Landscapes of Hope.pdf - WWF-India

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005viii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005LANDSCAPESOF HOPECONSERVATION OF THE TIGER, RHINO ANDTHE ASIAN ELEPHANTA Review of WWF-India’sSpecies Conservation ProgrammeWWF-INDIADECEMBER, 2007for a living planeti

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005Species Conservation ProgrammeWWF-India SecretariatSujoy BanerjeeTariq AzizDr. Diwakar SharmaRenu AtwalJagdish UpadhyayaField OfficesDr Harish Kumar (Terai Arc Landscape - Pilibhit Office)Dr. Shivaji Chavan (Satpuda Maikal Landscape)Mohan Raj (Nilgiri Eastern Ghats)Dr. Anupam Sarwah (North Bank Landscape)Dr. Anurag Danda (Sundarbans)K. D. Kandpal (Terai Arc Landscape - Ramnagar Office)December 2007This publication has been produced by the Species Conservation Programme, WWF-India Secretariat,New Delhi. Editorial and Production Consultant : Tapan K Ghosh. Cover Design byGulshan Malik. Printed by Adstrings Advertising Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.Maps used in this publication are not to scale and for illustrative purpose only. Photo Credits: In-houseii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005CONTENTSForeword by CEO & SGPrefacevviiPart One : Genesis and Development of the Programme1. Genesis and Development: the First Five Years 22. Looking at Landscapes: a Critical Milestone 6Part Two : Landscapes of Hope : from Confrontation to Co-existence3. Terai Arc Landscape 104. Satpuda Maikal Landscape 265. Sundarbans Landscape 326. North Bank Landscape (NBL) 397. Nilgiri Eastern Ghats (NEG) 468. Khanchendzonga Landscape (KL): Sikkim & Adjacent Areas 559. Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape (KKAL) 61Part Three : Co-existence with Wild Life : Way Forward10. Some Thoughts on the Way Forward 7211. Milestones 76iii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005This publicationis dedicated to the memory ofPankaj SarmahA committed worker of the North Bank Landscape Programme,he knew how to follow, he knew how to leadMr Pankaj Sarmah was very well known amongconservationists and researchers working on Asianelephants. In North East India, he was among the firstto establish a scientific basis for conservation ofelephants and was highly respected for it. His workhas been appreciated in India and abroad.He joined WWF India in 21 June 2001 at a time whenWWF was initiating its work on conservation ofAsian elephants in North Bank Landscape (NBL) inNE India. Information on elephants in NBL at thatpoint of time was negligible and at best anecdotal.His initial work on elephants not only generatedscientific data on the state of elephants but alsohelped establish NBL as an entity, which has nowbecome a globally recognized name. He worked withmeagre resources of the just initiated NBL projectunder very tough field circumstances which includeda deteriorating law and order situation inAssam and hostile forests infested by a host ofdiseases.Pankaj Sarmah’s work, as we see in NBL today, isprimarily responsible for establishing commitmentson elephant conservation from a large body ofresearchers, conservationists and the Government.His pioneering work also created benchmarks onfield based research and conservation for others tofollow in the region.Pankaj was able to give a new vision to WWFAREAS NBL project. He proved to be a leader byexample, which helped develop confidence of notonly of his colleagues, but also the Governmentfunctionaries and communities living in and aroundelephant habitats.Most recently, he was instrumental in formingthe Manas Conservation Alliance, a coalition ofNGOs and individuals committed to conservingManas National Park. He represented WWF inseveral symposia, seminars and workshops with inIndia and abroad.He had a very positive attitude and an exceptionallycheerful nature and a unique ability to reach out topeople at different levels. He chose to be in conservationat very early age in his life and stuck to hisconviction till the end. He was passionate to thecause of conservation. His loyalty to theorganisation was unmatched during his life longtenure with WWF.Pankaj Sarmah fell prey to cerebral malariawhile in the field and succumbed to it on the3 October 2006. He was born on the 27th February1976, did his masters from Guwhahti University andwas working for a PhD on elephants in Assam.iv

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005FOREWORDA few years ago WWF-India brought out the Road to Redemption which traced the history of ourSpecies Conservation division’s work from its inception in the mid-90s. In 2002, WWF-Indiaadopted the landscape approach in its overall strategic thinking. This involved a huge shift; fromstrengthening enforcement capacity in select protected areas to working in larger regions with astring of protected areas that could be connected to ensure a large safe habitat for wildlife. It meantworking with communities living in and on the fringes of forested areas who shared the samehabitat. It meant establishing rapport with them and ensuring alternative livelihoods to reduce theirdependence on forests and the inevitable confrontation with wildlife. It also meant that theelements of mitigating human-wildlife conflict be brought in as one of the core aspects of ourconservation work.The present publication takes up where Road to Redemption ended. As the document amply bringsout, the landscape approach meant a large investment in terms of time and resources in establishingfield offices in critical areas to manage the landscape programmes. Acceptance by the localcommunities was not easy considering the socio-cultural diversity which the programme was facing.As the first phase of our initiatives have come to an end in June 2006, Landscapes of Hope documentsthe travails and challenges of our species programme. The last 4 years have taught us invaluablelessons which are being shared through this report. It is hoped this will provide a deeper insight tochallenges in wildlife conservation in the context of developing an environment where both humansand wildlife can live in harmony and where india’s natural heritage continues to be secured for thefuture.Still this report only shows some vignettes in the entire canvas. The work of WWF-India’s teamgoes largely unreported: the daily duty of field work, the adherence to work plans and conservationimplementation, the constant dialogues planning and working initiatives. For this, the dedication ofthe team needs a special salute.Ravi SinghCEO & SGWWF-Indiav

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005vi

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005PREFACE FROM THE DIRECTORIt is my privilege to be writing this preface for two reasons. The first, that this is the firstopportunity for me to talk about the exciting conservation initiatives being undertaken in thelandscapes, to talk about the achievements of these programmes, and to delve upon the issue ofwhat went right and what did not. The second, that this is a testimony to the sincere efforts of ourfield team, who are dedicated to conservation and draw immense satisfaction in the work they areundertaking.This publication is being released at a time when all’s not well from the conservation point of view.The recent presentation on tiger estimation only reiterates the apprehension of the conservationcommunity: tiger numbers are precariously low and habitats are under tremendous threat. In case ofelephants, the recent past has witnessed a pronounced escalation in human-elephant conflict (ormaybe the correct word to be used here is Elephant-Human conflict, for it is the humans who areusurping elephant habitats) resulting in deaths of both elephants and humans. There have beenseveral cases of rhino poaching also emphasizing the need for escalation of protection of thesespecies. The same is the case for many other wildlife species as well.But the scenario also demands that help and support should be given for conservation of wildlife inIndia from all quarters, and organizations and institutions involved in conservation should make aconcerted effort to help these magnificent wildlife species survive in the wild. It provides us anopportunity to sit back and introspect to make our conservation initiatives more focussed andpointed.The “Landscapes of Hope”, on which work was initiated during the tenure of my predecessor,Mr. P.K. Sen, has been aptly named. It is this message of “hope” that we would want to spreadthrough this publication, and we at WWF-India are confident that a positive change is possible andwe would leave no stone unturned to meet this end.Our donors and partners need a special mention here, without the support of whom, the work inthe landscapes would not have been possible. The donors and partners have never lost sight of thebroad conservation issues in India. They have stood by us through thick and thin, been veryunderstanding and accommodating, and have continuously supported these programmes on a longtermbasis. They deserve credit for successes attained in our landscapes.Sujoy BanerjeeDirector,Species Conservation Programmevii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005viii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005LANDSCAPESOF HOPECONSERVATION OF THE TIGER, RHINO ANDTHE ASIAN ELEPHANTA Review of WWF-India’sSpecies Conservation ProgrammeWWF-INDIADECEMBER, 2007for a living planeti

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005Species Conservation ProgrammeWWF-India SecretariatSujoy BanerjeeTariq AzizDr. Diwakar SharmaRenu AtwalJagdish UpadhyayaField OfficesDr Harish Kumar (Terai Arc Landscape - Pilibhit Office)Dr. Shivaji Chavan (Satpuda Maikal Landscape)Mohan Raj (Nilgiri Eastern Ghats)Dr. Anupam Sarwah (North Bank Landscape)Dr. Anurag Danda (Sundarbans)K. D. Kandpal (Terai Arc Landscape - Ramnagar Office)December 2007This publication has been produced by the Species Conservation Programme, WWF-India Secretariat,New Delhi. Editorial and Production Consultant : Tapan K Ghosh. Cover Design byGulshan Malik. Printed by Adstrings Advertising Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.Maps used in this publication are not to scale and for illustrative purpose only. Photo Credits: In-houseii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005CONTENTSForeword by CEO & SGPrefacevviiPart One : Genesis and Development of the Programme1. Genesis and Development: the First Five Years 22. Looking at Landscapes: a Critical Milestone 6Part Two : Landscapes of Hope : from Confrontation to Co-existence3. Terai Arc Landscape 104. Satpuda Maikal Landscape 265. Sundarbans Landscape 326. North Bank Landscape (NBL) 397. Nilgiri Eastern Ghats (NEG) 468. Khanchendzonga Landscape (KL): Sikkim & Adjacent Areas 559. Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape (KKAL) 61Part Three : Co-existence with Wild Life : Way Forward10. Some Thoughts on the Way Forward 7211. Milestones 76iii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005This publicationis dedicated to the memory ofPankaj SarmahA committed worker of the North Bank Landscape Programme,he knew how to follow, he knew how to leadMr Pankaj Sarmah was very well known amongconservationists and researchers working on Asianelephants. In North East India, he was among the firstto establish a scientific basis for conservation ofelephants and was highly respected for it. His workhas been appreciated in India and abroad.He joined WWF India in 21 June 2001 at a time whenWWF was initiating its work on conservation ofAsian elephants in North Bank Landscape (NBL) inNE India. Information on elephants in NBL at thatpoint of time was negligible and at best anecdotal.His initial work on elephants not only generatedscientific data on the state of elephants but alsohelped establish NBL as an entity, which has nowbecome a globally recognized name. He worked withmeagre resources of the just initiated NBL projectunder very tough field circumstances which includeda deteriorating law and order situation inAssam and hostile forests infested by a host ofdiseases.Pankaj Sarmah’s work, as we see in NBL today, isprimarily responsible for establishing commitmentson elephant conservation from a large body ofresearchers, conservationists and the Government.His pioneering work also created benchmarks onfield based research and conservation for others tofollow in the region.Pankaj was able to give a new vision to WWFAREAS NBL project. He proved to be a leader byexample, which helped develop confidence of notonly of his colleagues, but also the Governmentfunctionaries and communities living in and aroundelephant habitats.Most recently, he was instrumental in formingthe Manas Conservation Alliance, a coalition ofNGOs and individuals committed to conservingManas National Park. He represented WWF inseveral symposia, seminars and workshops with inIndia and abroad.He had a very positive attitude and an exceptionallycheerful nature and a unique ability to reach out topeople at different levels. He chose to be in conservationat very early age in his life and stuck to hisconviction till the end. He was passionate to thecause of conservation. His loyalty to theorganisation was unmatched during his life longtenure with WWF.Pankaj Sarmah fell prey to cerebral malariawhile in the field and succumbed to it on the3 October 2006. He was born on the 27th February1976, did his masters from Guwhahti University andwas working for a PhD on elephants in Assam.iv

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005FOREWORDA few years ago WWF-India brought out the Road to Redemption which traced the history of ourSpecies Conservation division’s work from its inception in the mid-90s. In 2002, WWF-Indiaadopted the landscape approach in its overall strategic thinking. This involved a huge shift; fromstrengthening enforcement capacity in select protected areas to working in larger regions with astring of protected areas that could be connected to ensure a large safe habitat for wildlife. It meantworking with communities living in and on the fringes of forested areas who shared the samehabitat. It meant establishing rapport with them and ensuring alternative livelihoods to reduce theirdependence on forests and the inevitable confrontation with wildlife. It also meant that theelements of mitigating human-wildlife conflict be brought in as one of the core aspects of ourconservation work.The present publication takes up where Road to Redemption ended. As the document amply bringsout, the landscape approach meant a large investment in terms of time and resources in establishingfield offices in critical areas to manage the landscape programmes. Acceptance by the localcommunities was not easy considering the socio-cultural diversity which the programme was facing.As the first phase of our initiatives have come to an end in June 2006, Landscapes of Hope documentsthe travails and challenges of our species programme. The last 4 years have taught us invaluablelessons which are being shared through this report. It is hoped this will provide a deeper insight tochallenges in wildlife conservation in the context of developing an environment where both humansand wildlife can live in harmony and where india’s natural heritage continues to be secured for thefuture.Still this report only shows some vignettes in the entire canvas. The work of WWF-India’s teamgoes largely unreported: the daily duty of field work, the adherence to work plans and conservationimplementation, the constant dialogues planning and working initiatives. For this, the dedication ofthe team needs a special salute.Ravi SinghCEO & SGWWF-Indiav

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005vi

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005PREFACE FROM THE DIRECTORIt is my privilege to be writing this preface for two reasons. The first, that this is the firstopportunity for me to talk about the exciting conservation initiatives being undertaken in thelandscapes, to talk about the achievements of these programmes, and to delve upon the issue ofwhat went right and what did not. The second, that this is a testimony to the sincere efforts of ourfield team, who are dedicated to conservation and draw immense satisfaction in the work they areundertaking.This publication is being released at a time when all’s not well from the conservation point of view.The recent presentation on tiger estimation only reiterates the apprehension of the conservationcommunity: tiger numbers are precariously low and habitats are under tremendous threat. In case ofelephants, the recent past has witnessed a pronounced escalation in human-elephant conflict (ormaybe the correct word to be used here is Elephant-Human conflict, for it is the humans who areusurping elephant habitats) resulting in deaths of both elephants and humans. There have beenseveral cases of rhino poaching also emphasizing the need for escalation of protection of thesespecies. The same is the case for many other wildlife species as well.But the scenario also demands that help and support should be given for conservation of wildlife inIndia from all quarters, and organizations and institutions involved in conservation should make aconcerted effort to help these magnificent wildlife species survive in the wild. It provides us anopportunity to sit back and introspect to make our conservation initiatives more focussed andpointed.The “Landscapes of Hope”, on which work was initiated during the tenure of my predecessor,Mr. P.K. Sen, has been aptly named. It is this message of “hope” that we would want to spreadthrough this publication, and we at WWF-India are confident that a positive change is possible andwe would leave no stone unturned to meet this end.Our donors and partners need a special mention here, without the support of whom, the work inthe landscapes would not have been possible. The donors and partners have never lost sight of thebroad conservation issues in India. They have stood by us through thick and thin, been veryunderstanding and accommodating, and have continuously supported these programmes on a longtermbasis. They deserve credit for successes attained in our landscapes.Sujoy BanerjeeDirector,Species Conservation Programmevii

WWF T&WL Activity report 2003-2005viii

Part OneGENESIS ANDDEVELOPMENT OFTHE PROGRAMMEIn the initial years, theemphasis was onstrengthening the enforcementcapacity ofselect protected areasacross the country1

Landscapes of HopeChapter 1THE FIRST FIVE YEARSThe tiger has always been at the centre ofWWF’s wildlife conservation efforts. But whatis today one of the largest wildlife conservationprogrammes run by a non government organization,started in mid-1990 in a small way inresponse to the looming tiger crisis and theinternational attention it received. After muchdeliberation, a criteria was formulated, toidentify and focus on certain protected areas forimmediate infrastructure support and therebystrengthen their enforcement capabilities.Subsequently, initiatives to recognize andreward good work by enforcement staff, training,education and awareness were commenced.Again in response to the situation on the groundwhich showed a spurt in retaliatory poisoningcases, a very important quick- response scheme– the Cattle Compensation Scheme (CCS) wasbegun to supplement the government’s compensatorymechanism for people who lost theircattle to predating tigers.Over the next five years, the tiger conservationprogramme (TCP) as it was now known,matured and evolved into one of the largest nongovernmentalintervention to save the tiger andits habitat. Site specific campaigns (like AkhandShikar), legal redressal workshops, monitoringand wildlife trade related workshops, regionalcooperation workshops and a tiger emergencyfund (an emergency funding mechanism) a rapidresponce mechanism were some componentsthat were incorporated into the programme.The mainstay of the programme continued to bedirect infrastructure support to Protected Areas(PAs) which included equipment, vehicles,clothing, patrol camps and the like, and by theyear 2000 over 20 PAs across the country werebeneficiaries of the programme. Let us look atsome of these initiatives in some detail.» Cattle Compensation Scheme: Followingmedia attention on tiger poisoning cases inCorbett and Dudhwa Tiger Reserves, TCPdecided to create a system of immediate compensationpayment through a network ofestablished local NGOs after necessaryverification of cattle kills. The governmentalready had such a scheme in many areas, butthe execution of scheme was slow and theamount meagre. By end January 1998, the TCPscheme was functioning in Dudhwa and in acouple of months, covered Corbett andKatarniaghat. Subsequently, with some modificationsit was extended to five PAs in AndhraPradesh, Palamau TR in Bihar andRanthambhore TR in Rajasthan. In most casescompensation was received by the owner of thelivestock in 48 hours. By December 1999, TCP2

Genesis and Development of the Programmehad compensated some 1260 cattle kills at a costof approximately Rs. 12.5 lacs. This initiativehad a positive impact on retaliatory killing oftigers by aggrieved villagers, particularly in theCorbett, Dudhwa, Palamau TRs andKaterniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, as an evaluationby the WII confirmed.» Campaign to curb “Akhand Shikaar”:TCP’s attention was drawn to the ritual huntingknown as Akhand Shikaar, by large tribalgroups, which would peak in April-May everyyear and threaten the tiger’s prey base. Thetribals would also burn down forest areas in anattempt to flush out animals for the ritualistickill. To curb this practice, TCP in associationwith local NGOs built direct rapport with headmen of three tribes – Santhal, Munda and Ho –and got their commitment against AkhandShikaar and burning of forests. Senior triballeaders employed in anti-poaching camps helpedto influence the youth and alternatives, such asdancing competition were organized during thehunting period. Local NGOs later continuedthe campaign as part of their own agenda.tiger conservation: This initiative was undertakeninitially by TCP alone, and later withPATA. This is a scheme to recognize meritoriousservice/contribution by individuals orinstitutions involved in tiger conservation work.Between 1998 and 2000, the awards for meritoriousservice were announced and presentedthrice.» Tiger Emergency Fund (TEF): A quickresponse fund was established to help in emergencysituations at the field level. One of thefirst beneficiaries was Kaziranga National Parkwhere devastating floods in 1988 caused havocto wildlife and emergent support from TEFprovided much needed relief measures. Subsequentlythe fund supported fire control inPanna, anti-poaching in Corbett and droughtrelief measures in Sariska and Ranthambore.» Regional cooperation workshops: A transborderworkshop involving Nepal was organizedin February 1999 to orient managers of transbordersprotected areas both in India and Nepalin an attempt to improve cross in border wildlifeconservation. An action plan emerged fromthis deliberation to counteract poaching andillegal trade across the Indo-Nepal borderthrough improved training, intelligence networkingand funding. Legal addressal workshops: Workshops areheld at different venues to familiarize field staffon legal procedure so as to improve convictionrate and thereby the morale of the staff. Monitoring and control of wildlife trade:Workshops/Seminars are organized with otheragencies of the government involved in monitoringand countering illegal trade in wildlifeand its derivatives; support to set up intelligencenetworks, etc.Awards for exceptional contributions to3

Landscapes of HopePROTECTEDAREAS AND FOREST DIVISIONSSUPPORTED BY WWF-INDIA4

Genesis and Development of the ProgrammeExtremely conscious of the need to monitor andconstantly revaluate, WWF-India organized anindependent evaluation of the tiger conservationinitiatives in 11 PAs in 1999 itself. The expertsengaged for this task provided overall a positivefeedback with staff morale and efficiencyshowing a definite upward trend. Expectedly,there were occasional reports of misuse ofvehicles, underutilization of equipment and needfor further critical assistance. But nonetheless itwas apparent that the programme had made animpact in the field, however small or scattered.Most of the PAs supported had managed toimprove their enforcement capacity and severalof them were able to tide over natural criseswith emergent support from the TEF. One ofthe most encouraging field assessments of theprogramme was received in February 2003 fromthe Director, Project Tiger. In a letter to theprogramme director, he said, “Recently, I visitedsome of the Tiger Reserves in Central India andMaharashtra [(Kanha, Pench (MP) andMaharashtra)], and was really impressed by thesupport provided to these field formations byWWF-TCP. In Kanha and Pench the frontlinestaff have benefited from the bicycles providedto them, since they live in remote patrollingcamps away from connecting roads. Likewise,the support given to Pench is also praise-worthy.It goes without saying that such a support wouldgo a long way in complementing the initiativesunder Project Tiger and I wish to place onrecord my deep appreciation of your endeavourin this regard”.On balance, it could be concluded that whileWWF-India’s infrastructure support to PAs didnot show results immediately in quantifiableterms, it allowed the official machinery tofunction better by filling in crucial gaps andenhancing the morale and efficiency of theenforcement staff. Direct support definitelycontributed to curbing poaching in most of thePAs which have been beneficiaries.Anti-poaching camps5

Landscapes of HopeChapter 2:LOOKING AT LANDSCAPES: A CRITICAL MILESTONEEven as the tiger conservation programmecontinued to grow and make its presence felt inthe field, the winds of change in terms ofstrategic vision were blowing. The WWF globaltiger conservation strategy workshop held inIndonesia in September 2000, was a criticalmilestone in that it formalized a new vision andapproach to the whole issue of tiger conservationin the long term. Small populations inisolated protected areas all over the range states,it was agreed, had a limited potential of survivalover the long run, mainly due to adverse consequencesof inbreeding and stifled gene pools.The areas with a certain minimum populationof breeding tigresses along with a healthycomponent of males, sub-adults and cubs, offeredthe best possibilities for tiger survival. This wasthe underlying reason for the shift of focus fromsupporting scattered PAs to rebuilding andsecuring larger landscapes.The document Conserving Tigers in the Wild:WWF Framework and Strategy for Action 2002-2010 defines a tiger conservation landscape as“an area of land, regional in scale, that cansupport and maintain, over the long-term, aviable meta-population of tigers, linked by safeand suitable habitat, together with an adequatenatural prey base”. Explaining the conceptfurther, the document states: “On the ground, atiger conservation landscape will often equate toa series of well managed core protected areas(national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, etc.) linkedtogether by dedicated corridors of suitablehabitat or by land-use that is tiger-friendly in itsstatus and management.”India has at least seven tiger landscapes that arecomparable with the best in all the tiger rangeConserving Tigers in the wild: A WWFFramework and Strategy for Action 2002– 2010The Vision “Tigers thrive in natural habitats,and people benefit as a result”.The Programme Goal “To conserve viable tigerpopulations, with public support, in the selectedlandscapes, and reduce trade in tiger parts andproducts to a level which is no longer threateningto the survival of tigers in the wild”.WWF Tiger Action Plan: The TargetsTarget 1 To establish well managed networksof core protected areas and connecting tigerfriendly buffer zones and corridors in the focaltiger conservation landscapes selected from acrossthe tiger’s range.Target 2 To reduce (with a view to its elimination)the trade in tiger and products to a levelwhich no longer threatens the survival of tigersin the world.states. However, as WWF had to make effortsto conserve all the sub species of the tiger, itselected seven different landscapes across theworld. Of these, three fall within India, eithercompletely or partially. These are the “TeraiArc,” which is shared with Nepal, theSundarban, shared with Bangladesh, and theSatpuda-Maikal range in central India. The lastis also fondly referred to as “Kipling country”.The Terai Arc and Kipling’s country are verylarge tracts of prime tiger habitat consisting of a6

