HEAL is set to expand its conservation work in Eastern India. We have partnered with The Habitats Trust to conserve the Fishing Cat and its threatened marshland habitat in Chilika – India’s first Ramsar site, located in Odisha.

This initiative is in collaboration with The Fishing Cat Project, led by HEAL’s Joint Secretary & Director of the Conservation & Ecology Program, Tiasa Adhya.

Chilika is Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, home to a significant population of fishing cats, Irrawaddy dolphins, otters, wetland birds, and nearly 2,00,000 fisherfolk.

As part of this project, we aim to:

– Monitor Fishing Cats

– Build local capacity for scientific monitoring and conservation surveillance of the Fishing Cat, its ecological community and wetland habitat

– Document and advocate for mitigation of threats

– Integrate local livelihoods with wetland preservation

– Create local stewards among student and village children community

– Develop a Fishing Cat Conservation Action Plan in Chilika

Together, these efforts will ensure the sustainability of a vibrant socio-ecological system that supports wetland biodiversity, fishing cats, and the fisherfolk of Chilika!