Context:  

A recent footage of eight lions taking a midnight stroll in the streets of a Gujarat village raises concerns over approach to wildlife conservation.

Human Wildlife-Conflict:

• Human-wildlife conflict is defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as “any interaction between humans and wildlife that results in negative impacts of human social, economic or cultural life, on the conservation of wildlife populations, or on the environment.”

Issues in wildlife conservation:

• The concept of carrying capacity is understood only in context of the success of conservation with increasing the population of an endangered species.
  • Carrying capacity is a complex concept in wildlife sciences. It accounts for the ability of an ecosystem to satisfy an animal’s need for food, water, and mates.
• India’s wildlife policy hasn’t addressed the big follow-up question — what to do when conservation successes make animals compete with humans.
• Ensuring the well-being of the growing animal population has been bedevilled by a host of complications, including developmental policies and infrastructural projects such as roads and highways that often tear apart wildlife habitats.
• Many of India’s protected areas are sites of human-wildlife conflict.
• Translocation of problematic animals: Relocating supposed “problem” animals from a site of conflict to a new place is a mitigation technique used in the past, although recent research has shown that this approach can have detrimental impacts on species and is largely ineffective.

Objectives of wildlife conservation:

• Protection from exploitation of the target species
• Long-term preservation in a natural state
• Ensure a balance between needs of people residing inside/near parks and need of ecosystem

Steps taken by Government for Conservation:

• Schedule I of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 lists protected species: The names of protected species of animals, birds and plants have been mentioned.
• Establishment of country-wide protected area network: The Union Government has established a country-wide protected area network for protection of these species under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Financial and technical assistance under CSCs: Financial and technical assistance is provided to the State/ UTs under the CSCs for providing better protection to wildlife including endangered species and improvement of its habitat.
• Empowerment of CBI under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders.
• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) for enforcement of law: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been set up to ensure coordination among various officers and State Governments for the enforcement of law for control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and its products.

Way Forward 

• The report “A future for all” by WWF and UNEP suggests an approach of coexistence between humans and wildlife, and involvement of local communities, as it is not possible to wholly suppress human-wildlife conflict. 
• There is a need for education and awareness among the masses so that they are sensitized about the human-animal conflict.
• Ensuring that humans and animals have adequate space to thrive is the basis of human-wildlife conflict resolution.
• Protecting wild lands and natural habitats is key, but so is creating buffer zones between wild and urban areas.
• There is a need to rethink developments or projects that will result in the worsening of the conflict situation, especially in places where human-wildlife conflict can’t be managed, while ensuring that all development complements the needs of local people.

News Source: Indian Express