Genesis and Development of the Programmeseries of protected areas interconncted throughterritorial forest divisions. Protected areas likeRajaji, Corbett, Dudhwa, Katerniaghat,Sohelwa, Suhagi Barua and Valmiki are coverdon the Indian side under the Terai Arc SuklaPhanta, Bardia, Chitwan and Parsa are on theNepalese side. Kipling’s country comprisesMelght, Satpuda, Pench (Maharashtra), Pench(Madhya Pradesh), Kanha and Achanakmaralong with the connecting forest. TheSundarbans landscape consists of the mangrovesof both India and Bangladesh, an area that theconsiderd unique as a tiger habitat.The strategic shift and change in vision meant achange of focus in action plans as well. It wasno longer enough to strengthen enforcementcapabilities, contain human-animal conflictwith various mitigation measures and recognizemeritorious work of field staff. The vision forthe next 5 to 10 years had to be concretizedwith active cooperation of the local people inhabiting the critical landscape areas. Factors liketheir poverty, sources of livelihood, and theirthreat perception from wildlife were now to becrucial considerations in any action plan. Peopleliving in forests or in proximity to wildlifehabitats were now to be both partners in, andbeneficiaries of, conservation. Stakeholderworkshops were planned and conducted in 2001-02 for the priority landscapes to ensure cooperationand commitment from local communitieswho were to be affected by the new programmethrust. Simultaneously, TCP took on a widermandate as the Tiger and Wildlife Divisionincorporating a special programme for theprotection of the Indian Rhino and the AsianElephant.Asia Rhino and Elephant ActionStrategythat long-term conservation of these endangeredspecies is only possible through a landscapebasedapproach that goes beyond isolated protectedareas and includes the surroundinglandscapes and related land-use practices. In factthis was the vision first put across in a WWF/TRAFFIC Strategy meeting held in Ho ChiMinh City in 1998. Thirteen priority landscapesaddressing cross-cutting issues like trade, elephantsin domestication and human-wildlifeconflict were identified.WWF-India has now a programme on theconservation of Asian elephants and Indian onehornedrhino in four identified priority landscapesin India. These are the Nilgiris-EasternGhats (elephants) in South India, the NorthBank landscape (elephants), the Kaziranga-KarbiAnglong (rhinos and elephants) in Assam andTerai Arc (rhino and elephant) in UttarPradesh. Notably, these landscapes are refuge tothe largest population of Asian elephants andIndian rhinos.The two landscapes WWF-India took up in thefirst phase were Nilgiris Eastern Ghats (NEG)and North Bank Landscape (NBL). A briefprofile of these two landscapes would be useful.The Nilgiris Eastern Ghat (NEG) landscape, anarea of over 12,000 sq kms, harbours the greatestnumber of Asia elephants in the world, estimatedat 6,300 to 10,000, their habitats rangeApart from tigers, WWF-India expanded itslandscape approach in 2000 to include theconservation of mega herbivores, the IndianRhino and Asian Elephant. The Asian Rhinoand Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS) is aWWF initiative in response to the recognition7

Landscapes of Hopefrom evergreen and dry deciduous forest to thornscrub jungle and grasslands. Other large mammalssuch as gaur, sambar and the tiger alsoabound in the landscape. The landscape comprisesElephant Range No. 7 of Project Elephant,a conservation project of Indian government.WWF-India’s AREAS programmeinitially is concentrating on securing the riverMoyar elephant corridor, located at the junctionof Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats in theSouthern part of the India. It maintains thecontiguity between the Thallamalai plateau inthe east, the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary inthe west and Bandipur Tiger Reserve in thenorth.Since the landscape comprises three SouthIndian States (Karnataka, Kerala andTamilnadu), the issues vary greatly. The impliesthe need to identify and prioritize them. Thestakeholders’ workshop that was held in November2000 was organized with precisely thisagenda. Apart from forest departments of thethree States, the workshop was attended byresearch institutions, NGOs and conservationscientists. The participants listed out six majoraction points with the aim of reaching thefollowing objective: “A landscape with ahealthy, viable elephant population co-existingwith human development aspirations in thelong term.”The North Bank Landscape (NBL) is one of themost important sites for the Asian elephant.The landscape may be home to upto 3000 Asianelephants. The ecological importance of thisregion goes far beyond the single species level. Itis a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot andone of WWF’s Global 200 eco-regions. OverlappingManas-Namdhapa Tiger Conservation unit,it encompasses several WWF Tiger ConservationProject sites and is considered one of thekey sites for WWF’s strategy for eco-regionbased conservation. NBL includes a number ofprotected areas and presents an ideal opportunityfor proactive conservation measures.The North Bank Landscape project aims tosecure the elephant population for the long termby maintaining habitat contiguity, significantlyreducing existing and potential threats, andbuilding professional and public support forconservation of the elephant population and itshabitat.Other LandscapesAfter WWF presence was well established inNBL and NEG two more landscapes were takenup in 2005: the Khanchendzonga landscape inSikkim with a focus on the Red Panda andKaziranga Karbi Aglong (Assam), a haven forthe larger mammals. The programme in effect,became a full-fledged Species ConservationProgramme. Groundwork for both theinitiatives has begun and though it is too earlyto make any assessment of future successes orsetbacks, a brief review of the progress is givenin part two of this document.8

Part TwoLANDSCAPESOF HOPE :Confrontationto Co-existenceThe new strategy now is to look at“an area of land, regional in scale,that could support and maintain,over the long-term, a viable metapopulationof tigers, linked bysafe and suitable habitat, togetherwith an adequate natural preybase”. This automatically impliesthe conservation of other megaspecies under threat and bringingpeople into conservation.9

Landscapes of HopeChapter 3TERAI ARC LANDSCAPEIntroductionThe Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is defined as thearea confined between the River Bagmati in theeast and River Yamuna in the west, all along theShiwalik hills in India and Churia hills in Nepal. Itcomprises Himalayan foothills, the terai floodplains and Bhabhar tracts. Stretching for over 1500Km TAL straddles across two countries–India andNepal and includes 14 Protected Areas (PAs). TheTerai Arc Landscape includes high density tigerareas and is a priority landscape in the WWF TigerAction Plan. It is also a priority landscape for theWWF Asian Rhino and Elephant ActionStrategy.In India, TAL lies in three states ofUttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Itcomprises of 7 Protected Areas, mostly TigerReserves. The Indian part of TAL, besides beingrich in its floral diversity, is also key habitat forfour globally threatened species of large mammals– the Indian tiger, Asian elephant, thegreat one horned Rhino and swamp deer.Despite being endowed with rich assemblage ofwildlife species, TAL faces serious conservationchallenges. On the one hand they threaten the tiger,elephant and other species of the region; on theother they also affect the local communities thatdirectly depend on the region’s natural resources.Conservation objectives in this highly populatedzone therefore need to be reinforced by creatingstakes for the local communities thereby reducinghuman-wildlife conflict while allowing sustainableuse of and access to natural resources. It is for thisreason that the TAL programme addresses socioeconomicconcerns of local people througheconomic opportunities, sustainable use of forestand land resources and benefit-sharing fromconservation. The programme includes workingwith the communities in areas such as education,health, alternative energy use, ecotourism,alternative agricultural practices, capacitybuilding, community forest management andmaintaining network with differentstakeholders.The landscape on Indian side covers an area ofapproximately 49,500 sq km. Considering thesize of the landscape, existing capacity andavailable funds for the project, initially twopriority critical corridor complexes were selectedfor intervention. These are:A. Rajaji –Corbett- Ramnagar Forest Division(RFD)10

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceB. Chuka-Lagga Bagga-Kishanpur- DudhwaTiger ReserveEstablishing a field presenceThe field offices in the TAL have been functionalfor sometime now and have firmlyestablished the programme’s presence in thefield. The difficulties faced during the initialstages of WWF’s move to the field have beenovercome and the functioning of the field officesis significantly improved. The capacity of theproject is now relatively well established as alsothe credibility of WWF. In the past four years,WWF-India has been engaged in various activitiesranging from scientific studies, strengtheninganti-poaching to community- based interventions.While WWF interventions have beenable to check the degradation of the forest andcounter some of the negative factors faced by thewildlife, it is apparent that it will take several yearsof focused interventions to completely arrest thedownward slide and pave the way for a fullrecovery.A field office of WWF-India was established atPilibhit in January 2003. WWF-India’s fieldoffice at Ramnagar started in year 2004 and thisteam has been working in the corridor adjoiningthe Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), RFD andTerai West Forest Division. Lansdowne, TeraiCentral, Haldwani and Terai East Divisions.11

Landscapes of HopeThe project implementation work at present isbeing carried out in two of the priority andfunctional linkages of Amdanda-Kunkhetcorridor between CTR and RFD and Kotdwar-Duggada corridor between Rajaji National Parkand CTR. The selection of these sites was basedon stakeholder consultations and a study carriedout by the project staff. It was established thatvarious passages for animal movement betweenCTR, RFD and Rajaji-CTR had been restricteddue to human settlements. To prevent furtherchoking in this corridor, an urgent need was feltfor conservation initiatives.The Pilibhit field office under the TALprogramme is looking after and coordinatingconservation work in the Chuka – Lagga Bagga– Kishanpur and Kishanpur – Dudwa –Katerniaghat linkages that extend from Pilibhit,Lakhimpur Kheri and Baharaich districts. Thetotal forest area of the linkage forests is approximately3000 square km as against the total20000 square km geographical area of the threedistricts. There are three protected areas -Dudwa National Park (DNP), KishanpurWildlife Sanctuary, Katerniaghat WildlifeSanctuary (KWS) and three territorial divisionsi.e. Pilibhit Forest Division (PFD), North Kheri(NKFD) and South Kheri Forest Division(SKFD).The PFD extends from Chuka to Lagga Bagga,Kishanpur and South Kheri Forests. The forestsare contiguous with Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserveat Lagga Bagga area of PFD. The forests of KWSalso adjoin Shuklaphanta Reserve. Rhino,elephants and other ungulates are seasonalmigrants to Lagga Bagga area and KWS fromShuklaphanta and Bardia National Park. RiverSharda is the major catchment of the area. Anumber of tributaries drain into river Shardawhich ultimately forms the catchment of riverGanges.Analysis of the earlier eco-developmentinitiativesField surveys were conducted in the area toassess eco-development initiatives undertaken bydifferent government and non-governmentalorganizations working in the area for livelihoodgeneration. Information was collected fromvarious Government Departments, micro-plansprepared by the Forest Department and ForestDevelopment Agency (FDA). It was found thatan eco-development committee was formed inmany villages and the activities were undertakenthrough village level institutions.An assessment of earlier initiatives revealed thestrengths and weakness of the eco-developmentinitiatives. Special care was taken while initiatingthe livelihood activities. Baseline informationwas collected and prioritization of activitieswas done in consultation with the local communities.Only activities which were acceptableand had the sense of ownership with the localcommunities are planned and taken up. Transparencyand constant dialogue with the localstakeholders is always maintained and needbasedactivities are initiated by providing microcredits to individual beneficiaries with a reciprocalcommitment for conserving their environment.Conservation education and awarenessIn order to motivate and steer people towardsconservation efforts, several meetings wereSharing information: empowering villagers12

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceorganized with the villagers.Educational awareness programmes wereorganized through puppet shows and villagerswere made aware of the benefits of conservingforest resources, preventing forest fires and theimportance of wild animals and natural resourcesin their area. Special awarenessprogrammes are organized at the World EnvironmentDay, Wildlife Week (1-7 October) incollaboration with the Forest department andlocal NGOs.The awareness programmes served as a platformfor participation of various partners in conservation.The huge participation of the villagers,school children and local NGOs enumerates thesuccess of such programmes. The message ofwildlife conservation was effectively disseminatedby these different events. The forestdepartment, the local NGOs and the peoplewere brought on a common platform for wildlifeconservation and local communities’ sustenancethrough various activities.In return the villagers extended their support infighting forest fires and protection of wildlife.The cases of human-wildlife conflict werereported from areas where the interim reliefscheme is not presently implemented and resentmenttowards the mechanism of the governmentrunscheme was observed.Assessment of existing institutionsSamiti- were assessed for their capacity to workfor conservation. One important finding wasthat the Panchayat in the villages were notaware enough of the importance of conservationand had different priorities. The involvement ofthe Block Development Agency required a lotof effort as their presence on the ground wasminimal.The activity has helped in identifying strengthsand specializations of local NGOs which play arole in implementation of the TAL programme.For example, the TWCS is ably conductingawareness campaigns within the village withhuge participation of villagers, student, andteachers. The major strength of KWS lies in itsleadership abilities and is effectively spreadingthe message of conservation among the villagers.PVSS is looking after the alternative livelihoodoptions for the people living in the corridor. Itfocuses on workshops which provide trainingwomen in knitting and sewing. TCF has beenthe partner of WWF-India in implementinginterim relief scheme to mitigate humanwildlifeconflict in TAL.These local organizations have been tapped andare being strengthened through proper trainingand guidance to enhance their strengths. ManyDifferent village-level institutions including GramPanchayat, Eco-development Committees andVillage-development Committees, Block andseveral NGOs were assessed for functioning andproper implementation of conflict-mitigationschemes. The strengths and weakness of localNGOs, namely, The Corbett Foundation (TCF),Rainbow Friends for Nature and Environment andSwarnim Social Welfare Samiti, KaterniaghatWelfare Society (KWS), Turquoise Wildlife ConservationSociety (TWCS), Parkiti Vanyajeev SamajSudhar Sansthan (PVSSS), Terai Arc ConservationSociety (TACS) and Corbett Gram Vikaas13

Landscapes of Hopeof the local organization are roped in especiallyfor awareness and community-related workTraining sessions were conducted for the localNGOs which are now working in close associationwith the TAL Pilibhit field office. A threeday training programme was organized by thePilhibit field office where all the local levelNGOs (TWCS, KWS, TNCS and PVSS)working with field office participated, andtraining was given on conducting studies oncrop damage by wild ungulates, estimation offuelwood extraction from the forest, and assessmentof grazing by livestock. This programmewas followed by another training camp foranalyzing raw data obtained from the study.Socio-economic and ecological studiesA study was conducted to assess fuelwoodcollection in Pilibit FD and CTR. Four rangesof Pilibit Forest Division (PFD) namely Mahof,Mala, Barahi and Haripur, and two ranges inKWS (Katerniaghat range and Nishangararange).Based on a well established methods, each of theranges areas were prioritized as High Pressure Area(HPA), Medium Pressure Area (MPA) and LowPressure Area (LPA) depending on the intensity offuelwood collection in headloads and cycle loads byconsulting with the Forest Department and thelocal people. It was estimated that respectiveweights of headloads and cycle loads are 18–22 kgand 60–80 kg.Villagers making compost heap at Kunkhet and Carpetweaving training at ChukumThe above study showed that maximum collectionof fuelwood in PFD took place in Mahofrange followed by Haripur range, Barahi rangeand Mala range.About 50% of the people carrying head loadswere doing so for their domestic use. Thebicycles carried fuelwood to the local markets ofPilibhit, Nueria, Madhotanda, Sherpur Kalanand the Purnpur. In KWS, maximum fuelwoodcollection took place in Nishangara rangefollowed by Katerniaghat range.The above study not only quantified the amountof fuelwood collected from the forest in PFD andKWS, it also identified village-wise pressure fromfuelwood collection. This has helped to specifymanagement intervention to reduce the pressureof fuelwood collection in the forest. Variousactivities based on the findings of the study havebeen designed and a dialogue with the local authoritiesand communities to reduce the fuelwoodpressure has been initiated. The study has helpedthe Forest department to take effective actionagainst illegal collectors.In six villages around Corbett Tiger Reserve, it wasfound that frequency of visits made to the forest ismore during winter season and reduces in rainyseason. Winter forms the peak season of fuelwoodcollection as most of the families collect fuelwoodin advance for rainy season and hot summermonths ahead. One head load (approx. 25 Kg) canbe finished in less than one day to almost threedays depending on the family size. Approximately5,835 Kg per day fuelwood is extracted from thestudy, area and out of seven entry points selectedfor the study, the maximum biotic pressure wasidentified at Dhapla gate, which leads to ChotiHaldwani township.Survey for baseline informationA socio-economic survey was conducted by theTAL Pilibhit field office in 22 villages adjacentto Chuka-Lagga Bagga-Kishanpur linkage inorder to establish baseline information onstructure, demography, landholding, education,14

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceannual income, cattle, resource-dependency andcrop depredation. A similar study was conductedin Ramnagar and Kotdwar sectors. The studywas mainly focused on villages falling on criticalcorridors: Amdanda-Kumeriya corridor,Bailparow-Kotabagh corridor, Boar river corridorand Nihal corridor.Based on the information of the above surveyssome specific activities were undertaken by theTAL-Pilibhit office and TAL-Ramnagar fieldoffice.Some of these are highlighted below :In order to reduce pressure of fuelwood, LPG(Liquified Petroleum Gas) connections weredistributed to the villagers. An economicassessment was done to find out the purchasingcapacity of the villagers to purchase LPG. LPGconnection was given after taking 50% contributionfrom the villagers. This contributiondevelops a sense of ownership and responsibilityamong the villagers while making it economicalfor the project. About 90 families in Naujaliyavillage, 50 families in Gaba Sarai village and 56families in Ramnagra village have been providedwith LPG connections. This has obviouslyresulted in a large reduction in fuelwood requirementby the local people.In order to find out how many people wereactually using LPG an assessment was carriedout in the critical sites. Ninety seven percent ofthe respondents to whom this facility wasprovided responded that there was reduction offuelwood consumption, which had dropped 20 –30% according to their estimates. It was alsoestimated that 20% of the beneficiaries wererefilling the cylinder before one month whereas20% every month, and 34% every two months. So74% of the beneficiaries were refilling thecylinder within two months. The remaningpeople refill cylinder between two and sixmonths. The delay in refilling is also caused dueto non availability of LPG. This can then becalculated as a reduction of 10 tons of fuelwoodused per year. The villagers are now accustomedto the use of this method. This successful modelcan be replicated in other villages.Institution buildingAs mentioned earlier, WWF-India through itsTAL programme has been working inRamnagar sector now for the last three years.Initially Kunkhet village in Amdanda-Kumeriyacorridor was identified for intervention andgradually the work was extended to othervillages (Mohan & Chukum) lying on the samecorridor. During second year of the programmevillages Choti-Haldwani near Baur corridor andMankanthpur lying on Kotabagh-Belpraow corridorwere selected after assessing the importance ofAwareness activity with school childrenUnderstanding the dynamics of human-wildlife conflict : A programmeduring Wildlife Week, October 200515

Landscapes of Hopethe surrounding forests for elephant movement.Baseline information on these villages werecollected and compiled and through variousPRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) tools theexisting institutions in the villages were analyzed.After assessing the potential of formationof new institutions and working with theexisting institutions steps were taken to identifytarget groups and bring them on one platform.Initially, a village level institution was formedin Kunkhet village with a person from eachhouse hold as its member. An initial grant wasgiven to the institution for creation of a communityasset. This model didn’t work and collapsedsoon after due to social and politicalissues. Learning from the experience the strategywas changed and instead of forming singlemacro institution small homogeneous self-helpgroups were established.These self help groups were provided inputs interms of facilitation, training and linkages to makethem self sustainable. The groups at Kunkhetvillage were supported for activities like stitchingand selling litter bags to the Dhangarhi gate ofCTR, and poultry. SHGs of Mohan village werelinked with Indian Medical Pharmaceutical CorporationLimited (IMPCL) for employmentopportunities. Similarly, the groups at Choti-Haldwani were supported for Tie and Dye;packaging of locally grown pulses and spices andpoultry. For promoting organic farming andwomen SHG at village Mankanthpur, TAL-Ramnagar promoted Durga SHG and theassociated groups as trainer organizations.Mitigation of Human-Wildlife ConflictCrop damageIn the Ramnagar corridor complex, Mohancluster of villages and Githala were selected for asystematic assessment, on the basis of potentialand priority linkages preferred by wild animals,especially elephants. The villages in Mohancluster are Mohan, Amarpur, Chuklam andKunkhet where there is high incidence ofhuman wildlife conflict and high dependency onforest for fuel, fodder and other Non TimberForest Produce (NTFP) leading to greateranthropogenic pressure on key wildlife habitat.Detailed demographic and socio-economic datawere collected in the above villages. The data onresource dependence were collected throughhousehold survey, Focused Group Discussionand Participatory Rural Appraisal with thevillagers. Field visits were undertaken to carryout meetings and informal exchanges with thecommunity members and leaders. Individualinterview were conducted to gather informationon awareness level, health status and skills ofcommunity members and to understand existinglivelihood options in the villages. Animalmovement was recorded through directsightings, data collection by transect methodand through secondary information.The assessment helped in recording the numberof cases of cattle kills, crop raiding in terms ofscale and seasonality in the villages. Informationwas also gathered on the socio-economic conditionof the villagers, fodder and fuelwooddependency of the villagers and other problemsfaced by the people. An important finding of thisassessment was that cattle kills were moreMeeting with hunter-gatherer community16

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencefrequent in the rainy season; crop raiding due toelephants, wild boar and spotted deer took placein the cropping seasons during the months ofAugust–September and December to March.Necessary interventions have to be plannedaccordingly.In the Pilibhit corrridor complex, a study wasconducted to assess crop loss due to wild animalsin four ranges of Pilibhit Forest Division(Mahof, Mala, Barahi and Haripur), two rangesin KWS (Katerniaghat range and Nishangararange), four ranges of Dudwa Tiger Reserve(Belreiyan, Sathiana, Kishanpur and Mailaniranges), four ranges of NKFD (North Nighasanrange, South Nighasan range, Majgahi range andSampurna Nagar range), and two ranges ofSKFD (Bhira and Mailani ranges). The studywas conducted in the winter season.In each range, areas were categorized as HighPressure Area, Medium Pressure Area and LowPressure Area depending on the infestation ofwild animals to crops by consulting with theforest department and local people.The assessments showed that the crops loss wasmore in six villages of the PFD. Meetings wereheld in the villages of high pressure- area andpeople were consulted on the situation and theeffectiveness of various mitigatory measures.Villagers identified electric fencing as an effectivemeasure for crop protection for which theyneeded support from government and nongovernmentorganizations/agencies and inreturn pledged to protect wildlife. Based on theassessments Kesarpur – Basantapur Nauner–Barahi cluster of 9.15 km. and Githala wereselected for erecting fences. This initiative gottremendous support from the villagers andhelped to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Themovement of elephant, spotted deer and bluebull into farms has been stopped by the fence.Even though electric fences have been erectedby WWF- India in other parts of the country,these are cases where the villagers contributedboth financially and in-kind for erecting theelectric fence. The Kesarpur-Barahe length ofsolar fence is unique as this is an example of thelongest working solar fence in India beingmaintained by the local community.Loss of Human Lives and LivestockThe loss of lives in the villages was assessedwith information collected from secondarysources followed by spot verification in some ofthe incidences. The incidence of tiger andelephant attacks in these areas is not a new one.A study in 2001 reported that 90 persons losttheir lives from March 1978 to December 1981in Kheri district whereas three persons werekilled in Pilibhit.In PFD after a gap of almost 23 years, the tigerkilled 10 people from December 2001 to March2004. All the 10 kills happened during fuelwoodcollection or thatch grass cutting by the people.The assessment of human wildlife conflict revealedthat if prompt actions are taken to reduce grievancesof the local communities a retaliatorysituation can be avoided. An ex-gratia payment wasprovided to the affected family immediately. As aresult, despite 33 human casualties (till June 2006)there was no retaliatory killing of the animal.Electric fencing as protection17

