Uttarakhand's man-wildlife conflict mitigation project

An analysis of the Uttarakhand effort to minimise clashes between man and wildlife

 Uttarakhand's man-wildlife conflict mitigation project

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• The story: Over the years, a lot of friction was experienced in the man-animal conflict zones. As human population grows, it pushes deeper into areas that traditionally were wild habitats. The resulting loss of life can be tragic.
• Uttarakhand: The Uttarakhand Forest department has now started an ambitious Rs.39 crore man-wildlife conflict mitigation project which will roll out various measures. An over 280 km-long fencing will be set in different parts of the state at a cost of over Rs.18 crore. Also, 1,393 km elephant-proof trenches will be built areas in areas frequented by the pachyderms at a cost of Rs.4.4 crore.

1. Both fencing and trenches will act as barriers, preventing wildlife to sneak into residential areas.
2. The ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) has provided Rs.39.7 crore under CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund to the state forest department for man-wildlife conflict mitigation.
3. This is the time that the range of the mitigation measures has been scaled up in the state. Rs.5 crore will be spent on construction and maintenance of six animal rescue and rehabilitation centres, Rs.5 crore on four monkey rescue centres and Rs.1.55 crore for food of wild animals at these rescue centres.
4. Rs.1.9 crore will be spent on developing village protection force and Rs.0.65 crore on the strengthening of voluntary village wildlife protection force.

• Man-leopard conflict: Uttarakhand primarily reports man-leopard, man-elephant and man-monkey conflicts. Since the formation of the state in 2000, at least 800 people have been killed in man-wildlife conflict, with deaths due to leopard attacks accounting for nearly half of the total toll.

1. A considerable number of man-eating leopards have also been shot dead by hunters engaged by the forest department.
2. According to "The Status of Leopards in India" report released in December 2020, Uttarakhand reported the maximum number of leopards (839) in tiger habitations among Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains landscape, followed by 316 in Uttar Pradesh and 98 in Bihar. The report pointed out that there was an increasing need for corridor connectivity, and improvement of habitat, to reduce interface with humans and thereby reducing the chance of conflict.
3. The last state-wide leopard estimation exercise was conducted in 2008, when the state reported 2,335 leopards.

• Man-elephant conflict: Elephants in Uttarakhand’s Corbett landscape, Rajaji National Park landscape and Tarai areas have been a major concern for wildlife officials here. They regularly create ruckus in and around Haridwar, Nainital, US Nagar districts, leading to traffic interruptions and damage to vehicles. Apart from human loss of life, elephants also get killed due to electrocution and in train-hits. A 40-year-old elephant was found dead in the Tanda forest range of Kumaon on September 8 this year. On August 18, two elephants died in a train-hit accident in Peepal Padao forest range of Kumaon. On March 18, an elephant was found dead in the Terai forest division. On March 5, a 20-year-old jumbo was found dead in Corbett Tiger Reserve.  Uttarakhand has over 2,026 elephants, according to the census held last year, with the state recording a 29.9% increase in the numbers since 2015.
• Man-monkey conflict: Uttarakhand has an estimated monkey population of about 150,000, according to forest officials. Out of these, 48,115 monkeys have been sterilised till 2020-21. With a large percentage of the hill state under forest cover, monkeys often come near human habitations, roads and tourist spots in search of easy food. Given the limited scope for farming in the hilly state, monkeys have become enemies in the eyes of farmers. In the past, farmers in some areas of Kumaon even started agitations against the monkey menace, saying whatever little farm produce they have is destroyed by monkeys. In 2020, the state government decided to create four open forest enclosures spread over 70 hectares with a capacity to house over 25,000 monkeys in Haridwar, Nainital, Almora and Pithoragarh districts respectively to check the growing simian menace in the state.
• Knowledge Centre:

1. CAMPA - The CAMPA Act (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act) is an Indian law that seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure fast utilization in a transparent manner of amounts released in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose which would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land. CAMPA is the money paid by developers who have raised forest land for their construction projects, and the idea is that such land destroyed needs to be made good by regenerating forest elsewhere on non-forest land. Later, due to certain discrepancies in the implementation of compensatory afforestation, some NGOs had approached The Hon’ble Supreme Court for relief. The Court on 10th July 2009 issued orders that there will be a Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) as National Advisory Council under the chairmanship of the Union Minister of Environment & Forests for monitoring, technical assistance and evaluation of compensatory afforestation activities. There is a National CAMPA authority, and State CAMPA authorities.
2. Animal corridors - Habitat corridors allow movement between isolated populations, promoting increased genetic diversity. They provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife and help with juvenile dispersal and seasonal migrations. Wildlife corridors serves a number of purposes including protecting wildlife and helping animal populations thrive. They function as means to decrease human-animal conflict in the form of vehicle-animal collisions and help combat the negative effects of habitat fragmentation.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the root cause of man-animal conflicts across the world. (2) What are the various emerging challenges in Indian wildlife corridors? (3) What is the role of NGT in minimising man-animal conflict? Explain.

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