IWN Original Report — Tuesday, 12 May 2026

One of India’s most prominent wildlife conservation organisations has been formally barred from all future work with the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department — and IWN has WTI’s response.

In an order dated 29 April 2026, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Jammu and Kashmir, Chaturbhuja Behera, blacklisted the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) from all future contracts with the department. The order also directed recovery of the advance amount paid to the organisation under the relevant contract.

The contract, and what went wrong

In July 2022, the J&K Wildlife Department awarded WTI a contract worth ₹10.7 lakh to conduct a biodiversity assessment and prepare a conservation plan for Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary and two nearby conservation reserves — Kherra and Kullian — in the Pir Panjal mountains of the Rajouri-Poonch region. The work was to be completed within one year, by July–August 2023.

Tatakuti is a 66.27 sq km protected area spread across the mountains of Poonch and Budgam districts. It is critical habitat for the Astore markhor (Capra falconeri), a large wild goat classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List and a Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act.

The department found that WTI failed to meet the deadline despite repeated reminders and multiple extensions. According to the order, the reports submitted over nearly four years were repeatedly found to be wanting: field work was described as “negligible,” data lacked authenticity, scientific methodology was absent, and WTI was accused of relying on secondary sources — information drawn from existing published papers — rather than conducting independent surveys.

The chronology, as documented in the PCCF’s order and reported first by The Wire, is extensive. WTI submitted a draft proposal only in March 2024 — nine months after the deadline. It was returned with observations. Subsequent revised submissions in September and November 2024 were also found unsatisfactory. A committee meeting in December 2024 recorded detailed deficiencies. By April 2026, following a meeting chaired by the PCCF, the department terminated the contract and issued the blacklisting order.

The order states that WTI “adopted a casual approach towards field surveys and data collection” and that the report was “bereft of actual data.” The department noted: “The lack of systematic methodology and absence of reliable field data undermine the credibility of the report.” It further noted that WTI had been given six formal reminders over the course of the project.

As of the order date, Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary remains without an approved, science-based conservation plan — nearly four years after the project was first contracted.

WTI responds — exclusively to IWN

IWN reached out to the Wildlife Trust of India for comment. WTI’s response, provided exclusively to this publication, is reproduced in full below.

“We understand that there were some communication gaps between our team and the wildlife department with respect to the expectation level and the EOI detailing for this conservation plan. We would like to officially state that the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department has had a long-standing relationship with WTI for over 25 years, and we have worked with them on several key conservation initiatives (Markhor, Hangul, Tibetan Antelope, Human-Wildlife Conflict, etc). WTI commits to continuing to help conserve the state’s wildlife and will work with the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to find a resolution to this issue.”

What this means for Tatakuti

The immediate conservation cost is concrete: Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary, which sits in the Pir Panjal range, still has no approved management plan. The Astore markhor — the species the project was designed to protect — remains without the baseline data that an effective conservation strategy requires. The department will now need to re-tender the work, adding further delay to a project that was already four years overdue.

IWN will continue to follow this story as it develops.

IWN reached out to WTI for comment. Their response is reproduced above in full, unedited.

Sources: Rising Kashmir; The Wire; WTI statement to IWN