Landscapes of HopeThe human killing sites were immediatelyvisited by the Forest Department and WWFstaff after the incidents. Details of the killingsite, habitat type and indirect signs of theanimal were studied. In all the cases the issueswere discussed between the forest officials, thevictims’ families and local communities. Sometimessuch incidences created resentment andanger among the villagers.Tiger and elephant attacks on humans haveoccurred since humans and wildlife lived side byside, one often straying into the other’s territory.While payment of small sums of moneyeases some tension in the aftermath of an attack, itwas found that efforts should be instituted toregulate the movement of people into the forestsfor thatch and fuelwood collection. Alternativesources of such resources or other livelihoodoptions could help reduce incidents of suchconflict.Assessment of effectiveness of existingcompensation schemesWWF-India under its Tiger ConservationProgramme initiated small interim financialassistance to the owner of the cattle killed by tigeror leopard in the buffer zone of Corbett TigerReserve (CTR) in 1998 which is still beingcarried out and continued under the TALProgramme. The Cattle Compensation Schemewas started with the objective of reducinghuman–wildlife confrontation. The scheme nowknown as Interim Relief Scheme is runningsuccessfully in partnership with The CorbettFoundation, a local NGO and has proved to besuccessful in eliminating retaliatory killing of bigcats.In the mid 90s, cases of villagers resorting torevenge killing of the tiger by poisoning of cattlecarcasses came to light. After the implementationof Interim Relief Scheme by WWF-India,there has been no cases of tiger being killed inretaliation ssreported in last few years.Field inspection of cattle killed by big catInformation was collected on the number ofincidences, during 2004-06 cattle lifting tigerwithin the area of Dudwa Tiger Reserve.Secondary information was collected from theoffice of the Deputy Director, Dudwa TigerReserve. The number of incidences filed in theoffice was taken as the source. Within this timeperiod a total of 24 incidents of cattle-lifting havebeen filed. The above figure shows that thenumber of cattle killed by the tiger per year is verylow in this area. Still, the forest officials have askedto continue the schemes by the TAL office becausethere are delays in payments of compensation bythe park authorities due to lengthy procedures.In contrast, human killing by tigers is relativelyhigh in this sector of the landscape. Ex-gratiapayment for human killing by wild animals wasA new batch of police personnel trained in wildlifeprotection matters18

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencecarried out by the TAL Pilibhit field office.Payments of Rs.5000 each were made to theaffected families after a joint inspection by theTAL office and the Forest Department within24 hours of the incident. From November 2003to June 2006, 33 cases of human killings wereobserved in PFD, DTR and NKFD. Ex-gratiapayments were made in all cases. This has beenuseful in preventing retaliatory killing of tigersby angry villagers.The existing interim relief scheme and the exgratiascheme were found to be beneficial forreducing human - wildlife conflict. The antagonismamong the villagers due to human killingsby tiger or leopard was largely controlled due topromptness of the ex-gratia scheme conducted bythe TAL office. This is reflected in the absenceof retaliatory killing of wild animals by thevillagers despite 33 people getting killed in theyears 2003 to 2006.It is expected that both Forest Department andWWF India should join hands to compensatethe victims, which will increase the coverage ofcompensation for the victim. It was found thatunless a better mechanism or a trust fund couldbe established, the present scheme was the bestoption available.Trans-boundary conservationborder to poach or smuggle wildlife/timber andescape across the border as it is easier for themto cross the border than the enforcementgovernment agencies due to government proceduresfor crossing international boundaries.Siltation of rivers downstream in India is largelydue to the denudation of the hills upstreamacross the border. A huge area of sal forest driedand changed into syzygium forest and primeareas of Sathaina grasslands were replaced bycoarse unpalatable grasses. In order to mitigatethis conflict both the national governments aretrying to find solutions through periodic transboundarymeetings. Through the TALProgramme some remedial measures have beentaken but much has to be done at a preventivelevel to address the root cause of conflict.Field level trans-boundary meetings were held:one from 1-3 July 2004 at Lagga Bagga andanother one on 18 April 2005 at Dodhara wherethe above issues were discussed both by Indianand Nepali officials. A field level meeting washeld on 28 April, 2006 at Rampurva FRH,Nishangaraha Range, Katerniaghat WLS inApril 2006. In the meetings, the DFOKaterniaghat and Assistant Forest Officer KhataNepal with several community members, Anti-The trans-boundary conservation issue gainssignificance in TAL as it is spread across differentIndian states and two countries.The Chuka-Lagga Bagga–Kishanur and theKishanpur–Dudwa-Katerniaghat Linkage forestsare contiguous with the Indo-Nepal border allalong from Lagga Bagga, Tatrganj, Basahi,Kaima Gauri, Gauriphanta, Belapersua andKaterniaghat areas.The documentation process of trans-boundaryconflict revealed that the grazing pressure wasboth inward and outward as the cattle movedfreely across the borders from either side. Withregard to poaching and illicit felling, it wasfound that poachers and smugglers cross theParticipants at a transborder workshop19

Landscapes of HopeSeizures due to information network developed by TAL (Ramnagar office)S.No Year Seizure Number of ForestArrest Division1 2004 Tiger Skin-1 3 Terai West2 Leopard Skin-2 1 Terai WestPython-1Sambar Antler-1Tortoise bones3 2004 Meat of Hog deer 2 Terai West4 2004 Elephant Tusk-28Kg 2 CTR5 2005 Common Coots 2 Terai West6 2005 Medicinal plants (worth 2 lac) 7 Ramnagar7 2006 Leopard skin 1 Terai West8 2006 Timber 4 Terai West9 2006 Leopard skin-1Anteler 2 Terai WestOther Seizures (Pillibhit sector)Sl No. Date Seizures Location1 18.2.05 17-18 kg of tiger bone Bichhia Raliway Station, KWS2 19.2.05 One tiger skin seized Bichhia Raliway Station, KWS3 13.9.04 Swamp deer poaching Chandia Hazara village of HaripurRange of PFD4 10.8.04 Wild boar poaching PFDSl No. Date Seizures Location1 23-07-2005 3.7 (kg)Tiger Bone Gabia Sahrai Pilibhit2 12-10-2005 3 Leopard, 1Tiger Skin Sampurnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri3 27-11-2005 1 Leopard Skin Gauriphanta, Lakhimpur kheri4 08-06-2006 8 Kg. Tiger Bones Nurea Railway Station, Pilibhit5 15-06-2006 1 Tiger and 1Lleopard Skin Tulsipur, Balrampur6 10-07-2006 5 Otter Skins Ramnagra, Pilibhitpoaching Unit and village devolvement committeemembers were present. The locals NGOscommunity members and anti-poaching unit ofboth the countries agreed to share informationand cooperate in trans-boundary wildlife conservation.A series of meetings were held with forestofficials of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Asa result a mechanism for developing informernetwork and sharing information was develop.Bijnore Forest Division has taken up jointpatrolling with CTR. Bijnore FD is on theboundary of the states of Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand.The Lansdowne Forest Division is a criticalforest area due to the several other forest divi-20

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencesions bordering it. Kalagarh Forest Division istowards the east and south eastern boundary,Bijnaur Forest division is towards the southernboundary and Rajaji National Park towards thewest. The bordering with several divisions andtwo important protected areas leads to frequentmovement of wild animals through this division.The movement of wild animals in andacross the division makes this division sensitiveto poaching and wild life killing. Due to thesensitivity of the area, Forest Department andWWF-India’s TAL programme decided toconduct monthly joint surveys in the villagesbordering Lansdowne division with Kalagarhand Bijnaur divisions. The team for the jointpatrolling included the DFO, Lansdowne FD,WWF-India TAL team and forest departmentsfield staff. During the joint patrolling exercise atemporary gujjar dera (camp) was found inDabina beat of Duggada range. The gujjars wereinvestigated and were asked to vacate the areaimmediately.Uttarakhand state borders both Tibet andNepal: this is the main trade route for wild lifeproducts. Due to the sensitivity of the area,WWF-India TAL Programme initiated theformation of an informer network. In the pastthree years cases of poaching and trade havebeen exposed with the help of the informernetwork developed by WWF-India.Support to forest departmentforests from the villages within the country andalso across the border, from Nepal. To strengthenthe Forest Department’s infrastructure incommunication, mobility and law enforcement,infrastructure support has been provided to thedifferent FD divisions of the linkage forests forbetter wildlife protection work. The NorthKheri and South Kheri Forest Divisions arebeing provided with infrastructure support forthe first time under the Terai Arc LandscapeProject.Wildlife survey training for field-level staff ofKaterniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary was givenunder this activity. The field staff were trainedto collect information and analyze data onungulate censuses. Similar training programmesfor ungulate and tiger census were also given inthe Pilibhit Forest Division. Thrust is given oninformation collection and analysis. A trainingprogramme was also conducted on wildlifehealth and diseases with the help of localveterinarians in the area.Legal training workshops were organized for thefield staff of the Forest Department such as the.Ramnagar Forest Division and LansdowneForest Divisions in year 2004 and 2005 respectively.After seeing the positive outputs of theselegal training by WWF-India, Forest Departmentwanted to hold such training programmesAn informer network of the Forest Departmentwas supported and strengthened in the linkageforest areas i.e. Pilibhit, Dudwa National Park,Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and KaterniaghatWildlife Sanctuary. Pilibit field office played akey role by providing financial support to thisinformer network. With enhanced support andcapacity this network produced major resultsthereafter.The Chuka-Lagga Bagga-Kishanpur and Kishanpurlinkages are the two critical corridors for wildlifeconservation of the area. The linkage forests aremostly along the international border i.e. theIndo-Nepal border. There is pressure on theseA watch tower constructed with WWF-India’s support21

Landscapes of HopeDetails of income generating activities of VDCsVillages No. ofIncome generating activitiesbeneficiariesNaujaliya 21 Value addition to food products, thrashing of paddy to rice,medical shop, sewing, barber shop, confectionary shop,agricultural activities, cycle shop, carpet makingRamnagar 64 Making food products like Baddi, vegetable production, organicfood products and manure, saloon, poultry, litter bags of jute, tieand dye articles, articles of sun and jute, packaging of locally grownpulses and spices.Selah 26 Poultry rearing, vegetable production, store, cycle shop, pisciculture,fodder raising, fast food stall, confectionary shopin other divisions also. In the year 2006 workshopswere conducted for Haldwani FD, TeraiCentral FD and Terai East FD.Training sessions on wildlife census (mammalsand wetland birds), wildlife management andhuman-wildlife conflict mitigation measureswere organized for forest staff of Terai WestForest Divisions, Terai Centre Forest Divisionand Ramnagar Forest Division.Livelihood ActivitiesIn order to generate alternative sources ofincome three villages (namely Najaliya,Ramnagra and Shela) in the corridor of Chuka–Lagga Bagga–Kishanpur were taken on a pilotbasis. Looking at the economic conditions andforest resource-dependency these villages wereselected for exploring alternative sources ofincome generation.This activity was initiated with the formationof Village Development Committees. A series ofmeetings were held with the villagers. Theobjective of reducing forest dependency forwildlife conservation was discussed with villagepeople. Alternative options for income generationin order to reduce dependency on keywildlife habitat were discussed in these meetings.The committees in a meeting then decidedthe beneficiaries who would be provided withmicro credits to carry out different incomegenerating activities.The different income generating activities in therespective villages are given in the table above.Income Generating Activities : Making fancy productsfrom ropeThe results of these activities indicate that suchactivities help villagers in the corridor villages toreduce their dependency on forest resources. Theimpact of such activities is felt in the long run.It was observed that in all the cases there wasan increase in annual income of the beneficiaries.In Naujalia the annual income of one ofthe beneficiaries has risen as high as Rs. 72000.The recovery of loans clearly indicates thesmooth functioning of these committees.22

Similar trend was seen in the Ramnagaravillage. Here the annual income of the beneficiariesvaried from Rs.18000 to Rs.36000. However,in Selha the committee is newly formedand the impact is yet to be assessed.Health camp initiativesand Katerniaghat WLS. A total of 1050 membersof field staff and their families were vaccinatedand provided with medical check up.Health camps were conducted in 25 differentvillages and a total of 21,693 persons (includingmen, women and children) were providedThe villagers residing near the forest areas are farfrom urban centres which deprive them ofavailing basic amenities like health facilities. Inorder to address this issue TAL Pilibhit fieldoffice, in one of its activities, undertook healthcamp initiatives under the communityprogramme.A total of 81 health camps were conducted in25 different locations of Pilibhit Forest Division,Kishanpur WLS and Dudwa National Park tillJune 2006. In the year 2005, vaccination (HepatitisB) and health camps were conducted for thefield staff of Dudwa National Park, KishanpurA child being examined at a health campMedical Camps at Ramnagar Sector in the Year 2004-05 (No. of patients by desease)MonthDiseases2004-05 RD GI ID SD B & FD ND Eye ENT UTI Dental CVD TB TotalMPatientsApril 9 13 15 1 8 2 1 1 4 2 2 2 1 61May 6 11 6 2 2 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 34June 4 4 3 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 19July 2 7 3 1 8 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 26Aug 1 4 4 2 4 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 19Sep 4 3 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 15Oct 2 1 6 4 6 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 23Nov 3 6 1 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 18Dec 6 3 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 22Jan 5 4 4 3 5 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 26Feb 1 1 5 2 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 16March 9 7 7 4 7 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 41April 4 10 9 3 7 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 39May 3 4 4 2 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 18Total 59 78 72 31 59 20 4 13 7 9 7 14 5 378RD: Respiratory diseases ; GI:Gastro Intestinal; ID Intestinal disease; SD: Skin disease; B&M: Bone and Muscle; FD Fungaldisease; ND: Neural disease; ENT: Ear, nose , throat; UTI: Urinary tract infection; CVD: chronic venereal disease; TB:Tubercolosis.23

Landscapes of HopeMedical Camps at Ramnagar Sector in the Year 2005-06MonthDiseases2005-06 RD GI ID SD B & M FD ND Eye ENT UTI Dental CVD TB TotalPatientsJuly 4 7 6 7 3 - - - 1 1 - 1 2 32Aug 4 1 4 6 2 - 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 23Sep 9 3 8 6 3 1 1 - - - - 1 2 34Oct 17 2 4 2 2 - - - 2 2 - 1 1 33Nov 7 4 7 2 7 - - 1 1 - 2 - - 31Dec 9 6 4 - 5 2 - - 2 - - - - 28Jan 23 7 10 4 7 2 - - 1 1 - - 1 56Feb 24 7 16 8 10 4 1 4 1 - 1 - 2 78March 17 13 10 2 15 2 - - 1 - 2 - - 62April 15 12 6 4 10 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 - 57May 10 9 6 5 4 2 - 1 1 - - 3 - 41June 13 18 14 7 10 1 1 2 5 1 1 4 - 77Total 152 89 95 53 78 15 5 10 17 7 11 11 9 552RD: Respiratory diseases ; GI:Gastro Intestinal; ID Intestinal disease; SD: Skin disease; B&M: Bone and Muscle; FD Fungaldisease; ND: Neural disease; ENT: Ear, nose , throat; UTI: Urinary tract infection; CVD: chronic venereal disease; TB:Tubercolosis.medical check up and medicines fromMarch 2003–June 2006.Such health camps in the villages were conductedfor the first time and WWF India hasbeen supporting this through funds specificallyallocated for health programmes (such as theJohnson and Johnson fund). A survey wasconducted to assess the impact of health campsin the villages. Out of the total people whowere provided with medical facilities, 94% feltthat they benefited from the health camps;60 % of the people insisted that health campsbe conducted every month in the villageswhile 26% people said they should be heldevery three months. The villagers agreed thatproviding them with basic amenities wouldobviously help in conservation of wildlife. Thepresence of forest officials in the health campsMedical Camps at Kotdwar Sector in the Year 2005-06S.No Name of Village Number of people diagnosed1 Githala 422. Gaujeta 223 Pulinda 624 Balli 205 Tachyali 256 Ramdi 35Total 20624

helped develop a sense of confidence and goodwillamong the villagers and presented a differentimage of the Forest Department. This willhopefully reduce conflicts and suspicion betweenthe villagers and the Forest Department.Health camps in villages around the CorbettTiger Reserve were initiated in year 2004 incollaboration with The Corbett Foundation, alocal NGO (see tables on 23 and 24). In the year2005 a similar activity was undertaken inKotdwar sector.Mandate, role and operational principlesAs an operational principle what has beendecided is that all activities that would beundertaken under the project would havereciprocal commitment from the local communities.Priorities would be set based on benefits toa larger section or to activities which have director indirect bearing on the sustenance of linkagesfor wildlife movement and reducing resourcedependence of the local communities. The rolesof different organizations, agencies and institutionswere made clear to the local communitiesand it was decided that the primary role inconservation has to be played by the villagerswhereas the WWF TAL team would play afacilitating and coordination role: the ForestDepartment would play a role of manager as wellas enforcing the law in the forest based on theIndian Forest Act and Wildlife (Protection) Act.The village institutions would play a pivotal rolein raising awareness, prioritizing actions andactivities and regulating resource use.25

Landscapes of HopeChapter 4SATPUDA MAIKAL LANDSCAPEThe Satpuda Maikal Landscape (SML) is situatedalong the Satpuda and Maikal hill ranges inCentral India. It stretches over 500 km betweenthe Melghat Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra andAchanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary of Chhattisgadhencompassing an area over 25,000 Km 2 .The SML project, designed to address the mainthreats to the tiger populations in SatpudaMaikal Landscape and to safeguard the livelihoodconcerns of people inhabiting the prioritysites, was initiated in October 2002 at selectedsites. Considering the vastness of the landscapeand the diversity of issues, the project selectedthree segments in the corridors for priorityinterventions based on extensive public consultations.The sites were selected from the followingpriority linkages: (1) Kanha - Phen -Achanakmar (2) Pench - Seoni - Kanha.The nature of work that the project has carriedout from mid 2004 has broadly been in twocategories:› Working closely with Forest department,and other Government agencies, and› Establishing partnerships with localNGOs, local community and like-mindedindividuals.WWF has been conducting activities andplaying the role of a facilitator to promoteconservation oriented activities and action at allpossible levels. During the course of past oneyear the project has developed importantpartnerships with all stakeholders. The projectinterventions have been as follows:• Support to PAs and Non-PAs: Infrastructuresupport to PAs and non-PAs in thelandscape has been identified as the toppriority, and measures have been taken toadequately address the issue. WWF-Indiahas assessed the situation and providedsupport that was considered necessary. Thisis an ongoing process and is continuing.• Working with the communities: A groupof villages identified earlier by the projectare now partners in implementation ofproject activities. The project has engageddirectly and indirectly with the localcommunity to act in the interest of conservationof the linkages. The project activitieshave been designed to wean awaypeople from the use of natural resources,through providing alternative sources oflivelihood.26

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceProject activities are currently being conductedin four segments of the selected corridors, andthe project team is presently working in 29villages. The interventions vary on the basis ofneeds and are also based on the location. Approximatedemarcation of the area of WWFpresence is marked on the map on p.26:There are several goals towards which theactivities are targeted. These are discussedbelow:Goal 1 : By 2007, FD and State authorities managingPAs (3,275 Km2) and corridors (6,000 Km2) haveenhanced connectivity; habitat quality and security,and revenue generation.cesses which result in weak prosecutionand conviction.• Different relevant clauses related to theWildlife Protection Act, 1972, and EvidenceAct.The above topics were presented by the resourcepersons citing field examples. Participants weregiven handouts for further reading as well as aready reference. The result of this trainingprogramme is now visible on the ground as moreand more police officials are taking a keen interestin curbing wildlife crimes.A recent achievement has been that Corridordemarcation has been recognized in state planningdocuments: Discussions with the StateForest Department officials and the StateBiodiversity Board are on to demarcate andrecognize the boundaries of corridors connectingPench-Kanha-Achanakmar Protected Areas.Final maps are under preparation.Since the activities started frontline staff of PAsand corridor areas have improved knowledge andskills. The important issues as also targetaudiences among the frontline staff were identifiedfor training. This time the frontline stafffrom the District Police Department wasidentified for the training purpose. A batch of 30police officers was given training in anti-poachingactivities. Experts from concerned fields (a forestdepartment official and a lawyer) were invited asresource persons. The following topics werecovered in a day-long training programme.• Different methods adopted by poachers to killwild animals.• Major flaws in the current protection systemresulting in weak patrolling.• Developing informer’s network and gatheringintelligence on wildlife crime.• Developing small clues into major leads forinvesting wildlife crimes.• Lacunae at field level investigation pro-Crop Protection TrenchSupport to Territorial Forest DivisionThe assessment of equipment and infrastructurerequirement of the field staff in three nonprotected areas (Territorial Forest divisionsforming the corridor area) have been completed.The identified infrastructure support would beprovided soon. Literature regarding differentwildlife species, wildlife crimes, survey andcensus operations etc. has been provided to thefrontline staff (total of 130 staff personnel) ofthe three Protected Areas as well.The programme has also tied up with theDistrict Police Department to curb poaching.Technical support for the identification of seizedwildlife products, information regarding poachingincidence and improving anti-poachingskills, is being provided by the project. Joint27

Landscapes of Hopeoperations carried out between January - June2005, resulted in seizures comprising of 2 tigerskins and 2 leopard skins, a few kg of tigerbones, 4 chital skins, one sambar skin, a fewantlers. Five poachers were nabbed. They arebeing prosecuted currently in the local court.Seven poachers caught earlier in November andDecember 2004 are still behind bars and havebeen refused bail.Goal 2: By 2007, residents (farmers, small entrepreneursand households) of pilot villages in SML havereduced their dependence on the surroundingIdeal Crop Protection Trenchcorridor forests to within levels prescribed in the FDmanagement plansProject recommendations have been finalized incoordination with villagers and concernedDepartments. Consultation with the localcommunities and various departments is anongoing process. To increase the impact of theproject, participation of women groups was alsoencouraged through separate meetings. The pilottesting of possible development options arebeing tried out as a part of feasibility tests.Improved Agricultural PracticesAs a part of the Project’s efforts to strengthenlocal agricultural practices, training programmeswere conducted with focus on Improved AgriculturePractices. A total of 150 representativesfrom 10 villages of the Mawai segment participatedin one such programme organized in early2005. Officials from the District Agriculturedepartment and the Regional Publicity Departmentwere invited as resource persons. Thefocus of the training programme was to:• Provide improved methods of farming tothe farmers to increase productivity• Promote organic farming to reduce use ofchemical fertilizers• Promote use of bio-pesticides (made of ecofriendlymaterials) to reduce dependency onharmful and costly chemical pesticides• Strengthen traditional water conservationmethods to increase the scale of irrigationand improve soil-moisture balance.Creating financial independence(SHGs)Vermiculture pitTraining programmes were also carried out infive pilot villages to create Self-Help Groups(SHGs) in the first six months of 2005. A totalof 12 SHGs have been formed. Each group has12-15 members and in the initial stages they arebeing encouraged to raise some capital amongthemselves. Local cooperatives and nationalizedbanks have agreed to finance these groups basedon their performance in the next six months.28

