Role of Panchayats in Wildlife Conservation and Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in Karnataka

27 Sep, 2019

A workshop for Village Panchayat leaders of Kodagu district, Karnataka was organised to develop a common understanding among the key stakeholders on the drivers and impacts of human-wildlife conflict in Kodagu, and to work on the way forward by developing a concrete action plan at village level. The event was organised by the Indo-German Project “Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation (HWC)” in India in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India and Karnataka Forest Department on 27th September 2019, Kodagu, Karnataka.

The 35 participants included Village Panchayat leaders and members from high conflict pockets of Kodagu district, officers and experts from the Karnataka Forest department, MoEFCC, GIZ and Wildlife Institute of India. Mr. Maria Christu Raja, DCF Virajpet commenced the workshop by welcoming the participants and providing an overview of the situation of human wildlife conflict in the divisions. Mr. Soumitra Dasgupta, IGF (WL) MoEFCC and Mr. Roy P. Thomas, former Joint Director, MoEFCC, shared their insights on the conflict situation and mitigation measures in India in general and from other areas in the larger landscape of Kerala- Karnataka- Tamil Nadu. Dr. Konrad Uebelhoer and Dr. Neeraj Khera discussed the context of the project and expected outcomes of the workshop.

After the inaugural session on the context and discussions on the expected outcomes, the participants reflected on the roles of Forest departments, local communities and other associated agencies to mitigate HWC issues. The participants shared their experiences and perceptions regarding the HWC issues around their settlements. They also discussed the existing mitigation measures being implemented in and around their Village Panchayats. DCF Virajpet, Mr. Raja spoke on the ongoing HWC mitigation and eco-development activities of the Karnataka Forest Department in the entire Kodagu district to support the local communities to overcome the adverse effects of HWC.

The post lunch session began with a small quiz on wildlife behaviour where everyone shared their experiences on their encounter with different wildlife species near the forest fringe areas. The participants of Village Panchayats from geographic proximities worked together to integrate their ideas to develop action plans on conducting two activities on wildlife and nature conservation within the next six months by their respective Panchayats. All of these groups reflected on their contributions in planning their respective action plans in a sustainable and effective manner. After an entire day of deliberations and brainstorming, Village level HWC Mitigation Action Plans were outlined by all 15 village Panchayats, where they worked out key actions to be taken, responsibilities, key milestones and support required. The participants expressed their firm commitments to immediately start the work towards the action points developed by themselves.

The workshop ended with certificate distribution and delivery of key messages from Mr. Soumitra Dasgupta, Mr. Roy P. Thomas and Dr. Neeraj Khera, while the workshop was facilitated by Mr. M. M. Jaya, Former DCF Madikeri and Mr. Mariswamy K.M., FRO Tala Cauvery WLS, Karnataka Forest Department with support from Mr. Prakash Kanive.