The Jumbo Conflict

On one of my yahoo "interest-groups", a member brought in an interesting topic. He found a report stating that the forest department compensated villagers whose crops are destroyed by elephants. Apparently, the department ended up paying lakhs of ruppess to those villagers who live on the edge of forest and constantly troubled by elephants who raid the crops and destroy the yield. So the question is- Instead of spending so much money on compensation, why can't forest department buy off the land from the villagers and make it part of the forest. Very interesting idea!! So I took it up and dwelled deep into it and with my little exposure and knowledge I tried to look at the BIG Picture. Here is my take....(long one.. needs 5 tons of patience, note- 1 ton=1 minute)

Say the forest department bought the land for 2 lakhs! How long do you think the farmers survive with that money. In most of the cases the not-so-educated sons of the land who do not know how smartly to use the money might end up evaporating the money in an year. To top it, if they get their children married off, it might evaporate even before...

So what do they do after they finishing off their reserve cash.??? One of these...
1. End up as a labourer at some resort or farm (visit some of the villages around Bandipur to WITNESS THIS, but there the land is bought by so called "city-people" from bangalore for their private party houses..)
2. Migrate to cities for better living.
3. Feel bad at loosing the land hence clear some other trees bordering reserve forests and start cultivation.(Farmers are very closely attached to land)
4. Frustrated at loosing the land and the income they might turn hostile towards the forest department and the wild life(read: elephants in this context). Some of them can turn into poachers which can earn them the EASY BUCKS.

So it's not just about buying the land, you need to provide them with alternate sources of income which helps them on a long run and when I say alternate sources of income that leads to another discussion.

OK, when somebody uses the buzz word "alternate source of income"- it is easier said than done!! The less-educated farmers who got no skills other than cultivating the land should be willing to learn new skills that can provide them alternate income sources. Again, this should not be causing any destruction to the forest and it's biodiversity-- say if you decide to manufacture finished goods or some material where they use the resources of forest, the typical challenges(note- not problems) can be finding out skilled people to train them, sharing of income, usage of forest resources if any and marketing the goods which ultimately earns the income.

So do you think our forest department and political lobby are ready to take up such a MAMMOTH TASK, especially with no self-gain motivation other than saving forest??(I agree there are some genuine forest department people who had the attitude and will)? I guess the answer is a big "NO" in most of the cases. This is where a GENUINE and dedicated NGO's can chip-in and be a crucial link that connects all- -The people, the forest department and the political lobby without which the whole program might not succeed to the extent we anticipate.

So, I agree it sounds more logical to buy land, I would be more than happy to hear such a news...but I would add-- Buy the land but make sure the sons of the land are taken care of. To sum it up, make sure the impact of our actions have less side-effects by taking into account the welfare of all parties involved in this.

To do so, we need :

1. Committed people who can work with the villagers by educating them on the importance of conservation and about the alternate sources of income and win their confidence.
2. Do a socioeconomic study that reveals the "per capita income" that helps in choosing the right SOURCE of alternate income generation (ex: Handicrafts, Herbal products, Honey etc). Also, we need to do a Marketing survey and find out the places where the products can be sold (basically a BUSINESS PLAN that fits in.. spare my little knowledge on marketing, could not get right word)

3. Study the forest bio-diversity to understand the Non-timber products that can fetch any income (with a controlled and limited usage of forest resources- again only in reserve forests not national parks where such an activity is prohibited.) In fact, if forest department can buy 100 acres of land, they can use part of it to "grow" plants that might not be of interest to any herbivores but can generate income.(again here I am not an elephant expert to decide that and I assume elephants do not raid crops which will not serve them as food except when they are in "musth" .. experts correct me..!!!)

4. Have a strong political will plus forest department support to undertake such projects which can be implemented across all villages where the Human-Animal conflict is on rise.

5. Last, but not the least- Plan to use the land bought by the forest department in a right manner...the reality is... you might be surprised to see a politically supported fella erecting a "RESORT" on the recovered Land....! It's INDIA- anything can happen over night. .! Besides this, acquiring land might bring in resistance from political parties lobbying against the government who gives a damn for anything except POWER!

If any of you managed to read till here, a big THANKS. These are opinions expressed from my personal experience and observations. There are lots of other issues that I might have missed. At the same time, I confess I am neither a Human-Animal conflict expert nor a animal behaviour expert. I am just a lover of mother earth who would prefer the planet to be rugged, the way it was ages ago!!

I agree that some of the things I listed above can be debated for hours. But this is just my take on the issue and I am open for any open-discussion (not debate..) and love to hear your thoughts and opinions. I can agree to dis-agree with my opinions :~)