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceProviding alternative livelihood optionsTraining programmes were organized for thebeneficiaries of two villages of Kharidih segmentto provide technical information on poultry andpiggery as sources of income. A total of 50representatives from two villages were broughtto the veterinary college of Bilaspur,Chhattisgadh, to provide them with first handinformation on these activities. Cross visits forthe villagers of three villages of Kharidih segmentwere also organized. In each visit, 10representatives from each village were taken ona two-day study tour of the Mawai segment. Theyhad free discussions and saw the different activitieshappening in the village. More such visits are beingorganized as a part of knowledge sharing exercise.In January 2006, around 50 individuals weretrained in improved agricultural practices incollaboration with agricultural extension wing ofthe Goverment of Madhya Pardesh.Equipment and infrastructure needs of theresidents were assessed through continuousmeetings and discussions. This is an ongoingprocess and shall continue in the future as well.At the end of the agricultural trainingprogramme participants were given necessarytools to implement the knowledge they hadgained. Some highlights of the activity were:• To propagate the use of organic farmingfarmers were given support to producevermi-compost manure for their own fields.Around 390 families in 10 pilot villageshave been equipped with this facility.• Since the last three years the project hasbeen working on soil-moisture conservation.Under this activity efforts are beingmade to harvest maximum rainwater bydesilting existing village ponds, makingpercolation tanks in the fields, creatingstop dams across the nullahs and by repairingthe canal and diverting its water intofarm land.• Diesel pumps consume a portion of theagriculture income. Improvised “Low LiftPumps” were distributed to the farmers topump out water from the wells for irrigationpurpose. These pumps are manuallyoperated and can lift water from 20-25 ftdepth. Since the water flow is considerablyhigh the water can be channelised into thefields easily.• The beneficiaries of the poultry and piggeryprogrammes were provided necessaryinfrastructural support and birds/animals tostart their business.Conservation SignificanceThe above activities have positively impactedthe cause of wildlife conservation. Some importantindicators are discussed below:• In the absence of improved and organizedmethods of farming the local communitymembers were ill-equipped and this mostlyresulted in poor crop yield. This directlyresulted in the dependence of villagers onthe surrounding corridor forests for collectionof fuelwood and Non Timber ForestProduce (to supplement their food supplyand income). To increase crop yield thevillagers used to expand their agriculturalfields into the adjoining forests. As a result ofHand blower smokeless Chulha29

Landscapes of Hopeimproved farming techniques not a singlecase of encroachment has been noticed inthe pilot villages in the last three years.However, project team has successfullyremoved an encroachment of an acre in oneof the pilot villages in November 2006.• Due to increased soil-moisture and availabilityof irrigation facilities more and morefamilies of pilot villages have startedgrowing winter crops in their fields.Increased agricultural activity keeps thefarmers in the fields and away from forests;enhanced productivity also results inreduced needs to collect resources from theforest.• The availability of water within the villagehas reduced the dependence of cattle on thesurrounding forest waterholes. There is lesscompetition with wild ungulates, and lesserchances of predator attacks on livestock.Under income generating activities more andmore beneficiaries are being covered. Support isbeing given on a returnable basis to make thebeneficiaries responsible and self-reliant. Supportto small scale entrepreneurships such as grocery,photo-framing, tailoring, etc. is also beingprovided in all the pilot villages to diversifyincome sources.In addition to the existing 8 nurseries, five morehave been newly developed in the pilot villages.Every nursery is being looked after by a group of5-10 villagers. These nurseries mainly producesaplings required for the crop protectiontrenches, seasonal vegetables which can be soldin the local market and bamboo saplings forforestry operations. All of them have reportedgood progress in the last two years.To reduce pressure of fuelwood demand onadjoining forests the project is strongly continuingthe alternative techniques and bio-gas plants.As many as 50 percent of the families in all thepilot villages were provided “Hand Blowerassisted Smokeless Chullas (stoves)” to reducefuelwood consumption. Survey data has indicatedthat on an average a family of 5 membersconsumed about 20-25 kg of fuelwood in a day.A recent questionnaire survey, of project interventionsin November- December, 2006,conducted by the team in the pilot villagesindicated 40 % reduction in consumption offuelwood brought from the forests.Looking at the acceptance level of bio-gas plantsamong villagers, the project is trying to covermore families in the pilot villages. BetweenJune 2005, June 2006 and 58 more families werecovered in five pilot villages under this activity.The Government of Madhya Pradesh has nowcome forward to provide support of Rs. 3000/-per biogas plant for future installations.Residents have generated operational funds togradually become fully self-reliant. The conceptof “Money Saved is Money Earned” has receivedgood response from the local communities.Villagers in all the pilot villages are now regularlysaving part of the money earned throughdifferent activities. A separate bank account hasbeen opened either in the name of “VillageDevelopment Committee” or in their “Clustername” and the savings are deposited in theseaccounts.The concept of “Labour Bank” hasbeen floated to imbibe the culture of savings,whereby villagers contribute a days wage perweek in “Labour Bank” so that they can use thesame during the pinch period with a minorinterest paid on the withdrawal. This initiative haspicked up well in the Mawai Segment.Harvested Honey Chambers30

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceThe practice of giving support to beneficiaries ona returnable basis has also received good responsefrom the villagers. This has helped in generatinga corpus in one village, which is being now usedto fund other small scale beneficiaries. Supportamounts being returned by the beneficiaries isconstantly monitored to make sure that peopleare responsible towards the scheme, and thattheir funds remain sustainable in the long run.The project team is also helping villagers to havemeetings with the officials of different governmentdepartments for procuring other resources. Apartfrom the forest department, the revenue departmentand the District Council (Zilla Panchayat),have also been approached and are keen tocollaborate and provide maximum support to thePilot villages. Regular programmes are beingconducted with the Directorate of Field Publicity,Government of India to create awareness aboutvarious government initiatives so that developmentalworks may be taken up by these line departmentsand the team can concentrate more onconservation based activities. This is also an initialstep of the withdrawal strategy. To ensure that theawareness generation programmes get an impetus,a tie up has been made with the Nehru YuvaKendras to accord widespread publicity to environmentalconcerns. Lately sports tournaments havebeen organized in pilot villages. These have becomean important tool in creating awareness across therural populace. School children are being trainedand educated in environmental education and thebest students are recommended to the forestdepartment for being appointed as “Cub WildlifeWardens”.Residents have secured access to market outlets.Most of the products, be it from a nursery,piggery, poultry, grocery or any other item, havefound markets at the local level and therefore,regular income has been ensured. Right from thebeginning the project has encouraged only thosesmall scale entrepreneurships which have a marketat the local level, since poor transportation facilitieshas been the biggest negative factor for thevillagers residing in remote areas.So far the project has received good supportfrom all the pilot villages. The participatorynature of activities has been well received bythe villagers. It is encouraging to see that thevillagers are now ready to share a good part ofthe cost of all the proposed activities.The entire SML team undertook an in-houseskill upgradation training in forestry and alliedissues in December 2006. This has enabled theteam to take up greater challenges effectivelyand efficiently.The project is also getting wider support fromvarious Government Departments for itsendeavours. Stronger partnerships are emerging.These partnerships are expected to helpthe project in three ways:1. Self sustenance and furtherance of projectinterventions.2. Building up a withdrawal strategy for thePilot Villages of phase I.3. Up-scaling of project activities in otherparts of the landscape.WWF-India won accolades from the State ofMadhya Pradesh for putting up the bestexhibit at the Manchleswar Fair inHirdenagar, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. Thefair was held from 26 February to 2 March ,2007 and had attracted around 50,000 visitorsfrom the villages and towns of Madhya Pradeshin Central India. Over 10,000 persons visitedWWF-India’s exhibit out of which 80% werefrom rural areas and about 20% from towns.This outreach initiative helped to spread awarenessabout issues related to tiger conservation.An award was also given to WWF-India forpromoting bio-diesel and popularizing it at thelocal level.31

Landscapes of HopeChapter 5SUNDERBANS LANDSCAPE PROJECTThe Sundersbans, which spreads across theIndo-Bangladesh border and harbors one of thebiggest mangrove forests on Earth, is the lastrefuge of the largest number of Indian tigersCanal in project area(Panthera tigris tigris). This mangrove dominateddeltaic lobe at the apex of Bay of Bengal providesa source of living, through agriculture andfishing activities, for the people who inhabit thearea. Over the years, the expansion of humanhabitation leading to increased agriculture,depletion of prey species, poaching and fragmentationof the habitat have been the major causefor the sharp decline in the tiger population inthe area. The rapid expansion of shrimp cultureactivities in mangrove mudflats has aggravatedthe situation. It is reported that in theSundarbans mangrove forest, about 3 percent(about 5,000 ha) of the total loss is accounted forby shrimp farming (Silas, 1987 and Sinha, 1999.This calls for increased cooperation to manageSunderban‘s biological resources . This essentiallyrequires a two-pronged approach. On theone hand it is imperative to bring all stakeholdersto a common platform through regularworkshops, meetings and sharing expertise andinformation on the issues related to the conservationin general and tiger conservation inparticular. The other aspect is to work towardsbio resource conservation by ensuring people’ssecurity through diverse livelihood schemeslike tailoring, batik printing, pisciculture,animal husbandry, agriculture etc.Using this two pronged approach, WWF-Indialaunched the Sunderbans Landscape Project atMollakhali Island,under Gosaba DevelopmentBlock in 2003. The project focused on threehamlets - Gobindpur, Hentalbari andKalidaspur, all located on the fringe of Jhilaforest within the Buffer zone of SunderbanTiger Reserve. Since there was high pressure onthe adjacent forests due to illegal felling and32

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencepoaching, the Mollakhali island was chosen asthe projects site after holding a stakeholdersconsultation. The components under the projectincluded environment education and awarenessprogramme, rain water harvesting by excavationof canals, plantation, vocational training,installation of solar lights, provision of powertillers and health camps. Gobindapur PallyUnnayan, Samiti, a local club in this caseprovided local support base. The project alsoinitiated some R&D components like preparationof fish feed from botanical extract andpreparation of pig feed from salt marsh grass.that were supported by Calcutta University.Some untapped marine resources like edibleoyster found in plenty in Indian Sunderbansregion were also brought under culture. It isexpected that such alternative livelihoodschemes may render it unnecessary for a sizeablelocal population from entering into the adjacentforests, and will ultimately lead to preservationand eco-restoration.and animal husbandry.Ensure people’s security in terms of healthby arranging medical camps on regular basisand use of indigenous medicinal plants.Provide better education system throughregular awareness programmes, workshopsand school building construction.PROJECT ACTIVITIES ANDRESULTS· Agriculture and extension activityThe Indian Sunderbans is known to be one ofthe most agriculturally and socio-economicallyPROJECT OBJECTIVEDuring Phase I of the project two islands, Baliand Mollakhali, were selected in the easternsector adjoining the Tiger Reserve to carry outthe activities of the project. Two more islandshave been identified, one adjoining theSundarban Tiger Reserve (Satjelia Island) andanother adjoining the 24-Parganas South ForestDivision (Kultali Island) for Phase II of theproject.A Workshop on coastal soilSunderbans Landscape Project has adopted astrategy to not only reduce the human-wildlifeconflict but also to ensure security to thelivelihoods of the local people so that theirintrusion into the forest zone is contained. Withthis background, the objectives of the projectactivities have been to:Ensure protection of the tigers in the ecoregionthrough people’s participation in theexisting institutional framework.Upgrade people’s economy through improvedmethod of pisciculture, agriculture33

Landscapes of Hopebackward regions of the country. Due to lack ofproper drainage facility traditional low yieldingrice varieties are followed in almost 96 percentof the cropping area during kharif season. Due toextreme scarcity of irrigation water and highsalinity, the production of second crop in thearea is meager. The IFAD funded freshwatercanals excavated by Sundarban DevelopmentBoard (SDB) in the 1980s have become derelictand water in rivers and creeks is highly saline innature. The only alternative is to store rainwater during monsoon months and give supportthrough supply of agricultural implements.Local fresh water prawn (Golda)Fresh water prawn culture workshopKeeping this in mind, WWF-India started thecanal excavation along with donating agriculturalimplements to improve the agriculturalsystem at the project site.Prior to the initiation of the project, the areacould produce only single crop but after launchingthe project, people of the island are able toproduce multiple crops, (like chili, potatoes,brinjal, tomatoes, watermelon, cabbages,cauliflower, pulses ). The participants of thevocational training scheme were trained withdifferent methods of soil testing and saline andnon–saline zones were demarcated. The soilquality was tested with respect to salinity, PHand organic carbon content and people weretaught to carry on agricultural activity on thebasis of the soil quality. The farmers were alsotaught to use bio-fertilizer from locally availableflora (Dhanche) and cyano bacteria present inthe mudflats. The local villagers after beingtrained initiated cultivation in saline soilthrough fresh water stocked in the adjacentcanals. These canals of approximately 1 kmwere excavated by WWF-India at four differentsites in Mollakhali in order to ensure theavailability of fresh water during non-monsoonmonths. In addition, WWF-India has alsosupplied power tillers; pump sets and tractors,which has had a positive impact on the agricultureproductivity of the area. This in turn hasled to improvement in the economic conditionsand less dependency of the people on the forestresources.¨ Wororkshop & StudiesFamiliarizing the local people with the naturalresource base of their area is critical to garneringpublic support. To this end many workshopsand studies have been conducted. In June 2005,a Workshop on Natural Resources of IndianSunderbans was organized in which 40 participants,including students and local villagers werepresent. Local people were familiarized with thebiodiversity of the zone and about biomedicaland ecological values of selective mangrove flora,oyster and horseshoe crab. A book entitled “34

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceLiving Resources of the Sea: Focus IndianSunderbans” was published in November, 2005as an outcome of the Natural Resource workshop.Two feasibility studies were conducted–one onoyster culture and other on medicinal propertiesof mangrove plants. These studies were done inand around Chotomollakhali island of IndianSunderbans, in collaboration with Departmentof Marine Science. University of Calcutta,.Thefeasibility study on oyster culture revealed thearea to be highly suitable for edible oysterculture and four sites were identified for cultureof molluscan species. For oyster culture purposecultch materials (brick pillar coated with lime)were placed in the selected sites for settingoyster spats.Excavation of more fresh water canals isplanned for the new sites as well. The differencethis time is that landless members of thecommunity are also included as the beneficiariesand the modalities are being worked out forthem to access land for one crop of paddy duringdry winter months when yields are higher.¨ Village Plantation (Checking soilerosion and meeting medicinal needs)Plantation is one of the important componentsof this project. In order to protect the islandsfrom flood or natural calamities and to reducethe pressures on habitat for wild animals,plantations have been carried with the help ofIt is expected that this non-conventional bioresourcebased and sustainable livelihood wouldprovide economic stability to locals and ultimatelyreduce dependency on the forests.¨ Direct Support for CultivationFour power tillers and a tractor have been givenat Mollakhali Island. Approximately 3000 localpeople are now able to till about 270 ha of landby paying hiring charges less then the marketprice. This resulted in increased cost of production.The use of tillers/tractors has boosted theeconomic returns of the beneficiaries. Furthermore,Rs.80,500.00 has been deposited in thebank for sustaining the process.The fresh water canals, apart from directlyimpacting agriculture, have proved helpful toupgrade the local economy as these are alsobeing used to culture fresh water prawnMacrobrachium rosenbergi (Golda), which has aready market. This fresh water prawn species isdisease resistant and has good growth rate (about70 gm in 6 months). WWF has helped tointroduce scientific method of fresh waterprawn culture in these canals to involve morenumber of local people in this profitable andsustainable aqua venture.Oyster: Getting ready for the marketBasic infrastructure: tube well35

Landscapes of HopeWorking on fish feedvillagers, nature club members, students etc. atdifferent sites – hospitals, schools, river banksand on mudflats. Canal plantation has beencarried out in order to check erosion and preventsiltation of the canals. Mangrove plantation(approximately 3000 in numbers) has beencarried out in the mudflats ofBali and Mollakhali islandswhich would help to controlerosion and abrupt scouring ofthe landmasses by tidal surgesand wave actions. Training onnursery development is beingprovided to unemployed youthfor starting nurseries.A medicinal plant garden hasbeen established atChotomollakhali, with thejoint effort of WWF-India andENDEV, a Calcutta basedNGO. An agreement has beensigned between WWF-Indiaand ENDEV to promote theactivity of propogating medicinalplants by the local people.Traditional knowledge of thelocal people is very sound in this context andplant extracts are used to treat diarrhea, blooddysentery, skin diseases, cough and cold. Thisactivity has opened up new horizons forAyurvedic mode of treatment which is a boonas there is dearth of allopathic doctors inSunderbans. About 75 people take the advantageof this garden each month. Seedlings are beingsold at the rate of Rs. 1 to 5 per seedling dependingon the species. The profit is used for maintenanceof the medicinal garden. The garden ismanaged by w women self help group.¨ Solar lights for better quality of life andto reduce human-wildlife conflictsMost of the Indian Sunderbans has no facility ofelectricity. Generators are operated for a limitedperiod at the markets and in hospitals duringevening. WWF-India has taken the initiative ofdistributing solar lights in jetty ghats, hospitals,educational Centres and areas inhabited bybackward class/communities in two islands,Bali and Mollakhali. These solar lights have notonly improved the facilities of communication,but have also helped the students of the area.Apart from children, adults are also regularlymeeting under the solar lights after the day‘swork. Moreover, it has lit up river bank sidesadjacent to the forest which helps to ward offtiger and other wild animals.In the past two years, some 25 solar lights havebeen provided to Chotomollakhali and one solarlight of 75 W has been installed at SatjeliaHatkola jetty. The battery and panel have beenplaced under the safe custody of persons stayingclose to the installation site. The beneficiariespay a nominal fee towards maintenance of theselights.Fully mature fresh water prawn¨ VocationalTrainingThe local people of Sunderbans have traditionallydepended on natural resources from adjacentwater bodies and forests for their livelihood.Extreme poverty has forced them to explore thedeep forest for honey, wax, timber, fish, molluscancell, Horse shoe crab, etc. Many villagers36

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceTrainingNo. of beneficiaries involvedTailoring30 WomenBrakish water Pisciculture 8Oyster culture 19Piggery 7Campbell duckery 52Kroiler 300Fresh Water Prawn (Golda) culture 15also screen the estuarine water for tiger shrimpseed due to which several ecological hazards likefinfish juvenile loss, coastal erosion and uprootingof newly planted mangrove seedlings takeplace. In an attempt to give them sustainablealternatives livelihoods, several vocationaltraining schemes have been imparted. Some ofthese are described below.Batik training was given to the women folkinvolved in shrimp seed collection in 2003-04and they were able to bring out finished products.But since there is no market, attempts arebeing made for value addition to the presentproduct so as to capture the market and therebygenerate more income for the women. Traininghas been imparted for making beautiful handicraftsfrom shoal (a plant) which is in greatdemand on festive occasions and during marriageceremonies.Animal husbandry activities have been introducedwith the aim of diverting people fromintruding inside the reserve forest. In this sector,1500 kroiler chicks, 300 duck and 20 pigletshave been distributed both in Bali andMollakhali. Kroiler and ducklings have beengiven to the women folk involved in shrimpseed collection and the piggery sector is beingmaintained by a group of beneficiaries whoearlier used to enter the adjacent forests forprocuring timber and honey. A significantaspect of this project is the nutrition of pigsthrough specially formulated feed manufacturedby Bullian Logic Private Limited - Indiancounterpart of Norfeed Denmark.In Phase II, emphasis of vocational training willbe provided based on the lessons learnt in past.Institutional arrangements are being worked outfor sustaining the enterprise with the involvementof community based organizations andlocal self-government.¨ Health care : hoping for a better futureHealth camps are being organized almost everyalternate month when treatment of the patientsis offered under allopathic, homoeopathic andayurvedic systems of medicine. The first healthcamp was organized in association with ProjectLifeline of Institute of Climbers and NatureLovers on March 16-17 th 2003. The teamPorteracia37

Landscapes of Hopeconsisted of a general medicine doctor and paramedics. Doctors of Calcutta Medical College andGossaba Medical Hospital were involved inorganizing the camps. Between 2003-2005, some20 health camps were organized. More than 300patients visited each camp. After the success ofthe first medical camp at Gobindapur, a series ofcamps were organized at other places with thecooperation of the local clubs. Medicines weregiven at nominal price and some were distributedfree of cost. Three young men fromGobindapur, Hentalbari and Kalidaspur, FPCshave been provided with stipend for a course inCommunity Medical Service organized byIndian Rural Medical Association.Till end 2005 23 nature clubs in Bali Island, 17in Mollakhali and Satjelia islands, 7 atShamsher Nagar and 4 in Kultali DevelopmentBlock have been established with the help ofWWF-India West Bengal State Office. The totalmembership, Primary and Secondary, in theseclubs is about 5000. Several campaigns on noisepollution, banning plastic use and workshops onuse of medicinal plants. have been organized toincrease awareness of people on the importanceof conserving nature.The project activities have brought in gradualchange in the lives and thinking of the localpeople in the project area. There is betterunderstanding of the symbiotic relationship thathumans have with other species even thoughthey use the same resources. Feedback receivedfrom the project participants amply testify thatalternative livelihoods ensure conservationthrough reducing pressures on limited naturalresources.38

Chapter 6THE NORTH BANK LANDSCAPE: CONSERVATION OF ELEPHANTS IN NORTHEAST INDIAThe North Bank Landscape is the area betweenthe northern bank of the river Brahmaputra(south), the foothills of the eastern Himalayas(north), Sonkosh River (west) and the DibangRiver (east). It is ca. 750 km long with largelycontinuous forests along the foothills of theHimalayan mountains, in the states of Assamand Arunachal Pradesh. The total size of thelandscape is ~40,000 km 2 of which about16,000 km 2 is believed to be used by elephantseffectively.A high species diversity has been noted in thelandscape (WWF-AREAS, 2003). The tablebelow presents a summary of the number offaunal species per threat status. A floral studyrevealed that the forests of the North BankLandscape are amongst the world’s richest (Seebox on p.43).The North Bank Landscape has an estimatedpopulation of 1,800 elephants (2002/03) and~150 tigers (2002). A nucleus population of about40 Indian rhinos are present in Orang NP. Translocationof at least 20 Indian rhinos into Manas NPis scheduled to take place in 2008. These largemammals are wide-ranging and their well being isprobably an expression of the well being of thewider ecosystem. Biodiversity in the area is veryhigh. This biological richness has been recognisedby WWF which gave the area a priority status asbeing one of the Global 200 ecoregions ofimportance. Also Conservation Internationalregards the area’s richness highly and recognises thewider Eastern Himalayans as one of the 18 globalbiodiversity Hot Spots. The area lies on theinteraction zone of the Indo-Malayan andPalearctic biogeographical realms and speciestypical of both zones can be found in the area.The steep topographical variation in the terrainalso contributes to species-richness as differentorganisms specialise to survive at differentaltitudes. A distinct dry season (November – April)Table 1: Number of globally threatened mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian andinvertebrate species in the North Bank Landscape (possibly present)TaxaGlobal Threat Category according to the 2002 IUCN Red ListCritically Endangered Endangered VulnerableMammals 1 11 17Birds 2 3 24Reptiles 0 2 (1) 3 (3)Amphibians 1 (1) 0 (2) 0 (2)Invertebrates 1 0 0Total 4 (1) 16 (3) 44 (5)Source: modified after CEPF 200539

