Job Category: Western Ghats Testudine Recovery Project Location: Vazhachal, Kerala Date Posted: 22-September-2026 Qualification: Advanced degree (Masters or equivalent) in Social Sciences, Social Work, Anthropology or related fields.

Experience: 5-7 years of relevant experience in wildlife conservation projects.

Role Context: The Western Ghats Testudine Recovery Project is an initiative to conserve two threatened and endemic turtles – the Travancore tortoise and the Cochin forest cane turtle. Key to these efforts is documenting the knowledge and attitudes of local tribal communities to these species and gaining their support for a community conservation programme in Vazhachal, Malayatoor, and Chalakudy forest divisions of Kerala.

Key Responsibilities :

- Conduct surveys among the local tribal communities across the three forest divisions to document the traditional knowledge and understand perceptions.




- Conduct meetings with local village councils/Oorukootams for awareness and consensus building
- Develop a plan for a community watcher programme for testudine conservation in consultation with local communities and the project team
- Identify local community members for further training as community watchers
- Work with the project team to organise training programmes for selected community members and initiate the community watcher programme
- Engage with local communities and build support to generate at least one agreement for conservation of the targeted turtle species
- Any related additional work which may be generated based on discussion with Project PIs , advisors, and Kerala Forest Department officials The consultancy role will be for 3 months.

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📌 Consultant Sociologist (Kerala)
🏢 Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)
📍 Kerala