Helping people around Tipeshwar Sanctuary deal with Human-Wildlife (H-W) conflict situations

Nagpur: The situation is tense and alarming around Tipeshwar Sanctuary in Yawatmal district of Vidarbha region. People are up in arms due to the intrusion of wild animals in human settlements, even during the day time. Satpuda Foundation (SF) decided to help the people and forest/wildlife department to address the growing issue of human-wildlife conflict.

SF has run a special survey and awareness programme in the conflict zone during 13th to 15th March 2015. "How to save agriculture crops, livestock and  people from repeated wildlife attacks (Tigers, Nilgai and Wild pigs) around Tipeshwar Sanctuary is a big issue", told villagers to the SF team.

Kunal Potode and Ms.Jyoti Sorout of SF with Swapnil Bomanwar of the local Nisarga Mitra Manch Pandharkawada conducted a series of meetings with villagers, school teachers and forest staff in Shibala and Zari villages (Jamni range), Rasa (Wani Range), and Marka (Mukutban range) of Pandharkawada division.The team used schools, village temples and Gram panchayats to conduct the programmes.

SF team conducted a meeting with forest officers i.e. Dy. CF Girhipunje, RFO Wani Mr.Gawai, RFO Mukutban Mr.Ratnaparkhi, ACF Mr.Hazari, Mr.N.N.Jagtap, to collect inputs. Later on the team with the special education van visited four villages in the problem zone. The team found that crop damage and livestock injury and livestock deaths are more numerous in all the villages of three ranges, whereas attacks on human beings are more in the villages in Wani range.

The team later conducted village meetings and discussed probable solutions on site-specific issues. They also used posters to explain dos and don'ts to avoid conflict situations in and around villages.

Meeting at Hanuman Mandir with the villagers 

of Rasa village in Wani Range of Pandharkawda Division 

Meeting at Hanuman Mandir with the villagers
of Rasa village in Wani Range of Pandharkawda Div

Meeting at Shibla Ashram School Zari 

Forest Range Pandharkawda Division

Nature Education Programme at Marki Ashram School
in Mukutban Forest Range of Pandharkawda Div.

Nature Education Programme at Rasa ZP School
in Wani Forest Range of Pandharkawda Div.