Landscapes of Hopeprobably suppresses species richness somewhat.About a quarter of the Landscape (~10,719 km 2out of ~40,000 km 2 ) bears the status ofElephant Reserve (3) or Tiger Reserve (3). Partsof these reserves consist of protected areas(National Parks (NP) and Wildlife Sanctuaries(WS)) and unprotected reserved forests. By farthe largest acreage of the reserves is undernominal protection of notified Reserved Forests.Elephant and Tiger Reserves overlap in mostcases.The fertile alluvial plains along the Brahmaputraare cultivated ever since humans settled herecenturies ago. Assamese are the dominantethnicity and live mainly in the alluvial plains.A diverse mix of ethic and linguistic groups canbe found throughout the region, especially in thehills: Bodo, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Mishing,Rabha, Karbi and many so called tea-tribes ,who arrived from different parts of the countrywhen the estates were formed, some 150 yearsago.In recent history, almost all land in the alluvialplains has been occupied by agricultural fields,supporting a population of about eight millionpeople. In the Assam part of the landscape,7,878,058 people reside (383 / km 2 ); in theArunachal Pradesh State part of the Landscape,722,418 reside (11 / km 2 ) (2001 census data).Presently the annual population growth rate inAssam is 1.8% (Government of Assam, 2003).The main crop is rice (one harvest/year).Currently, elephants and tigers are found in thenorthern sections of the landscape, along and inthe foothills of the Himalayas.Over time,historical elephant routes accessing theBrahamaputra River have been converted forhuman use and access to the river throughnatural vegetation is now an impossibility forelephants. But elephants leave the forest andcome onto the alluvial plains in search of foodduring the wet season. At the far eastern side ofthe landscape, north-south movement of elephantsacross the river into the Myanmar areais still possible. The northern half of thelandscape consists of the foothills (up to analtitude of 3,000 m) of the Himalayan mountainrange, which abruptly spring out of the alluvialplane. This area with steep topography is largelycovered by forest. It is mainly in these forestswhere tigers are found. Situated along thefoothills are the teagardens set-up during colonialtimes.In the past 10 – 15 years, agriculture has expandedin the landscape at the expense of wastelands and in a lesser extent, forests. Within theelephant range, forest loss is a relatively moreimportant factor than elsewhere. Especially thelowland forests in Assam have been converted(65% loss between 1972 and 2001), and at themoment, very little lowland forest is left. It isthe lowland forests however, on whichelephants depend for their shelter and foodsupply; elephants hardly use forests on steepterrain. A. C. Williams/wwfTowards the eastern part of the landscape, severallarge infrastructural works are in execution andplanning stages. A large hydroelectric dam project isunderway in the Subansiri area which is a criticalcorridor for east-west movement of elephant andtigers.Focus of the Programme is achieved by concentratingon the elephant range alone (~16,000 km 2 ).Photo: A.C. Williams/WWF40

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceWithin this area, two priority areas for fieldimplementation of activities have been selected(~11,500 km 2 ). These are areas where pressuresare most severe (detailed analysis in AREAS-NBLP, 2003) are where WWF’s interventionswithin this enormous landscape will most likelyprovide the maximum conservation benefitpossible. The two priority areas (Map 2) are:· Kameng - Sonitpur Conservation Complex(~8,400 km 2 )which includes the Kameng andSonitpur Elephant Reserves and the Pakke andNameri Tiger Reserves and which encompassEagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary, Pakke WildlifeSanctuary, Nameri National Park, and ItanagarWildlife Sanctuary.· Manas Conservation Complex (~3,100km 2 ) which includes the Manas Tiger Reserveand the Chirang - Ripu Elephant Reserve andwhich encompass Manas National Park andBornadi Wildlife Sanctuary.After having executed Landscape wide fieldinvestigations, the programme has so far concentratedits interventions in the Kameng andSonitpur Elephant Reserves, with a base atTezpur where the main programme office hasbeen located. The Programme has also started toexpand and has become more active in theManas Tiger Reserve and Bornadi-Khalingduarareas. This limitation of expanding slowly wasneeded because of the limited resources availablewhen compared with the enormity of the area,Map 1: North Bank and Kaziranga Karbi Anglong Landscapes in North East India41

Landscapes of HopeTable 2: Land Use Changes in North Bank Landscape (1991 – 2001)Land Use Class 1991 (km 2 ) 2001 (km 2 ) Change in Change inLandscape (%) Elephant rangeonly (%)Forest n.a. n.a. -2.38 -5.31Degraded Forest n.a. n.a. 1.56 3.19Agriculture n.a. n.a. 8.58 3.20Tea Garden n.a. n.a. 0.35 0.08Waste & Fallow Land n.a. n.a. -6.66 -0.65Water Bodies n.a. n.a. -1.70 -0.94Settlements n.a. n.a. 0.08 0.06Snow & Cloud cover n.a. n.a. 0.16 0.37Source: AREAS North Bank Landscape Programme, 2006 (derived from LANDSAT satellite imagery data)the long (750 km) extended shape of the Landscapeand the enormity of the conservationissues at play in the Landscape.Because conflicts with wildlife, especiallyelephants, directly impact on people’s livelihoods,mitigation of these conflicts is of crucialimportance to reduce casualties and damage andthereby prevent public opinion from becomingpermanently negative towards elephants andwildlife in general. The Programme has had athree year experience in mitigating conflictsquite successfully and will build on this experiencein the years to come. In this period, stepswill be put in place to ensure that humanelephantconflict mitigation can be successfullyundertaken by local communities with theassistance of the responsible authorities viz.Forest Department and the district administrationwithout further involvement of the WWFProgramme.Safeguarding corridors and reclaiming encroachedland will provide more long-termsolutions for easing the elephant’s migration andfeeding situation and will thus provide a morepermanent solution to the situation of conflict.If corridors are permanently broken, the elephantpopulation will become fragmented intogenetically isolated pockets, prone to geneticdeterioration. Recognising the on-going encroachmentonto the landscape’s forests, theprogramme lobbies to raise support and assistancefor existing protected areas.Kunki Elephants getting ready for drivePeople presently utilising corridors will betargeted for awareness raising activities and incoordination with responsible authorities,permanent solutions for safeguarding the corridorssought together with the people involved.42

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceNorth Bank Landscape : A jewel in the crown of Indian ForestsA WWF report Biodiversity Assessment in the North Bank Landscape(NBL) has established that Forests of Assam and Arunachal are amongthe richest in biodiversity in the world. In a 200 sq meter plot WWFsurvey team recorded 107 plant species. This is second only to forestin Sumatra, Indonesia,The report states: “The NBL covers approximately 14,000 sq km ofthe Himalayan foothill region north of the Brahmaputra river, whichinclude parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, North Bengal, andBhutan. It may be mentioned that the area comprises a major part ofthe Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot.”The report prepared by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is basedon a survey done in technical collaboration with the Centre forBiodiversity Management (CBM), Australia, with support from theMacarthur Foundation and Smithsonian’s Centre for Research andConservation. Two teams from WWF, the Forest Departments ofAssam and Arunachal Pradesh, Wildlife Institute of India, and Botanical Survey of India, carried outthe appraisal of vegetation and large mammal habitats. As part of the study, fourteen sample locationswere studied.Along with the diverse range of plant species, the survey identified the NBL as a prime habitat forseveral endangered species including the Asian elephant, tigers, leopards, among others. Wildlifeexpert Andrew Gillison, who authored the report, described the NBL as “extraordinary…and a jewelin the crown of Indian Forests.” Surprisingly, it was only after the preliminary findings coalesced intoone whole, that the researchers could comprehend the true importance of the NBL as a concentrationof flora and fauna. The NBL has been described as a “strategic conservation zone”, and is part of aproposed wider conservation initiative of WWF in the Eastern Himalayas.This work will concentrate foremost on theprotected areas in the Manas Tiger Reserve(including Manas NP, Bornadi WS and overlappingChirang Ripu ER). This area has probablythe best lowland forest cover left in Assam. Ithas been largely inaccessible due to politicalunrest. In this period, all Indian rhinos havebeen poached out of Manas NP. But with therecent establishment of the Bodo TerritorialCouncil is in charge, the area has recently entered aperiod of rest. This has prompted authorities tostep-up law enforcement in Manas TR and ManasNP will be receiving Indian Rhinos within the nearfuture under the Indian rhino Vision 2020programme. The work proposed in this documentfor Manas TR feeds directly into theseinitiatives. Apart from providing equipment tothe Forest Department, the Programme willalso work with local people living in the vicinityof the protected areas in order to create abetter awareness of the conservation situation intheir area and to trail alternative livelihoodsources which ought to decrease dependency onnatural resources. For instance, Bodo youth areactively trying to promote eco-tourism in thearea; these are initiatives the Programme wouldlike to support. Also, working closely with theBodo Territorial Council provides an uniqueopportunity to ensure political commitmenttowards conservation.Other protected areas in the landscape will beassisted first of all by executing analyses of gapsin equipment, infrastructure and training needs.It is not foreseen that the programme will beable to assist all protected areas with filling43

Landscapes of Hopecorridor rehabilitation and securing protectedareas fronts, solid administrative and politicalsupport is needed. Therefore, the programmehas initiated dialogue with respective StateGovernment agencies. A Conservation ActionPlan has been drawn up for Tipi in ArunachalPradesh and submitted. The matter is underconsideration.NBL staff share information on government provisionsthese gaps. But at a minimum, the programmewill endeavour to assist the protected areas, incollaboration with the Assam Wildlife Areasand Welfare Trust (NGO), in preparing proposalsfor funding towards external donors.In order to achieve permanent solutions on theIn addressing the human pressures on elephantsand tigers in the manner outlined above, theProgramme works through a set of modules:· Human – Elephant Conflict Mitigation· Corridor and Habitat Rehabilitation· Supporting Protected Areas· Policy Formulation· Research· Awareness Raising· Programme Coordination and SupportThe different modules depend on each other butcan be supported separately by different donors iffinancial resources available are inadequate tosupport the Programme as whole. The policyand awareness raising modules cut across theMAP 2: Priority Areas in the North Bank Landscape44

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceother modules and this support human-elephantmitigation work etc. In this way, policy andawareness raising activities are focussed towardsachieving the wider programme’s objectives.The Wildlife Trade module will be handled byTraffic from the WWF headquarters in Delhi.In some fields, the North Bank LandscapeProgramme will be of assistance and benefit toother interventions in the North–EastHimalayas ecoregion. Planned human–elephantconflict mitigation work in the Kaziranga KarbiAnglong Landscape, for instance, will use thestrategies and set-up of the HEC mitigationmodel of the North Bank Landscape Programmeas a starting point. The work undertaken tosecure Manas National Park better, will benefitand is strongly linked to, the Indian RhinoVision 2020 under which Indian rhinos will betranslocated into Manas NP starting from 2007.Community Institution Building – The NBL ExperienceCommunity institution building (CIB) in NBL wasintegrated with the NBL elephant conservationstrategy in the year 2005 for enhancing communityparticipation in conservation efforts.In the process of trying out various models of CIB,the NBL programme designed a module oncommunity empowerment and mobilization andorganized a couple of workshops on training oftrainers (ToT) for the ADS members. The modulewas designed in consultation with North East SocialTrust (NEST), an organization working on grassrootempower-ment in Assam. The module consistedof sessions on social and political citizenship,Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), Right toInformation (RTI), various government schemes andprogrammes like PDS, IAY, NREGS.Unlike other community training programmes, it evoked considerable interest among some of the communitieson the issues discussed in the trainings. A steady flow of visitors with enquiries and requests related to the trainingswas noticed even when the HEC season was over. The Panchayati Raj institution is very important given itsconstitutional position and authority. With the understanding that loss of forest cover is also related to unemploymentand gainful engagement of the people, Panchayats under ideal conditions, are seen as a way of addressing some ofthe livelihood issues.In the mean time District Community Development Programme (DCDP), one of WWF partners and a communitybased organization in Behali area of Sonitpur came forward to cooperate with WWF-India in this venture whileThe Hunger Project sanctioned an amount of Rs. 5,34,570 for implementation of the proposed activity to DCDP.This financial assistance was for four months only, starting from September to December. The activities are nowunderway in 48 villages under six Panchayats in Sonitpur which mostly include village level meetings, street plays,media workshops etc.A series of activities are also planned for the newly elected members of the Panchayats in the coming year wherea stronger component of conservation and sustainable management of resources would be provided to influence thegrassroots level of governance.45

Landscapes of HopeChapter 7NILGIRIS EASTERN GHATS LANDSCAPEThere are three major thrust areas in NEGlandscape project. The activities addressed therein include: (1) reducing human-elephant conflict,(2) reducing biotic pressure, and (3)awareness building. The field office for thisproject was established in the year 2003. DuringSome highlights :• About 1250 local residents, belonging to312 families from nine forest and revenuesettlements benefited through livelihoodprogramme and erection of solar powerthe last three years, numerous project activitieshave addressed mainly the above mentionedthree issues which have emerged as the mostvital factors that need attention to secure thelandscape for the benefit of the elephant andother wildlife that share the same habitat. Letus first look at what has been the overall gainsince the landscape approach was adopted in2001.fence (as part of controlling human-elephantconflict) in the NEG landscapebetween 2001 and 2005 and thus, reducedthe dependency of these villagers on theforested areas.• Around 215 acres of agriculture lands wereprotected from crop depredation by wildanimals, especially elephants throughcommunity based mitigating measures, i.e46

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencesolar power fence in five forest settlementsbetween 2001 and 2005.• A large number of unproductive cattlewere removed from eight forest settlementsin the NEG landscape, throughWWF India-AREAS and U.S. Fish andWildlife Service funded projects. Traditionalgraziers and non-timber forestproduce collectors were encouraged toinvolve themselves in the participatoryapproach for eliminating cattle between2001 and 2005. With the reduction ofcattle from the NEG, the forest departmentminimized the issuing of grazingpermit and total ban on the collection ofnon-timber forest produce collection inselected areas.• Thirty-two males elephants were sightedbetween 2001 and 2005, indicating thehealthy trend of the population. Moresightings of males in the Greater MoyarValley Corridor (GMVC), perhaps relatedto the establishment of anti poachingcamps in several vulnerable locations ofthe landscape.• A number of agencies have been broughton board in the effort to create an awarenessprogramme on the management ofelephants in the NEG landscape.co-ordination of various institutions andinvolvement of policy makers in thecorridor management.• Success in creating an integrated approachto bring various government and nongovernmentagencies under one umbrellafor achieving the conservation goals ofelephant habitats in a large landscape likeNEG.A study finding clearly shows that the tigerpopulation is being re-established in the GMVC.The incidence of tigers getting back into itsoriginal home could be a sign of improvement ofprey base along with a good rate of vegetationrecovery.We discuss below some of the main activitiesand the philosophy behind them which helpedto produce the results enumerated above.Monitoring anti-Poaching camps insector one of the GMVCProtection measures were taken up in 2004-05with establishment of new anti-poaching campsand also renovating the existing camps in theNEG. Two camps (Mangalapatti and• Twenty-two workshops were conductedfor the local communities (graziers andnon timber forest produce collectors),represented by 562 individuals between2004 - 2005 to bring them under activedecision making role in the communityparticipatory approach. The workshopsfocused on the issues related to (i) meritsand demerits of the participatory project,(ii) necessity for weaning away the cattleand NTFP collection (iii) the significanceof the Moyar Valley (iv) conservation andmanagement programme (v) usage ofcorridors by elephants (vi) establishmentof alternate livelihood for various stakeholdersto reduce biotic pressure and (vii)47

Landscapes of HopeTABLE 1: ANTI-POACHING SUCCESSESa) Number of poaching camps destroyed: 4b) Encounter with poachers: 3c) Number of accused brought under court: 4d) Number of seizures: 4 (tusks 2; weapon 1; tiger skin 1; GiantSquirrel skin 1; tiger trap 1.)Gulithuraipatti) were established and the resultswere apparently visible in the recent months interms of encounters with the poaching gangs.Incidence of illegal activities prevented by theanti poaching field personnel after the establishmentof camps are presented in table 1.Other infrastructure facilities offered by theWWF India AREAS programme such as communicationnetwork (wireless sets, walkietalkies),vehicle (diesel jeep) and two motorcycles have also helped the elephant reserve ofthe NEG.Reducing Human-elephant conflict andbiotic pressure in sector one of theGMVC.Several activities were undertaken• Removal of scrub cattle by addressinglivelihood concerns of the graziers families• Removal of illegal wood gathering forcommercial exploitation and collection ofNTFP• Erection of an elephant proof electric fence.Stakeholders of the elephant reserve:GraziersA study under the project had focused on theimpact of scrub cattle and collection of nontimberforest produces on the Greater MoyarValley Elephant reserve. The cattle number wasmonitored besides their grazing impact indifferent areas.The impact of scrub cattle and its disturbance tothe elephant corridor was studied to demonstratesignificance of the community participatoryprogramme for elephant conservation inthe NEG. Forest settlements namelyBoothikuppai, Doddakombai, Hallimoyar,Kallampalayam, Kembarai, Sujalkuttai,Thengumarahada and Uppupallam in theGMVC were taken up for eliminating the scrubcattle (unproductive scrub animals).An elephant herd caught in tranquillityNumber of scrub cattle population owned byeach traditional grazier and cattle owner wascollected based on questionnaire to assess thepopulation from each focal village. The cattlepopulation was 4,593 during the 2001 survey.After the implementation of the incentiveschemes for the graziers, there was a decline inthe overall cattle population in almost all the48

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencevillages. Between 2001 and 2005 (March), thisnumber was almost halved in the focal studyvillages.The overall reduction of cattle from eight focalvillages within the elephant reserve of theMoyar Valley has significantly reduced thedenudation and maintained the integrity ofquality of elephant habitats. It has ensuredgreater availability and diversity of browsespecies to elephants, particularly regenerationand recruitment saplings of favoured foodspecies.Villagers received support under an incentivescheme belonging to six villages from June toMarch 2005. Funds from the WWF IndiaAREAS programme were used for creatingincome generation activities for the graziers. Acase report for each beneficiary (Incentive bond)was prepared based on bench mark survey. Theincentive scheme fund was distributed to eachmember to create livelihood scheme identifiedby them. Through this scheme, all the graziersbelonging to the six villages were proferred landbased activities as an alternate livelihood toenable them to drop traditional activity ofgrazing of scrub cattle.Indirect benefitThe prime goal of NEG landscape is to minimizethe human induced disturbance levels to“zero” for the benefit of various species. Wildlifein GMVC between Mangalapatti andBhavanisagar appears to have been badly affectedfor more than three decades because of theimpact of grazing pressures from cattle pennings,a livelihood scheme for specific pastoral nomadcommunities who manage huge numbers ofcattle inside the forests.Cattle penning used to be common in this tractuntil 1986. The severe impact of cattle populationin the elephant reserve directly influencedthe density of herbivore assemblages intominimum level leaving them in a localizeddistribution. With the result of poor density ofherbivore diversity coupled with the humaninduced threats, the tigers have practicallydisappeared from GMVC and forced to confinethemselves in the less disturbed areas of theNEG landscape (protected areas of Mudumalai,Bandipur, Nagarhole and Wayanad). TheAREAS programme has taken up variousmanagement oriented conservation measuresand that could indirectly benefit the tigers.One of the major activities of the AREASprogramme in the NEG landscape is to monitorthe density of herbivore assemblages (sambar,chital, blackbuck, Gaur) in the transect lines (9transects of each 2 km) laid permanently in theGMVC. Forest roads (total length: 97 km offour road transects) were also covered systematicallyto record both direct and indirect signs(scats, kills) of tigers. The evidence of tigersfrom Bhavanisagar to Sigur-Anaikatti tract isbeing monitored to document the possibility oftiger population getting back into its earlier losthome in the GMVC.Tigers were sighted by project field staff in threeoccasions on closer proximity to the forestsettlement areas between Kallampalayam-Gulithuraipatti-Doddakombai from where cattlepennings were removed with the help of theforest department. The occurrence of tiger scatsin various transect areas were systematicallyrecorded using the GPS co-ordination. Thus, theevidences of tigers were seen in the vicinity offorest settlement areas where the disturbancelevels were curtailed.Stakeholders of the elephant reserve:NTFP collectorsThe study on the community participatoryprogramme for elephant conservation hasenabled the forest managers to bring out theimpacts of NTFP on the GMVC. The outcomeof this study has helped to bring about changesin the management policy towards elephantconservation in the corridor site. The commonNTFP species collected in this area are; Albiziaamara, Azadirachta indica, Solanum tarvum,Sapindus emerginatus, Phyllanthus emblica andZiziphus mauritiana. Some of the NTFP species49

Landscapes of Hopeare eaten by elephants also. The over exploitationof selected species of NTFP and movementof villagers for collection confined and preventedthe free movement of elephants in the corridorareas.Forest settlements such as Kallampalayam,Gulithuraipatti, Hallimoyar and Ramaranaiwere selected to assess the impact of collectionof NTFP by the villagers. The aim was todetermine the extent of traditional villagersinvolved in the NTFP collection (Table 2).Surveys were made in each target village toidentify number of traditional NTFP collectorsdaily visiting the elephant corridor. The projectstaff accompanied the NTFP collectors duringtheir visit to the corridor. On most occasionsvillagers have to travel extensively to gathertheir choice of NTFP in relation to seasons.Only traditional NTFP collectors visiting thecorridor for collection were identified based ontheir total dependence so as to enable them toobtain incentive schemes.The intensity of collection of NTFP by maleand female was considerably varied in the studysite during the dry season. Generally, womencommunities have been involved more them-selves in the collection of NTFP than males. Thevillagers of Kallampalayam and Hallimoyar weremostly involved in the collection of NTFP.Among the tribal communities, the NTFP wasmostly targeted by tribal of Kallampalayam forestsettlements followed by Gulithuraipatti. Thevillagers from Ramaranai have also involved inthe collection of NTFP.The study revealed that only a few species werecommon. Those were; Prosopis juliflora, Albiziaamara, Hardwickia binnata, Commiphora caudata,and Bauhinia racemosa, and these species wereimportant food trees to elephant populationduring the migrating season. This clearly showedthat elephant corridor could also be subject tothreat because of the collection of NTFP. Theover exploitation of NTFP collection of a fewspecies shared by elephants would reduce theavailability of browse species to the pachyderm.It was found that there were fourteen species ofshrub species identified along the NTFP trails inthe Greater Moyar Valley Corridor, whichincluded six species used by elephants. Therefore,shrub varieties of NTFP are also important foodspecies to elephants and their regeneration andrevival might be affected by the impact of collectionof NTFP by the villagers apart from theimpact of grazing.Threat reduction: NTFPThe villagers from Kallampalayam, Hallimoyar,Ramaranai and Gulithuraipatti have abandonedtheir visit to the forests for collection of NTFP.The forest department also banned the collectionof elephant fruit tree species such as Tamarindusindica, Ziziphus mauritiana from the GMVC.The ban on NTFP collection from the crucialelephant corridor was an encouraging step by theforest department.Monitoring vegetationNEG staff engaging with NTFP collectorsTo assess the rate of vegetation recovery after theremoval of unproductive cattle, six one-hectareplots were laid with different treatments aroundthe vicinity of forest settlements.50

