Dear friends,

As you are aware India's bio-diversity, forest and wildlife heritage and resources are under tremendous pressure from ill conceived policies, unsustainable development, local needs and in many cases short lived profit motives. Government initiatives alone cannot be expected to protect the last bits of natural forest and bio-diversity left. The five hundred odd national parks and sanctuaries that cover about 4 % of the country's area ARE ONE OF MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCES we have.

We have launched a new organization ASCI, ASSOCIATION FOR SPECIES CONSERVATION IN INDIA (ASCI), to raise financial, technical, legal and lobbying support for the protection and conservation of these protected areas. Details are available at: "www.ee.duke.edu/~achandra/asci.html". The individuals working for ASCI are volunteers and who are committing their skills, time and resources entirely out of their limited resources. We are in the process of registering this organization and are expanding the network. In the coming weeks we will be contacting reserve managers, forest officers and activists in the field throughout India to seek proposals for support. The organization will be registered as a tax exempt NGO in India and in the US.

In an effort to reach out to more people and expand the network of ASCI, we would like to seek your help.

First of all we would be greatful if you could provide a link to our website from your website. We can do the same for you but please do consider that ASCI is still in a growing phase and needs more support.

Second, we would also like you to encourage people to join ASCI and contribute funds for the ongoing projects. Currently we are operating out of a very limited budget. In order to accomplish the following immediate objectives:

• Registration and maintenance of web services

• Sending letters to park managers of 50 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India in the first phase

• Registration as a tax exempt NGO in the US and India

• Funding urgent pending projects financial resources are urgently required.

• We also need to collect 1000 dollars to open a bank account so as to avoid the monthly fee for maintaning an account in the name of the organization.

Any contribution is welcome. We will keep you posted of developments and progress on various fronts. In case you are planning to send a cheque, please make it payable to any ASCI volunteer listed on the web page, under the section asci people. If you have any questions or want to volunteer please do not hesitate to contact us. We value your interest and support.

Yours Sincerely,

ASCI People