‘Reflection and Looking Ahead: Holistic and Harmonious Coexistence Approach to Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in India’: A Workshop Followed by a Meeting of States

16 Jun, 2023

Organised under the Indo-German Project on Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation (HWC) as the Project’s Closing Workshop

The Indo-German cooperation project on ‘Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in India’, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, and the State Forest Departments of Karnataka, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, is coming to an end on June 30, 2023 (About the Project). The implementation of the Project contributed towards the effective implementation of HWC Mitigation in India.

As it comes to a close, a closing workshop titled ‘Reflection and Looking Ahead: Holistic and Harmonious Coexistence Approach to Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in India’ was organised jointly by GIZ and MoEFCC in hybrid mode at Hotel Claridges in Delhi on June 16, 2023.

The workshop had a three-fold agenda:

• Sharing of the key project results and achievements with key stakeholders.
• Dialogue to formulate a way forward to guide future implementation of HWC mitigation in India.
• Focused discussion with states on June 7^th on the current modalities and a long-term plan to effectively use the National Knowledge and Data Portal on HWC Mitigation.

The workshop was opened by Mr Rohit Tiwari, Inspector General of Forests (Wildlife), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with his welcome remarks, followed by Dr Neeraj Khera, Team Leader, Indo-German Project on HWC Mitigation, GIZ, providing the context and background, and expected outcomes of the workshop.

Mr Rajiv Ranjan, PCCF-HOFF, Karnataka Forest Department, and Mr Soumitra Dasgupta, PCCF-HOFF, West Bengal Forest Department, provided special remarks, where they appreciated the project results, illustrated the key impacts that the project has made on HWC mitigation in their respective states and shared their plans to take forward the learnings and experiences from this project for long-term HWC mitigation strategy in their states. Mr Dasgupta highlighted the significance of the National Knowledge and Data Portal on HWC Mitigation for the states in using the data for decision-making and for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of their HWC Mitigation efforts.

Mr Bivash Ranjan, Additional Director General of Forest (Wildlife), MoEFCC, applauded the achievements of the Indo-German Project and highlighted the significance of project results for the overall landscape of a holistic and harmonious coexistence approach to human-wildlife conflict mitigation in India in the keynote address. He highlighted the achievements of the project in bringing together key sectors and stakeholders for the development of national and state plans, guidelines and training measures.

Following the inaugural session, the Indo-German Project released ten Toolkits as part of its knowledge products. These Toolkits include a Decision-makers Toolkit, Implementer’s Toolkits for Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, and Trainer’s Toolkits for trainers implementing training of the Forest, Media, Agriculture and One Health professionals, and RRT and Community PRT personnel.

A dialogue to formulate a way forward to guide future implementation of HWC Mitigation in India was facilitated through 3-panel discussions and a Knowledge Café.

In the first panel discussion, the panellists, Mr Bivash Ranjan, Additional Director General of Forest (Wildlife), MoEFCC; Mr Rajiv Ranjan, PCCF-HOFF, Karnataka Forest Department; Mr Rajesh Kumar, APCCF (Wildlife), West Bengal Forest Department, Dr Simmi Tiwari, Joint Director, National Centre for Disease Control, MoHFW; Dr Tavva Srinivas, Principal Scientist, ICAR-National Academy for Agricultural Research, and Ms Pakhi Das, Indian Youth Biodiversity Network discussed the way forward for the effective and participatory implementation of HWC-NAP at national, state and local-level resources, networks and dialogue.

In the second panel discussion, the panellists Mr M. Sivaram Babu, Divisional Forest Officer of Madikeri, Karnataka, Dr Dipankar Ghose, Director of Wildlife & Habitats Division at WWF India, and Mr Rajesh Kumar, Additional PCCF (Wildlife) of the West Bengal Forest Department discussed the topics of ‘Enabling Field Officers and Rapid Response Teams in Effective Implementation of HWC Mitigation Plans and Guidelines.’

The third panel discussion focused on the topic ‘Role of Training Institutions in Contributing to the National, State and Division-level Plans on HWC Mitigation’. The panel included Mr R K Bajpai, Prof Academics, and Dr M Sudhagar, Course Director at IGNFA, Ms Perrie Subramaniam, Head of the Department of Mass Media at St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Mumbai, Dr Danish Iqbal and Dr Pragati Bhalla, Faculty at AJK Mass Communication Centre, Jamia, and Dr B Naveena, ICAR-National Fellow, National Meat Research Institute (NMRI).

A Knowledge Café in the afternoon of 16th June facilitated dialogue and development of an action plan for implementing the HWC Mitigation Strategy, and Action Plans and guidelines in India post-2023 and beyond the Indo-German Project. Participants were invited to join working groups with the objective to distil, from the presentations and panel discussion, key messages with respect to good practices and lessons learnt; and provide recommendations on how these experiences could be integrated into the future implementation of strategies and plans at national, state and local levels. The café specifically focussed on formulating recommendations on the terms of the reference of the proposed Working Groups as per the HWC-NAP: Working Group for operationalising cross-sector participation through a National HWC Mitigation Forum, Working Group on Capacity Development, Working Group on HWC Mitigation Database, Working Group on HWC Mitigation Communication, and Special Interest Working Groups on species and cross-cutting issues.

An HWC Mitigation Market Place (walk-through exhibition) was installed by the project at the workshop venue, showcasing all knowledge products developed under the project.

The workshop was attended by 80 participants, including 65 participants in Delhi and 15 participants online, including the senior officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forest Climate Change, senior Forest Department Officials from the project partner states- Karnataka and West Bengal, senior Forest Department Officials from other states of India, including Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and other Ministries such as National Center for Disease Control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Universities and training institutions including IGNFA, Wildlife Institute of India, AJKMCRC Jamia, St. Xavier’s Mumbai, WWF India, Center for Environment Communication, GIZ, and several experts who contributed significantly to the project measures.

The workshop was followed by a meeting of the Chief Wildlife Wardens or their representatives from all states and UTs on June 17^th 2023, at the same venue, to discuss key questions and modalities regarding the newly developed National Knowledge and Data Platform on Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in India. In this meeting, the Ministry also shared with states, a document: Evaluator’s Guide: Applying the Framework for Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas in India.

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