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceTABLE 2: TRADITIONALAL VILLAGERS INVOLOLVED IN THE COLLECTION OF NTFPFROMVARIOUS FOREST SETTLEMENTS (%).S. No Villages Male Female Total members(n) 71 (%) (n) 133 (%) (n)204 (%)1 Kallampalayam 32 45.0 76 57.1 108 53.02 Gulithuraipatti 16 22.5 27 20.4 43 21.03 Hallimoyar 13 18.3 18 13.5 31 15.24 Ramaranai 10 14.1 12 9.0 22 10.8The overall objective of the plant monitoringstudies was to assess the rate of vegetation recolonization,especially improvement of fodderspecies to elephants and to other herbivoreswith the reduction of scrub cattle. The followingvegetation treatment areas were establishedfor monitoring vegetation diversity and comparisonamong the plots.a) Control plots using solar power fence: Twoplots of one hectare in sizeb) Open plots with access to cattle grazing,herbivores and elephants: Two plots of onehectare in sizewere more in the plots where grazing by cattlewas common.With the impact of cattle grazing, the area hadmore barren surface without any plant cover.The herb cover re-colonized in a rapid mannerin the fenced plot and that had its negativeinfluence over the growth of grass cover andother shrub layer. This needs further monitoringand time scale to substantiate this finding. Lowoccurrence of plant weed in the fenced areacould be related to the total absence of grazingpressure by domestic and wild herbivores over aperiod of one year.c) Open plots with access to herbivores andelephants but without cattle: Two plots ofone hectare in size in each treatment plot.Variation in the plant diversity was noticedamong all the control plots. The data from thecontrol plot (fenced areas) could not be comparedwith the other two treatment areasbecause it was not totally accessible to grazing.A notable increase in the occurrence of treespecies was observed in the vegetation plotwithout cattle grazing. There was a marginalincrease in the availability of food species andfruit tree species to elephants in the sametreatment plots also. Shrub and grass cover interms of species richness was more in thetreatment areas of without cattle grazing thanother open site (Table).The treatment plot of without cattle grazing hasmore proportion of grass and shrub cover thanother plots. Herbaceous cover and weed plantsSharing information with the public51

Landscapes of HopeTABLE 3: STATUS TUS OF GROUND COVER IN VARIOUSTREATMENTTMENT AREAS AFTERTHE ELIMINATION OF SCRUB CATTLE IN THE NEG.S.No Ground cover variables Fenced Open plot Open plotControl plot (%) Without Cattle %) With Cattle(%)1 Grass 29.05 59.00 36.402 Herb 33.28 13.65 23.813 Shrub 8.69 8.95 6.154 Weed 10.60 12.35 16.135 Barren ground 18.38 5.15 17.37Human-elephant conflictOne of the major issues addressed by the projectbetween 2001 and 2004 in the NEG site was todevelop various mitigating measures towardshuman-elephant conflict in the selected forestsettlements. The Greater Moyar Valley Corridorwas chosen on a priority basis towards conflictmitigating measures. This issue was taken up byinvolving local communities in mitigatingmeasures of conflict in order to improve thestatus of the villagers and ensuring economicsustainability.The efforts are being continued as apart ofmonitoring exercise to assess the overall successof the human-elephant conflict containment.New forest settlements are being taken up foraddressing human-elephant conflict measures inthe extension phase of the project funded by theNEG AREAS programme.Community based solar power fence was donefor the forest settlements of Hallimoyar,Pudukadu, and Ramaranai in the NEG as part ofhuman-elephant mitigating measures. Some 215acres of agricultural lands were protected fromthe crop depredation by elephants; 235 familiesbelonging to three villages were directly benefitedthrough this management approach incollaboration with the Tamil Nadu ForestDepartment. Thus, the impact on the elephantreserve was dramatically reduced with thedevelopment of community solar power fencesfor the sensitive crop damaging areas.There was a dramatic variation in the visits byelephants to the crop sites before and after theerection of solar power fence among the focalforest settlement villages. Family herds weremore responsible for damaging the fence linesthan solitaries in all the fences irrespective ofvillages. After the fences, incidences of damagesto crops fields were absent for all the villages,except Hallimoyar. Poor maintenance could bethe reason for elephants’ attacking theHallimoyar fence.Nevertheless, the damage to the crop fields byelephant in the focal four tribal settlements wasreduced to a great extent. The economic benefitsto the villagers through the communitysolar power fences have generated a desireamong the local communities towards conservationof elephant and their habitats. This couldsolve the problems of crop damage by elephantsin the long run and that would indirectlyminimize the overall trend of man-elephantconflict issue.The success of the mitigation measures tocontain man-elephant conflict was evaluatedbased on the information furnished by the localcommunities before and after the erection ofcommunity solar power fence for the two forestsettlement villages. On the whole, it is shownclearly that the economic development of thelocal communities has notably improved withthe fences.The greater success of mitigating measures for52

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceTABLE 4: EXTENT OF CROP DEPRADATIONBEFORE ERECTING THE FENCEName of Total Visits Total damage DemographyVillages by elephants Incidences Familyoccurred herds MaleHallimoyar 1,049 618 34 12Pudukadu 130 87 7 0Gulithuraipatti 297 234 16 0Ramaranai 132 111 18 7Total 1,608 1,050 75 19AFTER ERECTING THE FENCEName of Total Visits Total damage DemographyVillages by elephants Incidences Familyoccurred herds MaleHallimoyar 126 97 11 2Pudukadu 0 0 0 0Gulithuraipatti 0 0 0 0Ramaranai 0 0 0 0Total 126 97 11 2reducing the crop damage by elephants throughinvolving the local communities have attractedmany other forest tribal settlements in theNEG Landscape to avail similar programmebenefits. This mechanism would help the forestdepartment to protect the elephant reserve inclose harmony with the local villagers in thelong-run. This could be an achievement interms of reducing the human-elephant conflictin forest settlements and thereby shift thevillagers’ dependence on the forest resources toland based agriculture activities.Water augmentation for ElephantReserve in NEGTo ensure water sources during the dry seasonfor migrating elephants in the GMVC, workwas done on ponds (creating new water holesand de-silting the old ones). The work wasexecuted by the NGO (The Nilgiri Wildlife andEnvironmental Association, Nilgiris). Wateraugmentation programme valued at $ 6500 wasexecuted between 2002 and 2004 for the benefitof migrating elephants in the GMVC. Theprovision of water sources for migrating elephantsin the GMVC during the dry season ispart of future vision. The internal fundingagencies from the Government of India andState Government will be approached for suchan exercise.Conservation and Awarenessprogramme: WorkshopsOrganizations involved in the workshops forlocal schools, village councils, and government53

Landscapes of HopeTABLE 5: THE WORKSHOP PROFILE (JUNE 2004 - JANUARARY 2005)Name of the Number of Number of Number ofvillages Workshops conducted people attended organizationsa) Hallimoyar 2 55 2b) Kallampalayam 4 165 3c) Thengumarahada 8 120 2d) Ramaranai 8 163 3Total 22 503functionaries included - Tamil Nadu ForestDepartment, Village Forest Council members,District Sericulture Department, AnimalHusbandry Department, District HealthDepartment, District Education Board.The following themes were discussed in theworkshop:• Role of elephants in the forest eco-system• Migration of elephants• Impact of development activities onelephant reserve• Involvement of local communities inmanaging elephant reserve• Necessity for weaning away the scrub cattle• Co-ordination of various institutions andinvolvement of policy makers in thecorridor management.Buffer Zone ActivityThe forest divisions of Nilgiri North,Sathyamangalam, Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary,and managed forests are prime locations forelephant population in the NEG. Buffer zoneactivities were carried out by the forest divisionsin order to minimize the forest dependence bythe villagers and to minimize human-elephantconflict. Activities such as land based schemes,livelihood schemes, and infrastructure facilitieswere provided to the forest settlements in theGMVC to reduce the people’s dependence onthe elephant reserve. Sericulture, fodder nurseriesand support with agriculture seeds havehelped poor families in the buffer zone speciallyto move towards self-reliance.Conservation of the Endemic Nilgiri tahrWWF along with like minded conservationists/agencies/institutions including the Tamil Nadu andKerala Forest Departments and NGOs have created a “Conservation Alliance” for ensuring long termsurvival of the Nilgiri tahr.The Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius/Nilgiritragus hylocrius) once abundant in the southern WesternGhats, now precariously survives in small mostly disjunct units southwards from the Niligiris tillKanyakumari Hills along the crest-line of the Western Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.Responding to the decline of the species even in the best of Protected Areas WWF has initiated effortstogether with the alliance partners. Initially the efforts will be towards identifying reasons for thedecline of the species and understanding patterns of habitat use.54

Chapter 8KHANGCHENDZONGA LANDSCAPE PROGRAMME(SIKKIM AND ADJACENT AREAS)In dedication to our commitment to Sikkim andthe high altitude region, the KL programmewhich commenced in 2005, looks at the goal ofmaintaining the biodiversity values and culturalintegrity of the Khangchendzonga Landscape inIndia.Overall targets1. By 2010 conservation strategies of keyspecies developedon species, ecosystems and people of thestate• By 2008 feasibility assessment of climatechange on glaciers• By 2010 Climate Change predictionmodel applied to Sikkim (based onoutcomes of above)• By 2010, habitats of key species mappedand ground truthed• By 2010, populations of key speciesestimated and their habitats mapped• By 2010, potential habitats andinterlinking corridors of key speciesidentified and strategies developed2. By 2010, 100,000 ha of PAs and criticalcorridors under effective and participatorymanagement• By 2010 capacity of PA managers andfield staff strengthened• By 2010 Strenthen and empower EcodevelopmentCommittees to playeffective role in PA management• By 2010 Committees in place for jointforest management strengthened forcorridor management .3. By 2010 raise awareness of key decisionmakers on the impacts of climate change55

Landscapes of Hope• By 2010 Communication and outreachstraegy developed• By 2010 recommendations for developingfuture adaptation strategies4. By 2010 illegal wildlife trade significantlyreduced in KL-India• By 2007 status of wildlife trade documentedin KL-India• By 2010 strengthen networks of keystakeholders for controlling wildlifetrade• By 2010 strengthen capacity of keystakeholders to control wildlife trade5. By 2010 HAW conservation in KL-Indiastrengthened• By 2010 at least 10 HAWs designated aswetlands of national or internationalimportance• By 2010 at least two community basedwetland management models in place• By 2010 Effective implementation ofstate guidelines for HAW conservation6. By 2010 Policy Recommendations supportingconservation and sustainable developmentin key gap areas• By 2008 Awareness on impacts of majorinfrastructure projects on Wildlife,ecocyctems and people• By 2010 a model policy on humanwildlife conflict is in place for Sikkim• By 2010 Potential for synergy betweenTraditional Institution and Conservationdemonstrated7. By 2010 enhanced knowledge and awarenessamong key stakeholders on conservationand sustainable development issues inthe KL-India• By 2010 Strengthen existing conservationcurriculum in secondary schools inSikkimThe elusive Red Panda• By 2010 ten public awareness events,functions and campaigns organized8. By 2010 innovative approaches to watershedmanagement involving benefit sharingmeasuring cover (50,000 ha)• By 2007 awareness & buying of keystakeholders on PES for watershedmanagement is built• Model for PES developed at selected siteby 2008• PES accepted at policy level by stategovt. by 2010The majestic Khangchendzonga56

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceSome achievements• Status and distribution maps of red pandain GIS domain : Data collection workinitiated in October 2005 and GIS workinitiated in January 2006, ground truthingwork ongoing.• Maps and forest cover with changes in thelast ten years along with key red pandahabitats and critical linkages are ongoing.• District maps and semi detailed maps ofcritical linkages : Maps collected, work willbe completed by December 2006.• Sikkim conservation alliance: Conservationalliance in place with the Forest,Enviroment and Wildlife ManagementDepartment (FEWMD), The Indian Army,other prominent NGOs like The MountainInstitute (TMI), khangchendzongaConservation Committee (KCC),Ecotourism and Conservation Society ofSikkim (ECOSS), Sikkim DevelopmentFoundation (SDF) etc. working for wildlifeconservation in Sikkim.• Maps and documentation illustrating thethreats to the landscape and possiblemitigation strategies: Documentation ofthreats related to forest fire have beendone, a short film has been made and burntpatch was mapped.• Field staff of two Protected Areas ofSikkim were trained for animal populationestimation• WWF-India along with TMI assisted theFEWMD for formulating the SikkimWetlands Conservation Policy that hasbeen notified by the state govt.• Communication materials for the users ofthe wetlands are being developed• Capacity building of the frontline field staffof the FEWMD, Sikkim Police and Customsand Excise Dept. being undertakenfor controlling wildlife tradeProgress of ActivitiesThe progress is discussed under the differentheads.1. Species conservationThe first species targeted in this landscape wasred panda and the work was initiated duringAug 2005. The field study of red panda habitatwas conducted at Maenam WLS (MWS) duringOctober-December 2005. Southern part of the35 sq km. Maenam WLS was surveyed followingplot-centred sampling technique tor vegeta-• Feasibility assessments for red panda ex-situconservation ongoing.• Assisted the Sikkim Forest Dept. inprepairing a work-plan for “conservation oflarge mammals in the state of Sikkim”• Published a report titled “People’s opinionon the impacts of Ban on Grazing in BarseyRhododendron Sanctuary, Sikkim, India”that eventually garnered support of thestate’s politicians to support the eviction ofcattle and cattle graziers from the ProtectedAreas.Typical landscape of Sikkim57

Landscapes of Hopetion data collection. The general vegetationtype, altitude, cloud cover and slope aspect datawere noted on the pre-designed datasheet. Treedata were collected from a plot measuring 10m x10m, these data included canopy cover, GBH oftrees and an estimation of height of the treesand also the flowering and fruiting of the trees.Species of trees were also noted. Similarly a3mX3m plot was selected for collection of shrubdata within which the percentage of shrubcover, shrub species along with shrub height,flowering and fruiting were studied. Further alm x 1m plot was selected for the study of(percentage) herb cover, herb species, herbheight and flowering and fruiting pattern of theherbs. Data were also collected for the occurrenceof wild animal species, based on direct andindirect sightings. Finally threat data were alsocollected from the same plot which includeddistance (km) to the nearest human habitation,distance to nearby ‘goth’ or shepherds hut andgrazing ground, number of cut and lopped trees,number of wildlife dropping piles and number ofcattle dung piles. Data collection exercise wascarried out along the existing trail and on bothsides of the trail up to one km, at every 200mwithin the southern part of the sanctuary.During 2006, similar field surveys were conductedat Barsey Rhododenrdon Sanctuary,Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary and southern partof Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP). Ashort study on the captive red pandas were doneat the Himalayan Zoological Park, Bulbulay,Gangtok. Coordinates were obtained from fieldusing the Garmin etrex GPS and data wasanalysed using Arc view 3.2 software. Shapefiles for the vegetation and contours of the areasurveyed were made which will be subsequentlymodified.WWF-India also collaborated with FEWMD,TMI, the Wildlife Institute of India, KCC andthe International Centre for Integrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD) for a survey of thebiodiversity in the northern part of the KNPduring Jul-Aug 2006. The prime focus was toobtain evidences of snow leopard and its preyspecies.Results of the survey:Habitat data collection was carried out frommorning throughout the day. In addition tothis, bamboo forest was also visited during dawnand dusk keeping in mind the repuscularbehaviour of red panda.Five broad vegetation types were identifiedwithin MWS, these were – sub-tropical forestdominated by Quercus sp., Castanopsis sp.andPrunus sp.; temperte forest dominated byRhododendron sp., Machilus sp.; bamboo forestwith Arundinaria sp., coniferous forest with fir,pine and Taxus sp. And sub-alpine forest withRhododendron shrubs and meadows – these fivetypes of forest were distributed within variedaltitudinal range between 2000m - 3100m.Among the tree data, canopy cover was highest(65%) in sub-tropical forest and was the least(38%) in sub-alpine forest.Shrub height was highest in sub-alpine forestthat was contributed to rhododendrons.Till the year 2000, MWS used to have morethan 50 odd shepherds’ (goth) huts locatedinside. However, a strong policy of the stategovernment, backed by the actions of thededicated forest staff and strong political will, allthe shepherds were relocated outside the sanctuaryby 2001. The cattle were driven out of theboundaries of the MWS. Remains of the gothscould still be seen within MWS. Therefore,illegal grazing apparently does not pose a problemat the southern part of the sanctuary.However, the movement of tourists in thesouthern part of the sanctuary through thebridle path from the check-gate on theRavangla-Ralang road to Maenam Monasteryand Bhale-dhunga might cause adverse impactson the wildlife and its habitat. The trail wasalso found strewn with waste materials leftbehind by tourists. This would need moremonitoring by the wildlife department especiallyduring the tourist season from March -May and October - November.58

Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary (BRS) iscontiguous with the Singalila National park inWest Bengal. Its western boundary along theSingalila range is also the international borderwith Nepal. The area in Singallila is a famoustrekking route bringing visitors from Indo-Nepal Border upto Phalut which forms the trijunctionbetween Sikkim, Sikkim and Nepal.The route from Phalut extends up toChewabhanjyang. BRS has very good purestrands of Rhododendron, mixed RhododendronSilver fir forest and large patches of oak forest.The survey was carried out in Nov-Dec 2006using hilley area as the base the entire area wassurveyed and data was collected on the vegetationas well as the animal presence. The rhododendronshere showed distinct altitudinalchanges. Apart from Rhododendrons other treespecies were also studied to understand thegeneral health of the forest in terms of vegetationaldiversity. Herb and shrub species werealso surveyed and the diversity was noted.Inspite of the fact that a wide area was coveredin this tour no red panda sign whether primaryor secondary was seen. It was also disconcertingto note that the last time a red panda wassighted in this area was a pair which had comeout during a forest fire. Last time a panda wassighted by the forest guards in this area undernormal circumstances was way back in 2001.The chief cause for worry is that though thehabitat at first see is almost too perfect for theanimal yet it remains so elusive. Given the factthat it being shy animal, chances of a directsighting is a matter of luck. But the simple factthat even scats or browsing signs are conspicuousby their absence adds to the problem. Morecareful assessment of the situation will be doneduring spring-summer of 2007.The area of KNP was surveyed in November2006 and January 2007. The historic trekkingtrail, Yuksam to Dzongri, was taken and area upto Tsokha as well Labdang and the trail toDungdang from Nambu. The chief aim for thesesurveys was to obtain any evidence for thepresence of red panda. Three evidences werefound in Dungdang in the form scats andpugmarks. These evidences were found amidstArundinaria aristata and Silver fir forests. Theentire area was snow clad and a surprise that theanimal has not gone down to snow-less patchesso late into winter. The most heartening facthere was that the two occasions during whichthis area was surveyed abundant evidences werefound and there were fresh pugmarks as well asfresh scats around suggesting the presence of aresident red panda population. in other areasthough excellent in terms of floral condition,the species were constantly conspicuous by theirabsence.During the trip to Green Lake areas of northernKNP, evidences of snow leopard was found inthe form of scat samples and remains of kills.Herds of prey species like blue sheep were alsofound. The survey came up with recommendationslike notification of species conservationzones and detailed survey on winter habitat useof wildlife and competition with cattle innorthern part of the state. Following these, astudy on the winter habitat use of wild anddomestic animals was collaborated with theWildlife Institute of India and a researcher andassistants are based in north Sikkim during thewinter of 2006-07. Preliminary results showrecent records of snow leopard and moderatedensities of its prey species.Work on mapping and change detection offorest cover is ongoing as it took some time inprocuring the satellite imageries and toposheets.As part of the ongoing work on red panda,experiences were shared with the landscapecoordinators from Arunachal Pradesh, Nepaland Bhutan and it was recognized by all concernedthat red panda is a focal species in theEastern Himalayas. A document on this linewas prepared and was sent to the Species Unitof WWF-International which finally resulted inred panda being selected as a WWF “PrioritySpecies” in the Eastern Himalayan Ecoregioncomplex.59

Landscapes of Hope2. PA managementWhile collaborating with the FEWMD, WWF-India arranged training for field staff of two PAs,namely Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary andFambong-Lho Wildlife Sanctuary by eminentwildlife biologist Dr. A. J. T. Johnsingh onwildlife population estimation and monitoring.WWF-India’s project officer (red panda) participatedin a capacity building tour to West Sikkimalong with the staff from The Mountain Institute,where they informed the villagers aboutthe threatened status of red panda, their habitatconservation measures, legal issues for contraveningthe Wildlife (Protection) Act of India,1972 etc. A meeting was also convened byWWF-India in order to prepare a strategy forlarge mammal conservation in Sikkim. Work isongoing to develop a manual for training thefrontline field staff of FEWMD on biodiversitymonitoring.3. Wildlife trade controlFour joint stakeholders’ meetings were organizedin Gangtok, Sikkim and Sukna,Darjeeling district, West Bengal in order to havea consensus about controlling wildlife trade inKL-India through collaborative efforts. It wassuggested that instead of conducting first-handintelligence gathering initially, stress will begiven in capacity building of the frontline staffof the enforcement agencies for controllingwildlife trade. The different activities plannedfor a period till mid-2007 was prepared andshared with relevant stakeholders in Sikkim andWest Bengal and an agreement reached. WWF-India also initiated investigation on extractionand trade in natural resources in the areas in andaround Nathula, East Sikkim District, Sikkimin collaboration with the FEWMD, Govt. ofSikkim. Wildlife crime data was collected fromForest Dept. in northern West Bengal (WildlifeDivision I and II). Technical training forwildlife crime control was provided to thesenior officials of relevant enforcement agenciesfrom Sikkim and northern West Bengal. Legaltraining for wildlife crime control provided tothe officials of different enforcement agencies inSikkim. Preparation of a brochure on wildlifecrime control is undergoing.4. High altitude wetlands conservationAs an initiative of the conservation coalitionwith the Forest Dept. and TMI, WWF-Indiaassisted in developing the “Guidelines for LakeConservation in Partnership with GramPanchayats and Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti’s(PSS) in Sikkim”, which is now notified by theGovernment of Sikkim. For GIS work fieldvisit and ground truthing along with lab-work isongoing. WWF-India also identified 11 lakes/clusters of lakes for long-term conservationintervention, preliminary data on biodiversity ofthese lakes have been collected. These lakes areGyamtshona, Gurudongmar and Seema Tshokain North district; Tamze cluster of lakes,Tsomgo Lake and Bidang Tsho in East district;and Lam Pokhari, Majur Pokhari, LaxmiPokhari, Sungmoteng Tsho and KhecheopalriLake in West district of Sikkim. Work isongoing for pubishing factsheets on these lakes.Information on the sacred and cultural values ofthe lakes collated. Tsomgo lake has beenidentified as the lake in need of urgent conservationintervention. A stakeholders meeting wasconvened in this regard, and work is ongoing incollaboration with the FEWMD for conservationof Tsomgo lake through participation of thelocal people.5. Policy supporting conservationWork was initiated during December 2006 forassessing the present status of human-wildlifeconflict in KL-India. Problem animals wereidentified by the villagers as wild boar, Asiaticblack bear, crested porcupine and rhesusmacaque. More public hearings and villagers’meetings in collaboration with TMI, KCC andSindrabong Khangchendzonga EcotourismSociety (SKES) is being undertaken till summer2007.60

