Media Training on Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation | GIZ & DW Akademie

07 May, 2022

Recognising the crucial role that media professionals play in effective human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation and changing people’s perceptions on wildlife conservation, the Indo-German project on ‘Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in India’ has prioritized the measures to strengthen forest-media cooperation through development of guidelines, implementing trainings for media professionals on HWC mitigation, integrating HWC mitigation curriculum into the courses at media training organisations for long-term sustainability, and facilitating the media professionals in developing and testing media strategies for effective HWC mitigation and One Health at project pilot sites.

GIZ has engaged Deutsche Welle Akademie for supporting in implementation of training measures for media professionals in India. In this context, a two-day virtual training on ‘A Holistic Approach to Communicating Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation” was organised by GIZ and DW Akademie during 5-6 May 2022. The training draws from the long-standing expertise and experience of trainers and resource persons from DW Akademie and GIZ. It focused on mid- and senior-level media professionals with an interest and experience of working on HWC mitigation.

In the opening remarks Mr Rohit Tiwari, Inspector General of Forest (IGF) Wildlife, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India (MoEF&CC) emphasised the need for further strengthening forest-media cooperation to ensure that HWC mitigation is reported in a more holistic way. In October 2021 the MoEF&CC released the National HWC Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan (HWC-NAP) which stated that "media is a key stakeholder that can play a significant role in taking the desired message on HWC mitigation to the public". Read the HWC-NAP

Key takeaways from the two days of discussions focused on the harmonious coexistence and holistic approaches, the good practices and challenges of communicating HWC, fake news, fact-checking and media ethics.

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About the project

The Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation (HWC) project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and State Forest Departments of Karnataka, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The project aims at providing technical support at the national level, and effective implementation of HWC mitigation measures in selected states of India. The project pilot sites are Haridwar Forest Division and adjoining landscape including Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand, Gorumara Wildlife Division in West Bengal, and Kodagu Forest Circle in Karnataka.

The main objective of the project is that the rural population in project areas, where agreed guidelines and tools are applied to mitigate human-wildlife conflict, is better protected against it. The project takes the approach of harmonious coexistence, by ensuring that both—humans and wildlife—are protected from conflict. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de