Forest deparment moots jumbo plan to solve man-wildlife conflict

KOZHIKODE

: How much will it cost to keep the marauding jumbos and other straying wild animals at bay in Wayanad, which has the highest forest cover in the state? The forest department has come up with a mammoth figure of Rs 574 crore after conducting a ground-level assessment at the human-

wildlife

conflict hotspot.


The project proposals, submitted by three forest divisions, have been recommended by the district development committee (DDC) and forwarded to the state government for funding under Kerala Infrastructure Investment Promotion Board (KIIFB). Surprisingly, the figure is almost twice the entire budget allocation for the department this fiscal.

South Wayanad forest division has submitted project proposals worth Rs 189 crore, which includes setting up 103km of rail fencing, 43km of solar fencing, 2km retaining wall and maintenance of existing elephant proof trenches (EPTs) at a length of 15km.

The conflict mitigation measures proposed by the

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary

(WWS) and North Wayanad forest division would entail an expense of Rs 212 crore and Rs 173 crore, respectively.

However, conservationists said it is high time the department focused on sustainable methods for conflict mitigation rather than indiscriminately creating physical barriers along forest fringes which would only exacerbate the human-wildlife conflict.

“The project proposals will turn the forest landscape into a maze of trenches and fences leading to further fragmentation of available wildlife habitat. The department should not give into the clamour of the public and people’s representatives to put up barriers everywhere. Instead, it should conduct a scientific study before proposing solutions,” N Badusha, president of Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi said.

Badusha, citing the instance of Pathiri reserve forest under Chethalath range in South Wayanad forest division, said: “It has an area of just 54 sqkm, which is surrounded by human habitations and is cut off from other forests. If we build more barriers around forest fringes near human habitations, long-ranging wild animals like elephants would get virtually trapped inside the forest fragment and they would get restive,” he added.

Environmentalists said the forest department should instead focus on protecting vital elephant corridors to allow unrestricted movement of animals between habitats and also expedite the voluntary relocation of families from core area of the forests.

Wayanad Wildlife Warden N T Sajan too admitted that the proposals, if implemented, could lead to greater fragmentation of forest habitat and curtail elephant movement. “But we had no other way other than to propose mitigation mechanisms due to public pressure,” he said.

District collector A R Ajayakumar confirmed that the proposals have been forwarded to the state government through the forest department headquarters for funding.


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