Chapter 9KAZIRANGA – KARBI ANGLONG LANDSCAPE: CONSERVATION OF LARGEMAMMALSThe state of Assam is home to the endangeredAsian elephant, one horned rhinoceros andtiger. The gradual depletion of various naturalresources as well as habitat due to variousanthropogenic pressures is becoming threat tomany of these species of wildlife putting themto danger of extinction in the region. Shiftingcultivation, encroachments, developmentprojects are some important factors for fragmentationof natural habitat and isolation of wildanimal populations. Significantly, the conflictbetween wild animals and humans is alsoincreasing alarmingly in the state. WWF-Indialaunched the AREAS Programme to develop astrategy for conservation of these endangeredspecies and their habitats in specific sites acrossthe country.The North Bank Landscape in Assam( andArunachal Pradesh) in North East India wasselected as one of the priority conservation areasparticularly for Asian Elephants. The first phaseof activities has been successfully completed.This success in North-east India has inspired aserious effort to undertake another similarconservation programme in the south bank ofBrahmaputra particularly in Kaziranga-KarbiAnglong Landscape (KKL) area. The vision forthis landscape is to establish connectivitybetween the protected areas to facilitate themovement of large mammals (Asian elephant,one horned rhinoceros, and tiger). Issues linkedwith it include habitat loss, conflict sites, apartfrom other threats to landscape. A major fieldstudy was launched in KKL in 2005 which hasbrought out some critical information that canbe used for designing future conservation strategies.Local people are being involved in a big way inthis programme. The programme managers aretrying to develop a WWF’s highest for conservationGift to The Earth status for the landscapethrough the participation of local ethnic communities.Summary of the Project Findings1. The landscape provides a very good habitatfor the pachyderms.2. The foothills of the landscape are verymuch preferred by the elephants.3. The movement (traditional) of elephants inthe contiguous belt of forest in this landscape isunder severe threat at some critical sites (corridor)which needs immediate interventions forprotection.61

Landscapes of HopeQuarrying poses a constant threat4. If these critical sites of movement cannotbe protected immediately the elephant populationof the area is likely to get fragmented.5. The illegal logging and extraction of otherforest resources cause serious effect on wildlifehabitat.6. Insurgency continues to have its impact invarious pockets of the area.7. The forest department with poor infrastructure,fund and manpower is not able to play avital role for protection and management of theforest.8. People in the concerned localities are notinvolved in the protection and management ofthe forests and the animals.9. There seems to be a lack of awareness andconsciousness among the general populationregarding the value of the rich flora and fauna ofthe region.10. Support and cooperation from the localpeople is indispensable to carry out any conservationmanagement exercise in the landscape.11. The conflict between human and wildlifemostly with elephant is gradually increasing andparticularly prominent more towards the edgesof the identified landscape boundary. Golaghatdistrict has been identified to be the mostthreatened areas on the basis of conflict record.12. Community development programme isvery essential to improve the livelihood conditionof the people and ultimately initiatecommunity based conservation programmes.13. The development and activities of the teagrowers both small and large should be monitoredas they seem to have a large impact inmany good elephant habitats in the landscape.14. Encroachments are coming up in andaround some protected areas by ignoring thetemporal official eviction drives.A. Field ActivitiesNumerous field activities/surveys were undertakento generate the outputs/results till date.The field activities were undertaken to generatesix major types of results viz.,- document thestatus of distribution of major wildlife species inthe area by conducting a presence-absence studyfor three key mammal species- rhinoceros, tigersand elephants; document the vegetative diversityof the region; document the status ofhabitat contiguity and emerging threats byidentifying major tracks/corridors used byelephants; undertake ground-truthing exercise toderive the landcover/landuse status of the areafrom satellite data; and analyse the pattern ofhuman wildlife conflict in the area givingemphasis on the man-elephant conflict which isshowing an increasing trend in recent years.The presence/absence of wildlife in the landscapehas been primarily done for three majorspecies in the area, and a rapid survey techniquewas employed to obtain the findings. The studyon rhino has been mainly concentrated in areasadjoining Kaziranga National Park, Laokhowaand Burhachapori WLS. The study has beenmainly confined itself to finding out their rangeof movement by determining their presence in62

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencethe adjoining areas. Similarly, the presence oftiger has been tried to be determined eitherthrough reliable informants or by direct observationof signs. The study on elephants has beendone to find out their presence/absence indifferent parts of the landscape and also to findout areas/tracks popularly used by the elephantsfor moving from one forest patch to the other.The survey has been conducted either throughvehicular tracks or on foot depending on thepossibilities and ground situations. Duringtracks, signs of presence or absence have beengeo-recorded with global positioning system orrecords have been taken on a suitabletime/distance interval. The presence wasestablished on the ground by direct sighting,tracks, dung, feeding signs and body rubbingmarks on trees.The vegetation and forest types of the landscapewere studied through the direct field observationsand classified by following standardmethod of classification. The dominant plantspecies are identified to categorize the foresttypes.An attempt has been made to establish informationon habitat contiguity by looking into themovement pattern and habitat utilization by theelephants. Corridors used by elephants havebeen identified and established by identifyingpopular movement tracks used by elephants.The movement stretches have been identified inthe field and recorded with GPS to be mapped.The mapped tracks have been overlaid over theforest layer to find out the most crucial tracks /corridors in the landscape for further study andanalysis. Visible hurdles acting as obstacles inthe elephant tracks is also documented as andwhere possible. Developments affecting existinghabitats are also documented to develop conservationstrategies.Ground-truthing of satellite data is also beingcarried out to confirm the land cover mappedunder seven broad classes. A class based groundtruthingexercise has been conducted in abouttwo hundred locations all over the landscapebarring the central inaccessible areas.Human wildlife conflict has been studied byrecording the incidence of man and elephantconflict in different parts of the landscape. Theoccurrence of elephant raiding as a seasonalphenomenon along with the killing of humansand elephants has been recorded in the fieldwith the help of GPS to find out the pattern ofconflict. The intensity of the conflict has beenalso looked into by recording the frequency ofraiding instances over an area.B. GIS ActivitiesThe vector data on different layers of informationhas been generated from multiple sources.The base maps have been generated fromtopographic maps, forest department maps andadministrative boundary maps from governmentsources.The layers on water bodies, roads, railways,contour, etc., have been generated from informationavailable in topographic sheets coveringthe area. The notified Forest Area map showingreserve forest, proposed reserve forest, wildlifesanctuaries and national parks have been builtfrom multiple sources viz.- the topographicWood lots ready to be shipped out63

Landscapes of Hopemaps, forest department maps and governmentdistrict planning maps, etc. The base mapsprepared have been ground tested and the digitaldata has been generated using onscreen techniquein ArcGIS environment.Wildlife DocumentationElephant DistributionThe elephant population in the landscape isfound to be distributed unevenly over a majorportion of the area. The distribution is found toextend from Kaziranga National Park in thenorth of the landscape through the KarbiPlateau in the central portions to almost allparts of the landscape. The distribution probablyextends to the adjoining areas in the states ofNagaland in the south; to Kamrup (east andsouth-east) through the adjoining areas ofMeghalaya. The elephants generally inhabit theinter-mountain valleys and plains and movealong the foothill areas and the rivers crisscrossingthe landscape. The highest concentrationof elephants is observed within theKaziranga NP (1000+ population) and adjoiningareas towards the north. In the other areas agood distribution of elephants is observed aswell. Elephants in good numbers have beenobserved in the Nambor area in the west-centralpart and in the Lumding area in the south andsouth-western part of the area. Presence of agood number of elephant population are alsoobserved in and around the prominent forestareas namely Kollonga, Kheroni, Daldali,Dhansiri, Daboka and Kaki, to name a few.It is noteworthy that the pattern of distributionof the pachyderms has been changing during thelast couple of years. Many areas previouslypreferred by the pachyderms are experiencingvarious forms of anthropogenic pressure leadingto their movement in comparatively lessdisturbed areas. As an instance, the elephantpopulation in KNP area has immensely risen inthe last decade and tends to stay confinedwithin the park or areas adjoining.Elephant Movement & Corridor IdentificationThe increasing population pressure and variousIDENTIFIED ELEPHANT MOVEMENT TRACTS IN KAZIRANGA KARBIANGLONG LANDSCAPE1 Kanchanjuri - Ruthe Pahar 9 Haldibari – North Karbi Anglong2 Lumding – Langting Mupa 10 Burapahar - Bagser3 Lumding – Amreng 11 Panbari – Dolamara4 Kaki – Lumding 12 Rangsali – Deopahar5 Longnit – Marat Longri 13 Nambor WLS - Nambor west block6 Lumding – Barlangfar 14 Khonbamon - Daldali7 Marat Longri – Dhansiri 15 Daldali - Dhansiri8 Upper – Lower Doigurung64

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existencedevelopmental activities have fragmented andshrunk the many natural suitable forested areasfor elephants and other wild animals in thelandscape. Being a foraging animal, elephantstend to maintain some of their traditional tracksfor their movement. The Kaziranga NationalPark has contiguity with the forested areas ofKarbi Anglong, Golaghat and Nagaon districtsin the landscape. As per historical recordselephant herds traveled through long distancesin this landscape to even move into forestedareas in Myanmar through Nagaland to the east;and also towards the west to Meghalaya. Butsuch long prominent movements are not beingobserved now. The movements though seemsto follow the same alignment and pattern and iscurtailed to smaller portions/stretches connectingtwo popular habitats as observed in the fieldtill present.It is observed that the elephants from KazirangaNational Park generally prefer to use fiveprominent tracks through which they movesouthwards to other parts of the landscapeduring flood/rainy seasons and also during theharvesting period. For moving to the adjoininghabitats/forests in the southern portions ofKarbi Anglong and adjoining districts theyusually prefer three portions to cross the nationalhighway (NH 37) for their temporal/seasonal migration. The elephants from the parkalso move along the two banks of the riverBrahmaputra to the adjoining areas and inhabitthe river islands as well: they also often crossthe river to enter the north bank areas nearPanpur as well.period. The monitoring of elephant movementhas been started in some of these critical areaslike Panbari-Dolamara, Kanchanjuri, Hojai-Kumurakata, Lumding-Kheroni area, etc.Rhino DistributionThe Indian one horned Rhinoceros prefers theflood plains of Brahmaputra River with thealluvial grasslands of some particular areas inTwo major trends of movement are believed toexist in the landscape – one from KNP areathrough the internal areas in Karbi Anglongupto Intaki NP in Nagaland through Namborand Dhansiri; the second from the KNP areathrough the internal areas in Karbi Anglongupto Meghalaya through Doboka, Kaki,Lumding and Kollonga.The major critical elephant movement track/corridors have been identified during the study65

Landscapes of HopeAssam. The distribution is not continuous dueto their unique habitat type and presently thedistribution is restricted to a few protected areaslike Kaziranga National Park, Orang NationalPark, and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Once theManas National Park, Bura Chapori WLS andLaokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary were givingshelter to a good number of rhinos which werepoached and caused a sharp decline of thepopulation. But it is still good rhino habitat.Rhino is still recorded to inhabit the BuraChapori and Laokhowa WLS.In the landscape the movement of rhinos ismostly restricted to the areas under KazirangaNational Park and adjoining areas. Occasionallythey move eastwards up to Dergaon-Kumargaonarea and also westwards up to areas nearLaokhowa and Burha Chapori WLS in Southbank of Brahmaputra. Rhinos also at timesmove northward from the sixth addition areasunder KNP and also has records of movingnorth to Gohpur area in the North Bank of theriver Brahmaputra. Outside the KNP themovement of rhinos is verified at the nearest teagardens like Burapahar, Methoni, Hatikhuli,etc. which is preferred during the high flood andeastward movement at Dhansirimukh, Dergaonand Khumtai in South Bank and Gohpur inNorth Bank. The south and south-west movementis recorded from Dolamara, Ruthe Pahar,Salona and Parkup Pahar area towards KarbiForaging elephantsAnglong district.Tiger DistributionThe landscape has a good spatial distribution oftiger population as the records show. Theconcentration of tigers is highest in the areaunder Eastern Assam Wild Life Divisioncovering Kaziranga National Park (85 as per2001 census) within the wildlife divisions in thearea. In terms of the territorial divisions thehighest number of tigers is recorded in KarbiAnglong (East) followed by Hamren.Habitat Loss and EncroachmentFrom field surveys the intimidating issue ofhabitat loss has come to light in different partsof the landscape. The severity is perhaps moreperceptible in the adjoining areas of NamborNorth, Dayang and Kaki. If the new settlementsin the forest areas (encroachments) arenot controlled, and vegetation rejuvenated, thesituation can be devastating in near future. Theshrinkage in vegetation cover has resulted infragmentation of the forest which was contiguousin the past. Equally threatening to thelandscape are the settlements on the foot hills,which are otherwise movement tracks ofelephants. Serious human elephant conflicts arein store for the future if nothing much is done.Shifting cultivation on the hill slopes, particularlyin the districts of Karbi Anglong and N.C.Hills is another issue that demands immediateattention. Moreover, people have also started topractice commercial farming in the hill slopesby cultivating horticultural crops. Apart fromrapid loss of primary forests, the aspect of soilerosion also must be taken care of promptly. .Further, logging is taking its own toll on thewhole scenario and rapidly changing the landcover. The recent rise in quarrying activities inthe areas adjoining KNP, Longnit and manyother parts have caused enormous harm particularlyto the elephants as these are near or alongthe movement tracks. The commercial extractionof bamboo and expansion of tea gardens arealso posing a threat to the animal movement,and their habitat in general.66

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceHuman wildlife conflict in the landscapeThe occurrence of Human-Elephant Conflict(HEC) has been increasing in many parts ofAssam. In many places crop raiding has increaseddrastically in areas surrounding protectedelephant habitats. The areas in KKL are noexception to this phenomenon. Perhaps themost prominent reason is the shrinking ofelephant habitat and its fragmentation intopockets. The cases of conflicts are gettingintensified, and newer areas are experiencing thephenomenon. This has been listed as a threathere, as elephant conservation programmesworld over is facing the greatest challenge fromthis particular aspect. The incidence of HEC hasbeen identified to be more prominent anddecisive in some areas under Golaghat,Silonijan, Bokajan Lanka, Lumding, Kathiatoli,Doboka, Hojai, Nambar, Salna, Parkup Pahar,Silanijan, Manja and Kheroni forest rangeswithin the landscape.Indian Rhino Vision 2020:The study on the habitat suitability for apotential rhino habitat within Assam wasinitiated in the Dibru-Saikhowa NP in thebeginning of the KKL programme. Thisinitiative drew the attention of the departmentof Environment and Forests, Governmentof Assam and a new governmentprogramme i.e. the Indian Rhino Vision 2020(IRV 2020)was launched. The objective: “Toincrease the total rhino population in Asom Statefrom about 2,000 to 3,000 over the next 15 years(i.e. by the year 2020) and to ensure that theserhinos are distributed over at least 6 ProtectedAreas so that long term viability of an Assammeta-population of Indian rhinos is assured.”WWF-India in collaboration with InternationalRhino Foundation is extending allpossible support to the Assam Governmentfor the IRV 2020 (see page 68).The major conflict hot spot areas have beenidentified as Golaghat – Silanijan and Hojai –Kheroni areasTHE KAZIRANGA CHARTERConservationists from the world over came together at Kaziranga National park to celebrate onehundred years of its continuous conservation successes. The event was the Kaziranga CentenaryCelebrations. The conservationists reaffirmed their commitment for securing Kaziranga’sbiodiversity for posterity.The conservationists recognized the need to look beyond Kaziranga NP for it long term survival andrecognized that the landscape of Kaziranga – Karbi Anglong as part of a globally recognizedbiodiversity hot spot. WWF has been working in this landscape and this recognition of Kaziranga –Karbi Anglong Landscape as a single entity from the conservation community and the Governmentof Assam was a major win.The Charter also recognized the Indian rhino as the flagship species of Kaziranga, and that ensuringthe long term survival of which is a continuous challenge. WWF efforts towards meeting thischallenge got a gain in from the Government of Assam on recreating rhino populations I areas wherethey have been exterminated. This another major win at Kaziranga Centenary Celebrations has nowgrown into the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 programme that has an objective of increasing rhinonumbers in Assam to 3000 in seven of its protected areas67

Landscapes of HopeINDIA RHINO VISION 2020 (IRV 2020)The Vision: Attain a population of 3000 wild rhinos inAssam distributed over seven of its PAs by the year 2020The projectThe conservation of Indian one-horned rhino(Rhinoceros unicornis) in Assam and Indiahas been a great success. In 1905, numbersof the species in Assam had declined to10-20 rhinos in Kaziranga National Park.Through strict protection, this population hasrecovered to over 1700 individuals. A smaller(about 100) but still secure and growing populationof rhinos also occurs in Pabitora WildlifeSanctuary.However, the conservation of rhinos in Assamhas also had major problems and setbacks.Restriction of 85% of the rhinos to a singleProtected Area in Kaziranga exposes the speciesto stochastic risks. The population inPabitora has already exceeded carrying capacityand the population needs to be reducedboth to protect the habitat and to mitigate theincreasing human-rhino conflicts as animalsmove into agricultural areas. Moreover, a significantpopulation of rhinos was exterminatedin Manas National Park during the 1990s inthe wake of a poor law-and-order situation andethnic conflicts. Likewise, poaching has eliminatedthe species from Laokhowa, whichonce contained 50 plus rhinos. Moreover, thepopulation in Orang has been reduced to fewerthan 40 with the threat still looming largeHence, there is a need to:(1) improve security in all rhino areas inAssam(2) expand the distribution of rhinos toreduce the risks of stochastic catastrophes(3) reduce the population in Pabitora sothat it is within the ecological andsociological carrying capacity of theReserve. The sociological carryingcapacity is the number of rhinos that aprotected area can sustain withoutsignificant human-rhino conflict.Objectives:The vision of the programme is to increasethe total rhino population in Assam from about2000 to 3000 by the Year 2020 and just assignificantly ensure that these rhinos are distributedover at least 7 Protected Areas (PAs)to provide long term viability of an Assammetapopulation of rhino.68

Landscapes of Hope : Confrontation to Co-existenceThe overall vision of the programme envisagesthe following objectives:• Improving protection of rhinos in all therhino areas.• Translocating rhinos from two sourcepopulations (Kaziranga and Pabitora)into 3 or 4 target Protected Areas(Manas, Laokhowa – Buracharpori –Kochmora, Dibrusaikhowa, and possiblyOrang). (Orang still has a nucleusof 20-40 rhinos and may be able toachieve its target population of 100through improved protection).The first phase of the programme involvingboth the above objectives will require threeyears (July 2005 to June 2008) of intensivefield work and will entail:• Improvement of rhino protection in allsource and target protected areas• Translocation of 20-30 rhinos fromPabitora and Kaziranga to ManasNational Park where they will be protectedand monitored.The task force for translocation of rhinos withinAssam Department of Environment and Forests,Government of Assam, Dispur,Guwahati• Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam (Chairman)• A representative from MoEF• Representative of State Board ofWildlife• Chairperson of WWF India Arunachaloffice• Representative of Aaranyak(NGO)• Representative of Deptt. of Botany,D.R. College, Golaghat• Representative of Forest Department,Assam• The Forest Officers in charge of theProtected Areas bearing Rhino• DGP, Assam• Representative of Wildlife Institute ofIndia, Dehradun• Coordinator AREAS programme,WWF-IndiaIMPLEMENTING AGENCIESThe Indian Rhino Vision 2020 will be implementedby the Department of Environmentand Forests of the government of Assam. TheBodo Autonomus Council will be an activepartner in the programme. The programmewill be supported by WWF-India, WWF AR-EAS (Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy)Programme. The International RhinoFoundation (IRF), Save the Rhinos Campaignof Zoological Institutions worldwide and a numberof local NGOs.69

