Human-wildlife Conflict

Syllabus: GS3/ Environment

Context

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority appraised the expansion of Project Cheetah and reviewed measures to address human-wildlife conflict. 

What is human-wildlife conflict (HWC)?

• HWC refers to the negative interaction between humans and wild animals, leading to adverse impacts such as injury or loss of human lives, crop, livestock and other properties, and equally negative impacts on wild animals and or their habitats.
• In India, conflicts are most frequently associated with elephants, tigers, leopards, bears and wild boars, particularly in forest fringe and corridor regions.

Reasons for increase in human-wildlife conflict

• Degraded Habitats: Deforestation, developmental activities, and agricultural expansion have shrunk and fragmented wildlife habitats.
• Rise in Certain Animal Populations: Explosion in the population of wild pigs and monkeys, especially bonnet macaques, has worsened the conflict.
• Human Activities: Grazing of cattle in forest areas and changes in cropping patterns attract wild animals.
• Ecological Imbalances: Decline in top predator species due to historical hunting policies has led to an unnatural increase in herbivorous species.

Steps Taken by Government

• The National Wildlife Action Plan of India (2017–2035): It serves as India’s long-term strategic roadmap for wildlife conservation. It emphasises on;
  • Landscape-level conservation.
  • Mitigation of human–wildlife conflict.
  • Community participation and livelihood integration.
  • Strengthening wildlife crime control and scientific monitoring.
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: It lays down the rules and regulations for the conservation and protection of Animals in India.
• Protected Areas and reserves: There are 107 National Parks, 573 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 115 Conservation Reserves.
• Plan Bee: It is adopted by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) which is a unique method to keep elephants away from railway tracks and plans are afoot to implement it all over the country to save the lives of elephants.

• Operation Thunderbird: Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, coordinated Operation in India to fight against wildlife crime.
• Species-Specific Conservation Programmes: Project Tiger, Project Elephant, etc. are national initiatives focusing on iconic species, involving habitat protection and anti-poaching.
• Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE): It was established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the tenth Conference of the Parties in 1997.
• Rapid Response Teams: In Kerala the areas which see the highest incidence of human-animal conflict, Rapid Response Teams have been established, both, permanent and temporary.

Way Ahead

• Mainstream human–wildlife conflict mitigation into development planning, rather than treating it as a post-facto response.
• Strengthen awareness and communication mechanisms by improving regular interaction between forest departments and local communities, sensitising people about animal behaviour and early-warning signals.
• Protect and restore wildlife corridors to enable safe movement of animals between habitat patches without crossing human-made barriers, thereby reducing accidental encounters, roadkills and crop depredation.

Source: TH