The inter-State Coordination Committee comprising Forest Departments of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu resolved to mitigate human-wildlife conflict through collaborative action and intelligence sharing.
At a meeting conducted in Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Chamarajanagar district on Sunday, Forest Minister of Karnataka Eshwar Khandre and his counterpart from Kerala A.K. Saseendran signed a charter specifying action plan for conservation and mitigating conflict situations, foster collaboration in intelligence sharing, exchange resources to benefit from mutual strength and expertise etc.
The charter ‘’embodies a shared vision beyond administrative boundaries aiming to create a legacy of responsible conservation for harmonious coexistence of humans and wildlife’’.
The meeting was a fallout of a slew of human-animal conflicts reported in the region and the triggering point was the death of a person in Wayanad in Kerala trampled by an elephant which was radio collared in Karnataka.
Though two inter-State coordinating meetings – one of senior officials and another of field staffs – had been conducted in February this year, this was the first ministerial level meeting involving Forest Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala while senior Forest Department officials had represented Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Khandre called for critical need for collaboration among the three south Indian States given their conservation initiatives and rich biodiversity. He also highlighted the challenges arising from the increase in wildlife populations and the resultant conflict with humans and underlined the importance of working together, especially in the inter-State border areas.
The meeting adopted a landscape approach with focus on the entire Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve covering Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Calling for standard operating procedures for managing human-animal conflicts, the meeting also took note of the challenges arising from the proliferation of invasive weeds like lantana.
In cases that entailed jurisdictional issues, it was decided to have coordinated joint operations comprising the forest, police and excise departments of the States concerned and along the inter-State borders so as to promote a unified approach to address human-wildlife conflict.
With respect to population estimation exercise, the charter has resolved to conduct synchronised population estimation in protected areas to provide valuable insights into population dynamics which is expected to help develop conflict mitigation strategies.
An advisory board comprising wildlife conservation experts will also be constituted to provide insights to enhance conflict mitigation strategies and there will be periodic review of the activities proposed in the charter.
In the discussions that preceded the release of charters, officials also highlighted the challenges of habitat conservation amidst increasing disturbance due to anthropogenic pressure. One of the presentation also touched upon the degradation of forest habitat which had resulted in decline in the availability of fodder for animals in the wild forcing some of them to stray to agricultural fields resulting in conflict situations.
The meeting was attended by Manjunath Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka, Brijesh Kumar Dixit, PCCF and Head of Forest Force, Karnataka, Subhash K Malkhede, PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden, K.R. Jyothilal, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest and Wildlife), Kerala and senior officials from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
