Rising Human Wildlife Conflict in the Southern Western Ghats

Context: 

This editorial is based on the news “Collapse of the ecological balance and an undeclared war with nature” which was published in the Hindu. 

• Wayanad is in a state of undeclared war as seen with the rising human wildlife conflict in the district.

Recent Human Elephant Conflicts in Wayanad, Kerala 

• Tragic Events in Kerala: Two recent tragic events have triggered protests, strikes and has led to a political unrest  in Kerala.
  • In a recent incident, a wild elephant named Belur Makhna, went on a rampage, crushing a 47-year-old farmer to death. 
  • It was followed by another incident where an elephant herd attacked and killed an ecotourism guide at Kuruvadweep Islands.
• Impact of Ecological Fragmentation on Wildlife: This indicates the significant loss of ecological connectivity and habitat, and the resultant confinement of wildlife to fragmented forests forcing their raids to the surrounding areas.

Rising Human Wildlife Conflict: Current Statistics

• Deaths due to Human Wildlife Conflict: In Wayanad, 51 human deaths have been documented due to wildlife attacks during the last 10 years.
• This number surged to a total of 98 fatalities, encompassing 8,873 attack incidents in the fiscal year 2022-23, with 27 of those deaths attributed to elephant attacks.
• Impact on Agriculture Sector: These attacks have inflicted significant damage on Kerala’s agriculture sector.
• Elephant Corridor: The Elephant Corridors of India, surveyed by the Wildlife Trust of India in 2005, identified 88 elephant corridors.
  • According to the findings, 24% of these corridors were located within reserve forests, while the remaining 76% traversed through a mix of forested areas, agricultural lands, tea plantations, and human settlements.

Crisis in Ecosystem Services

• Impact of Monoculture and Chemical Usage: The trend of monoculture plantations, usage of pesticides and insecticides depleted the soil.
  • This disturbance was evident in the diminished yield of cash crops and diseases, gradually impacting the plantations despite favorable market prices, of late.

• Increased human activities and the degradation: Plantation of foreign trees like eucalyptus and acacia have denied food and water for the wild animals leading to the evacuation of animals from the forest areas as the interiors are turning to barren lands.
  • Today, 36,000 hectares out of the 1 lakh hectares of Wayanad forests are monoculture plantations such as eucalyptus.

• Impact of Tourism: Uncontrolled ecotourism, contributing to the issues of cattle grazing, invasive plants, and forest fires destroying wildlife habitats wherein they are expected to protect and enhance the quality of forest.
• Operation Jumbo Parade: It captured nine elephants and two were released to Kerala with radio collars installed, without adequate surveillance and watchers.

Way Forward

• Enhancing government Support: The government needs to extend its efforts to ensure proper monitoring, continuous conservation, and public awareness.
• Need for Statutory Body: A statutory body is required to coordinate the forest issues spread across the three South Indian states under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Enforcement of FCA: The Forest Conservation Act (FCA) should be strictly enforced with a Free and Prior Informed consent (FPIC) principle which is widely recognized as a critical process of stakeholder engagement to prevent further degradation. 

Conclusion

• While it is high time for the Kerala Forest Department to act responsibly, implement effective strategies to protect and revive the forests in the state, we should also collectively understand that in a war with nature, no human would survive.