Landscapes of HopeProtected Area SupportTo ensure better protection and management of wildlife,WWF-India has a component called the Protected Area(PA) Support under which, infrastructural support isprovided to the Forest Department and its staff.Even though the name suggests that this component is forPAs (National Parks and Sanctuaries) only, the ambit ofthe programme also includes Forest Divisions which havenot been declared as PAs, but contain critical wildlifecorridors.Over the past ten years, a support of more than Rupees eighty million have been provided to theForest Department covering more than 53 areas in 15 states of India including major National Parks,Tiger Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries.The major infrastructural support provided under this component include jeeps, trucks, motorboats,tractors, motorcycles and cycles for patrolling, Wireless sets, handsets and mobile phones for bettercommunication and camps, check-posts and other infrastructureto ensure better presence of Forest Department staff todeter poacher. To improve the motivation of the field stafffor better execution of their duties, WWF-India is providingfield dress, shoes, winter jackets, torches and searchlights,water-bottles, raincoat, binoculars, field guides and books,etc. Facilities such as solar panels, mosquito nets, tents andcamping gear helps in providing better living conditionsinside the forests, thereby elevating the morale of the fieldstaff. Funds for monsoon patrolling is also being providedunder this programme.Pankaj Sarmah Memorial Centre for Wildlife ConservationIn a significant decision taken on the 3 rd of November 2006, Darrang College and WWF Indiadecided to create a facility at Darrang College to train young students in wildlife conservationand prepare them for making a career in conservation of nature. In a meeting held after thememorial service to celebrate the life of Pankaj Sarmah who was working with WWF India inAssam and had studied in Darrang College, the SG and CEO, WWF India and the Principal ofDarrang College decided to create such a facility in his memory.Pankaj was associated with North Bank Landscape (NBL) Conservation Programme since 21 stJune 2001 and was one of the earliest recruits in the programme. He expired on 3 rd October2006. To recognize his service to conservation, a memorial in his name was planned which willbe a Centre of learning for students in the field of conservation. Pankaj was a student ofDarrang College, Tezpur, where he is fondly remembered.An MoU has already been signed between WWF India and Darrang College where WWF Indiahad committed financial support for creation of infrastructure including construction ofclassroom, library and computer facility in addition to provide software support like guestfaculty and assistance in field activities. Darrang College will run the facility with its existingfaculty and all other in house support. Initially a three months post graduate certificate courseon Wildlife Ecology will be provided for couple of sessions for which syllabus has been finalized.However, a full fledged two years Diploma course on Wildlife ecology is also underconsideration.70

gi pi ga to vai ki ta gan tsi 89 gi san ta gan tsiTomé un remedio que era muy amargo el que regurgitéy vomité todo.• Cuando aparece con -av contr., junto con -aa 1 ret.,tiene los siguientes significados: hacer regresar al lugarde origen, mandar de regreso; rechazar a alguien queha llegado, rechazar un regalo. Pai ra ni ikenkitsataganima tsi gen ka ipo ka ve ta ka ipo nia ka pa ri ko ti,im po ikisavunkani yogipigavaagani ikantunkani:“¿Ta ta pagakera pi po ka ke ra aka?” Se cuenta quehace mu chos años un hombre que era de otra par tevi no, y luego fue maltratado y mandado de regreso yle dijeron (lit. fue dicho): “¿Pa ra qué has venido aquí(lit. qué vas a coger viniendo aquí)?”V. o 1 - Apén. 1; pi ga gan tsi 1 ; ken ki tsa ta gan tsi 1 .gi pi ga to vai ki ta gan tsi {yo gi pi ga to vai ki ta ke ro} vt.hacer con lengüetas en ambas direcciones. Yo gariyo ve tsi ki ra apa icha ko pi te to vai ki rin tsi, on tiyo gi pi ga to vai ki ti ro, iro ro ta ri iken tu ma ta ke rapo shi ni ri te ra ira ga vee in tso kie ro ra. Cuando mipapá hace una flecha con lengüetas, la hace con laslengüetas en ambas direcciones, así que cuando apenasda un flechazo a un animal de caza, (el animal)no puede sacarla.|| {ogi pi ga to vai ki ta ka} vr. tener lengüetas en ambasdirecciones. Oga ri ove tsi ka ga ni ra to vai ki rin tsi,on ti oto vai ki ta ka ai ki ro ogi pi ga to vai ki ta ka, nerotyo an ken tan tem pa ro ra, ga ra ya ga vei in tso kierora. Cuando se hace una flecha to vai ki rin tsi, (sela hace con) las lengüetas en ambas direcciones, dema ne ra que cuando flechamos (un animal) con ella,él no puede sacarla.V. gi pi ga gan tsi, to vai ki rin tsi.gi raa ta gan tsi 1 {yo gi raa ta ke ri} vt. dar líquido aalguien poniéndolo en la boca con algo. Iman tsigava ge ta na ke no ji me ka ran ki te ni geen ka, te raise ka taem pa, on ti no gi raa ta va ke ri oa ni. Mi esposoestuvo gravemente enfermo hace tiempo, de ma neraque no comía sino que le daba líquidos (con unacuchara).V. óa ni.gi raa ta gan tsi 2 {yo gi raa ta ke ro} vt. enrojecer, teñir derojo, manchar con algo de color rojo. In kaa ra otagiava ge ta ke no shin to ovo tso te ogi raa pa ko ta ke roako ku. Endenantes mi hija estaba quitando la cáscaraa su achiote, y las manos se le mancharon de rojo.V. o 1 - Apén. 1; ki raa ta gan tsi.gi rea gan tsi {yo gi rea ke ri} vt. despertar, interrumpir elsueño (lit. hacer abrir los ojos). Oku ta gi te ta ma nai raomi rin ka, no gi reai ga ma nai ri no to mie gi iri mu vageiga ma na ke na ra. To dos los días cuando amanece,despierto a mis hijos pa ra que me ayuden por lamañanita.V. o 1 - Apén. 1; ki rea gan tsi.gi re pe ga gan tsi {yo gi re pe ga ke ri} vt. cortar en pedacitos.Po gi re pe ga ke ri ra ata va ka me ti iro gon ketakem pa ni ri, po kai ga ke ta ri to vai ni ma tsi gen ka.Corta la gallina en pedazos chicos pa ra que alcance,por que han venido muchas personas.gi ri má shin tsi {igi ri ma shi} inan.pos. na riz.V. ví shi ria.girimashireagantsi V. tan ta rea gan tsi 1 .gi ri ma shi ren ka gan tsi {yon ki ri ma shi ren ka ke ri} vt.golpear en la na riz. Iki sa va ka ga ka no to mi yon kirima shi ren ka ke ri iri ren ti yo mi ra ga ke ri. Mis hijosestaban peleando, y uno de ellos golpeó al otro en lana riz y lo hizo llorar.|| {yon ki ri ma shi ren ka ka} vr. golpearse en la na riz.Cha pi non ka raa ka non ki ri ma shi ren ka ka ¡tya rika!,okan ta va ge ta na ke no ri raa sha ra ra, te ra tyoon ka raa gae. El otro día me caí al suelo golpeándomeen la nariz: salía mucha sangre sha ra ra y noparaba (lit. no se cortaba).V. gi ri má shin tsi; -renk 4.8.3.11; tan ta ren ka gan tsi.gi rin kaa ta gan tsi [del ashán. ki rin ka] {ogi rin kaa taka}vr. haber una bajada o pendiente muy inclinada(p.ej. en un río o arroyo). An ta ri anon kaa ta ra niaiko no ga ga ran tai ga on ti ikan tai gi ro ogi rin kaa taka.Cuando el río pasa por una bajada, algunos dicenogi rin kaa ta ka.V. ki rin ka, óa ni; non kaa ta gan tsi.gi rin ka va tsa ta gan tsi [del ashán. ki rin ka] {ogi rin kavatsa ta ka} vr. haber una bajada o pendiente muyinclinada (en la tierra). An ta ri anon ka va tsa ta raki pa tsi, iko no ga ga ran tai ga on ti ikan tai gi ro ogirinka va tsa ta ka. Cuando hay una bajada en la tierra,algunos dicen ogi rin ka va tsa ta ka. Cha pi no no shikake ro no vi to, on ti no ga paa ke ro ogi rin ka va tsataka ra, ka ma ni no ga tea ta ke ro. Ayer jalé mi canoa(del monte) y la puse en la bajada; mañana voy aponerla en la orilla.V. ki rin ka, ki pa tsi, non ka va tsa ta gan tsi.gi sa gan tsi {yo gi sa ke ro} vt. atizar. Po gi sa ke ro ra tsitsi,om poa ma ta na ke ra pon ko ta ke ra se ka tsi. Atizala candela, y cuando arda, cocina yuca.▪ no gi sa ke ro no ri shi me gol peé el cóc cix (lit. me ati céel rabo). Non ka raa ka no po nia va ge ta ka eno ku nogisa ke ro no ri shi. Caí sentada de muy alto (lit. caí demuy alto y me ati cé el rabo).gi sa ma ni ta gan tsi {yo gi sa ma ni ta ke ro} vt. demorar,esperar un tiempo, dejar pa sar un tiempo (lit. hacerque sea mu cho tiempo). An ta ri on ken tae ra itseiton to ri, agi sa ma ni ta ke ro ri ka maa ni, ga ra agaveairo an tso kiae ro ra. Cuando se nos meten lasespinas del puerco espín, si nos demoramos un rato(en sacarlas), no podremos sacarlas.V. o 1 - Apén. 1; sá ma ni.gi san ta gan tsi {yo gi san ta ka ri} vtr. defenderse o protegerseacompañándose con algo o alguien o llevándoloconsigo. Na ro no gi san ta ka ro eria pa, iri po kakeri ka ma tson tso ri iro ro non ton kan ta va kem pa ri,on ti ri cha ko pi ai ki ro ogi san ta ga ni. Yo llevo miescopeta pa ra defenderme, (porque) si viene unjaguar con esto lo puedo matar, y también se llevanflechas pa ra que uno se pueda proteger.♦ Tradicionalmente, era costumbre, especialmente entre las mujeres, no ir solas a nin gu na par te sin llevar a un compañero o auna compañera pa ra protegerse contra los espíritus malignos quese creía podrían atacarlas y hacerles mu cho daño y aun matarlas.

Landscapes of HopeChapter 10SOME THOUGHTS ON THE WAY FORWARDThe landscape programme started in 2003 after aperiod of groundwork which involved widestakeholder consultations, setting up field officeswith suitable staff and, most importantly,achieving a level of local acceptance. Theteething problems at this stage were in themselvesa learning process. The programmegradually grew and evolved to cater to a muchwider scope and focus than what was conceptualizedearlier. This document attempts to givean insight into the strengths and weaknesses ofour activities undertaken in the field and also todraw a tentative roadmap for the future. Thisdocument also stand a testimony to the dedicatedfield staff, whose hearts lie in conservationand who draw immense satisfaction for beingable to garner a change in the area, which theycan see it for themselves on a day to day basis.Wildlife conservation through the landscapeapproach is indeed a complex and tortuous pathto the ultimate goal. India‘s size and diversity interms of cultures, faiths and beliefs, languages,and lifestyles is ironically often as much a baneas it is a boon. Add to that the priorities ofpoverty reduction and controlling a burgeoningpopulation. This gives an idea of the canvas onwhich WWF‘s wildlife programme is beingcarried out. The landscapes being envisaged tobe covered are large and the presence ofWWF-India’s activities is restricted to only asmall fraction of these landscapes. Therefore, asthe sum of what the lessons have been till now,wisdom dictates that one should look at thepresent projects as pilots or demonstrativeprojects with a portfolio of micro level activitiesthat may be replicated in similar situations andcircumstances on a larger scale. But despite thelimited availability of resources and infrastructureat its disposal, the impact of the activitiesof WWF-India’s work on the ground is substantialand exemplary.While each landscape has its own uniqueproblems and prospects, there are some broadcommon goals which emanates from the overallmission: To create contiguity of habitat for thetiger, rhino and elephant and secure their futurewith the support of populations that share thesame habitat.It is obvious that winning the confidence oflocal people through a mix of livelihood security,welfare activities and awareness buildingand converting them to partners in conservationis the most critical component for the success ofthe programme. The experience till now hasbeen varied and highly educative. While Specificactivity has done well in one area it has notachieved the desired results in another. Some72

Co-Existence with Wild Life : The Way Forwardactivities showed great promise initially but forvarious reasons petered out subsequently. At thesame time some activities have generatedtremendous enthusiasm and cohesiveness in thelocal population leading to perhaps indirect butsustainable impacts. It is now time for reflectionand introspection which can help us assess tosome extent our level of success or failure. Bethat as it may, one thing is clear - in the Indiancontext, the period of hand holding for ambitiousprojects of this kind has to be long,preferably 6-10 years. And the process of withdrawalneeds to be as carefully planned andexecuted as the process of initial intervention.SUNDARBANSIn the vocational training component thesupport with sewing machines for tailoring ofdifferent products did not succeed initially as itcould not compete in the market with massproducedgoods. The beneficiaries were thenasked to produce simple products for the localmarket. They are also making mosquito nets forstaff of PAs for which subsidy through directorders is coming from the project. This activitycan sustain if products are made to cater to thelocal market or demand. The activity of medicinalplants through a project supported nursery,is also a partial success as it has not taken off asexpected. However, it is likely to meet demandfor popular Ayurvedic medicines in the futureand therefore should become a sustainableenterprise if properly managed. Both theseexamples need us to improve our processes formarket linkage in local areas so as to furtherassist the commuity.TERAI ARC LANDSCAPEThis landscape is a good example of the reducingthe dependence of local people on naturalresources that can be brought about by workingclosely with them. The field offices in thelandscape have clearly established their own roleas that of a catalyst that would help to show thepath for economic emancipation of the localpopulation, while at the same time garner theirsupport for biodiversity conservation. Whilesupporting the conversion from fuelwood toLPG through a partial subsidy, the programmeis giving additional incentive for educating girlsto ensure they spend less time in the forests. Animportant insight that has been gained is thatsmaller groups like Self Help Groups (SHGs) aredoing better than Village Development Councilswhich are larger and more formal bodies andthus vulnerable to internal conflicts. The SHGsare empowering the local villagers, especiallywomen groups, to become self-reliant therebyreducing the time that they spend in the forestareas for fuelwood and fodder collection. Constantinteraction on common platforms hasbrought the forest department and the villagerscloser with a better understanding of eachothers’ perspective.A noteworthy achievement in the region hasbeen the establishment of an effective intelligencenetwork which has had a dramatic impactin increasing proactive action against poachingas also the number of seizures. It is critical thatthis network is nurtured and sustained. Theongoing interim scheme for loss of cattle as alsoex gratia for human casualties or injuries hasproven that prompt action with partial compensationis more effective in preventing retaliatoryaction against wild predators. It is imperativethat villagers have the firm belief that others(including government agencies) care for theirlife and property. But a stable mechanism forreplacing the interim scheme needs to be found.A variety of methods are also being tested outby villagers to protect their crops and property.An electric fence more than nine kilometerslong, has been erected with contribution fromthe community and the maintenance of thefence is being undertaken by them. This probablyone of the longest functional electric fencein the country for wildlife management. TheTAL team is very keen on strengthening localbodies and bringing concerned governmentbodies on board for a common cause. This73

Landscapes of Hopewould ultimately make for sustainability a longterm sustenance.SATPUDA MAIKAL LANDSCAPEThe success of this landscape hinges aroundworking in close cooperation with the localpeople and the Forest Department. While theproject is working towards providing betterlivelihood opportunities to the local villagersthrough a host of income-generating activitiessuch as mushroom cultivation, lac cultivation,poultry, piggery, fisheries etc. the basis is also toreduce the dependence of the local villagers onthe forest resources. The other interventionssuch as providing them with improved chullahs(stoves) for better utilization of fuelwood collectedimproved honey collection methods,where the honey is drained through a small cutmade in the hive so that the hive can continueproducing honey on a long term basis areexamples of initiatives of how forest produce canbe harvested sustainably. Coupled with opportunitiesof better agricultural practices by equippingthem with techniques such asvermicomposting and use of organic pesticidesand channelizing of existing government subsidiesand schemes in the villages that WWF-India is working with, has helped the localvillagers into inculcating a pro-conservationapproach. WWF-India is working closely withthe Forest Department in the landscape and haseven been invited by the Government ofChhattisgarh state to help them with conservationmanagement inputs.The marketing of the produce generated out ofthe livelihood initiatives remains a challenge; ifpotential markets can be targeted, the activitieswill always remain lucrative thereby ensuringsustainability in the long run.NILGIRIS & EASTERN GHATSLANDSCAPEAs mentioned earlier, activities under threemajor areas were taken up in this landscape;namely, mitigating human-elephant conflict,reducing biotic pressure on the target corridors,and awareness building with focus on integratingall government and non government agenciesunder one umbrella . Lessons emerging fromdetailed study of the human-elephant conflictsituation and various measures adopted toprotect human life and property have beendocumented exhaustively. The reduction in thescrub cattle numbers not only implies betterhealth for the forest cover, but alternativelivelihoods adopted successfully by many villagersare attracting the attention of others. A veryimportant achievement is the baseline informationcollected through survey and field studies.The focus is on the Greater Moyar Valley inmany ways representative of the situation inthe landscape. This data is helping in scientificmapping of the area in terms of forest cover,human settlements and the main occupation oflocal people, elephant movement routes, criticaland threatened corridors that desperately needprotection. Any future intervention forbiodiversity conservation in the area would needthis information.While much of the work undertaken in thelandscape was in the state of Tamilnadu, WWF-India is now looking forward to expanding itswork in the state of Karnataka for mitigatingHuman-Wildlife conflict and reducing poaching.NORTH BANK LANDSCAPEThe major focus under this project has been therange of mitigation measures tried out to easethe human-elephant conflict situation inSonitpur district of Assam. Mitigation ofelephant-human conflict and creating a sense ofsecurity among the local population wereidentified as the most important measures in theshort term. WWF-India has come up with a“Sonitpur model” of mitigating Human-elephantconflict, which is being implemented by theForest Department of Assam, which is a combinationof driving wild elephants back into theforest areas by using Kunki (domesticated)elephants. Project support for solar fencing of74

Co-Existence with Wild Life : The Way Forwardcroplands in several pilot villages have alsoproved to be a success and, seeing the benefit,local people are willing to contribute to itsmaintenance. Since the last two years, averageelephant and human death due to conflictsituation has gone down and crops and propertyworth millions of rupees has been protected.Studies undertaken in the area have revealedthat efforts of WWF-India has resulted in savingcrop damage worth more than 80 times theinvestment made for mitigating Human-Elephant conflict. WWF-India is workingtowards building a database of Human-elephantconflict on the landscape. All major crop raidingtracks and the hotspots from where the elephantsenter human habitations have beenidentified. Work on raising awareness andknow-how among key stakeholders includingthe forest department, police, local communitiesand other NGOs is being carried out. A landscapelevel strategy for dealing with Human-Elephant conflict at a regional level has alsobeen devised and is currently in its implementationstage.Future PlansPROFILE OF NEW INITIATIVESMost of the landscape programmes have nowreached a stage from where the work needs tobe consolidated and upscaled. There have beensome significant achievements made in therecent past. Working in close coordination withthe Forest Departments, as well as other linedepartments of the government has provided anavenue to magnify the impact of WWF-India’swork. TRAFFIC-India has become fully operationaland is working closely in tandem withWWF-India. The governments of Assam andKarnataka have invited WWF-India to providesolutions for mitigating Human Elephantconflicts.It is vitally important that WWF-India‘sexperiences in the field should be shared for thebenefit of the endangered species that walk thebrink of extinction in a planet that was given tous all to share. This publication makes a modestcontribution to that end.Support packages and community benefiting initiatives in Ranthambhore andSawai Man Singh Sanctuary, RajasthanSupport for mitigating conflicts and protecting lions in Gir National Park, GujaratConducting studies in human-animal conflicts areas of IndiaConservation inputs to selected areas in OrissaContinued support to Forest Departments in India both in developing capacity andwith critical equipmentSupporting dialogues and combined inputs and sharing best practices with staff andgovernment agencies in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Assisting other State Governments on human-elephant conflict, using the experiencesof lessons learntUp scaling educational and awareness activities across the landscapes and otherareasExpanding our reach to support additional critical corridors in our landscapesContinued support to habitat management initiatives.75

Landscapes of HopeMILESTONES: 1996-2007JUNE- DECEMBER 1996• WWF- India establishes a Tiger ConservationCell with a grant of US $ 100,000from WWF- UK• Publication of ‘Tiger Conservation Strategyand Action Plan’• Publication of ‘Tiger Call’1997• WWF International and WWF India agreeto set up WWF Tiger ConservationProgramme (TCP) with a committed grantof Swiss Francs 1.8 million for three years.• Thomas Mathew takes over as the firstDirector• Six months Work Plan formalized and thefollowing seven tiger areas selected forsupport and evaluated:Corbett Tiger Reserve, Dudhwa TigerReserve, Periyar Tiger Reserve, PalamauTiger Reserve, Kaziranga National Park,Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Manas TigerReserve• Support to first seven Parks commences.• The following nine additional PAs selectedfor TCP support in consultation with theState Forest Departments and the needsassessment of the nine additional PAsbegins:Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, BRTWildlife Sanctuary, Satkosia Gorge WildlifeSanctuary, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve,Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Mahananda WildlifeSanctuary, Katerniaghat WildlifeSanctaury, Pakhui Wildllife Sanctuary,Nameri Wildlife Sanctuary.• Support to the PAs is initiated after receivingapproval from the respective Stategovernment.1998• Controlled major tiger poisoning crisis inthe terai. Field situation evaluated and thehighly successful Cattle CompensationScheme launched scheme continues.• Scheme launched to curb Akhand Shikar inSimilipal Tiger Reserve. This was subsequentlytaken over by local NGOs.• Support from Tiger Emergency Fund (TEF)reaches Kaziranga to help fight the devastationcaused by floods.• Support to the already selected 16 PAscontinues• The following additional PAs selected forTCP support:1999Sariska TR, Orang National Park.• Indo-Nepal Meeting held for Trans-bordercooperation.• WWF TCP Awards for 1998 declared andgiven away at the Millennium TigerConference by Honourable Vice President76

of India Sri Krishan Kant .• ‘Tracking Tigers-A field guide for estimatingTiger populations in the wild’ published.• Legal training for field staff in selected PAscarried out.• WWF TCP Awards declared and presentedfor 1999 by Honourable chief minister ofN.C.T Delhi Smt. Shiela Dixit• Additional Park supported:Sunderbans Tiger Reserve• ‘WWF Tiger Conservation Programme -Three Years and Beyond’ a publication ofthe TCP released.2000• WWF meeting in Jakarta on landscapeapproach for tiger conservation and selectionof tiger landscapes in India.• MOUs signed with Nepal and WII forcollaboration in the Terai Arc landscape• TEF support to Panna TR.• Rajaji NP evaluated and support wasinitiated• AREAS India Programme placed under theTiger Division.• Additional support to PAs continues.• WWF-India and PATA Tiger Conservationawards for 2000 are announced and presented.2001• TEF support to Corbett Tiger Reserve.• TEF support to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.• Additional support to PAs continues2002• WWF-India and PATA Tiger Conservationawards for 2001 are announced and presentedjointly by Honourable minister ofTourism Shri Jagmohan and ShriN.D.Tiwari.• Support provided to the following additionalParks:Satpuda TR, Kanha TR, Phen WLS,Melghat TR, Achanakmar WLS, SimilaipalTiger Reserve, Bilaspur Forest Division,Additional support to PAs continues.• Launch of landscape projects with theestablishment of field offices in SatpudaMaikal Landscape and Terai Arc landscape.• Sundarban landscape work started.• Funds to Sariska Tiger reserve for watermanagement in the face of a drought.2003• AREAS: NBL Phase one completed with aworkshop in Guwahati.• TEF support for Ranthambhore TigerReserve and Sariska Tiger Reserve to avertmajor water crisis situation.• Support provided to the following additionalParks:Panna TR, Palpur-Kuno WLS, PilibhitForest Division -Lagga Bagga, BhoramdeoWildlife Sanctuary,Kawardha Forest Division and ChilpiRange.• Funds to Kaziranga for flood relief.• TAL Corbett (AREAS) work started.• AREAS: NBL Second phase started.• AREAS: NBL and NIlgiris Landscapework started77

Landscapes of Hope2004• Self Help Groups formed under TALprogramme to ensure participation of localcommunities in mitigating human-wildlifeconflict.• 28 Kg ivory, two leopard skin and one tigerskin seized with the help of informernetwork developed by TAL-Programme.• CTR and Ramnagar Forest Division wereevaluated and direct infrastructure supportextended.• Self Help Group at village Kunkhet initiatedstitching and selling jute bags forgarbage disposal to the Corbett TigerReserve.2005• Establishment of TAL field office inKotdwar to deal with major linkagesbetween Rajaji National Park- LansdowneForest Division- Corbett Tiger Reserve.• Under TAL programme Eco-clubs wereformed to ensure participation of youths inconservation endeavor.• To mitigate crop damage by elephants,solar fence was erected in Githal village ofKotdwar sector of TAL Programme.• After evaluation direct support extended toLansdowne Forest Division (LFD) andTerai West Forest Division (TWFD) forenhancing the anti-poaching capabilities.• First time elephant reported in Ampokhrarange of Terai West Forest Division• Medicinal plants worth Rs. Ten Lac wereseized TAL-Ramnagar.2006• IRV 2020 Programme was launched.• Capacity building in NEG launched.• Conservation alliance of NGOs in Assamlaunched.• Community activites in SML consolidated.• TRAFFIC India starts operations in India.2007• A nine kilometer long electric fencecommissioned in TAL• WWF-India invited to assist in preparationof management plans for Chhattisgarh.• WWF-India approached by the stategovernments of Assam and Karnataka tofind practical solutions to Human ElephantConflict.• WWF-India launches signature campaign tosupport the cause of tiger conservation.• WWF-India starts conservation work oncritical species: The lions and Nilgiri Tahr.78