hut.JPG|thumb|Memorial for Richard Radcliffe]]
The late Major Richard Radcliff, a famous hunter turned conservationist, led the association in creation of Mukurthi National Park. The NWEA has donated many of its former hunting bungalows to the [[Tamil Nadu Forest Department]]. NWEA is now helping the Forest Department to annex other [[Nilgiri Tahr]] habitats adjoining the park, which were excluded from the park boundaries when it was created.<ref name="Herald">{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Kg4OT-tDrtYJ:tumkurameen.blogspot.com/2006/03/romantic-mukurthi.html+nwea+nilgiri&hl=en&gl=us|title=On the Road to Paradise|date=21 January 2001|publisher=Sunday Herald (Deccan Herald)|accessdate=2009-11-07}}</ref>

In 1975, with the adoption of the [[Wildlife Protection Act of 1972]] by the Tamil Nadu Government, the organization changed its objective from [[Hunting#Wildlife management|controlled shooting]] to total wildlife [[Conservation movement|conservation]] and [[Environmental preservation#Preservation and conservation|environmental preservation]].

Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award for 2003 was given to the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association (NWEA) in recognition of its outstanding efforts at preserving wildlife in its natural habitat and spreading ecological awareness. The award, consisted of Rs. 100,000, a medallion and a citation. It was handed over by J. C. Kala, [[Director General of Forests (India)|Director General of Forests]], in New Delhi<ref name="Kumar">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/10/23/stories/2006102300040300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219172225/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/10/23/stories/2006102300040300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2010|title=Award for conservation|last= KUMAR|first=DIVYA|date=23 October 2006|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=2009-11-07}}</ref>

==Activities==
NWEA is an active participant in [[Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve]] Alliance, a group of conservation and people's organisations that are concerned about the future of the NBR and are working collectively towards protecting it. NWEA conducts the annual Wildlife Census at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and the adjoining Nilgiri North Forest Division.<ref name="Jaya-3">{{cite web|url=http://www.blogcatalog.com/search.frame.php?term=gudalur&id=6d78bcc38c82aa78121bf477981e4cf3|title=ildlife Census at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve|last=Jayaprakash, Executive Committee Member, NWEA|first=C.R.|date=20 April 2009|work=Welcome to the World of Media & Environment|publisher=C.R. Jayaprakash|accessdate=2009-11-07|location=Ooty}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

NWEA put together a report on the effects of the controversial [[Chamarajanagar#Rail|Satyamangalam Railway line]] on this ecologically sensitive area. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the [[Supreme Court of India]], after enquiry, found that the area is home to both elephants and tigers, and other species listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. On the basis of this observation the CEC directed the Railways to withdraw the project.<ref name="NBR">{{cite web|url=http://www.nbralliance.org/|title=The NBR Alliance|publisher=Friends of the Niligiri Biosphere Reserve|accessdate=2009-11-08|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202035915/http://www.nbralliance.org/|archivedate=2 December 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> NWEA has facilitated the rehabilitation of ex-poachers by coordinating the Periyar Foundation (an ongoing eco development project under [[Project Tiger]]), the Literate Welfare Association, Kadamalai Gundu, Theni District and the Tamil Nadu Green Movement, Ooty, Nilgiri District. Ex-poachers and their wives have since been assisted in gaining new employment in the eco-tourism business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cppIx4N9BwsJ:www.tngreenmovement.org/documents/rehab.doc+9443050401&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari|title=Rehabilitation of ex-poachers|last=Jayachandran|first=S. |year=2005|publisher=Tamil Nadu Green Movement|accessdate=2009-11-10|location=Ooty}}</ref>

NWEA publicly recognizes and motivates government officials for significant contributions, dedication, involvement and personal interest in espousing the cause of environmental conservation.<ref name="hindu">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/13/stories/2009101350970300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124221628/http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/13/stories/2009101350970300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 November 2009|title=Wildlife association plays proactive role|date=13 October 2009|accessdate=2009-11-11|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Udhagamandalam }}</ref>

==Publications==
*''Ecology And Population Dynamics Of The Nilgiri Tahr In The Nilgiris'', NWEA, 1992-1995
*S Joseph, AP Thomas, R Satheesh, ''Large Carnivores in Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern India'', Zoos' Print Journal, Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association and Tamil Nadu Forest Department, 1968
*Davidar and E.R.C. ''The Nilgiri tahr of the Nilgiris'', Tahr (Newsletter of the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association), 2010–11
*Davidar, E.R.C. and H.L. Townsend, ''Nilgiri Wild Life Association Centenary 1877-1977'', Nilgiri Wild Life Association, 1977
*Murugan, ''Habitat analysis of the Nilgiri Tahr in the Mukurti National Park'', Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association, 1997

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/NWACentenary Centenary Issue of the Nilgiri Wildlife Association (1977)]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=-w9EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA707&lpg=PA707&ots=qtPu2Yocmc&dq=%22Nilgiri+Game+and+fish+preservation+Association%22&output=text The Indian Forester, Volume 31], July 1905, p. 707, Notes. The Nilgiri Game and Fish Preservation Association. discussion of hunting rules
*[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/campaign-to-remove-alien-plants-launched/article6984282.ece Campaign to remove alien plants launched - The Hindu]

[[Category:Organizations established in 1877]]
[[Category:Environmental organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Natural history of India]]
[[Category:Nature conservation organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Wildlife conservation in India]]
[[Category:Environment of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:1877 establishments in India]]

Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association - Revision history

imported>Johnpacklambert: added Category:1877 establishments in India using HotCat