Rahul Bavaji funds education for 300 tribal children in Kali Tiger Reserve

DANDELI — Rahul Bavaji, a 45-year-old corporate professional-turned-conservationist who left a career in Bengaluru, is funding the education of nearly 300 tribal children of frontline forest staff inside the Kali Tiger Reserve in Dandeli.

The initiative, which has been running for more than 12 years, provides school essentials such as notebooks, textbooks, and pens to the children of anti-poaching camp workers before the reopening of schools every academic year. Bavaji funds the project through the earnings of his homestay.

The project began over a decade ago when Bavaji started visiting anti-poaching camps within the reserve. He observed that frontline forest staff, many of whom were employed on temporary contracts, lived in isolated camps with minimal facilities and faced delayed salary payments. At the time, many staff members earned between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 per month.

"They were risking their lives to protect our forests and wildlife, but their own children didn’t have notebooks, pens or even basic school supplies," Bavaji said. "Initially, I distributed sweaters and clothes, but after visiting the camps I realised education was their biggest need."

The initiative started with one school and eventually expanded to 13 schools inside the reserve, before village relocations reduced the number to eight. Today, the program supports nearly 300 students annually, primarily from the indigenous Kunbi, Gowli, and Siddi tribal communities. These forest-dependent populations face limited economic and educational opportunities in the Dandeli landscape.

Bavaji, who grew up in Dandeli, completed his BCom locally before earning an MCom in Dharwad and later studying law. Although he secured a corporate job in Bengaluru in 2006, he decided to leave the city in 2011 to return to Dandeli to focus on wildlife conservation. He volunteered with the Kali Tiger Reserve for seven years, balancing his legal profession with conservation work, animal rescues, and anti-poaching efforts.