Controlling human-wildlife conflict is top priority says Eshwar Khandre

Bengaluru : Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwara B Khandre said that solving the problem of human-wildlife conflict is the first priority of the government.

Speaking at an international conference on elephant-human conflict management organized by the Department of Forestry, Ecology and Environment at the Gandhi Agricultural Science Center (GKVK) in Bangalore as part of the World Elephant Day, he said that his department has taken several measures to ensure the safety of people and wildlife.

Eshwara Khandre said that the state of Karnataka is working hard to control the damage caused by elephants coming to villages with adoption of technology and community-driven initiatives and is at the forefront of tackling this challenge. Human-wildlife conflict is not just a problem of Karnataka or any other state in India but a global problem. Human-elephant conflict is a complex issue involving environmental, social and economic factors, he said.

He said that he feels that our concerted and collaborative efforts are necessary and indispensable to find sustainable solutions to this problem which is leading to loss of precious lives and crop damage.

Contribution of Adivasis is immense

He said that there are innumerable communities who depend on the forests of the state for their life and livelihood, and their role in forest conservation is important. A forest is not only trees, plants, animals, and parties. Forest is the lifeline of this planet earth, the breath of all living beings. He asserted that we get clean air, clean water and fertile soil from forests.

The number of wild animals has increased due to the strict measures taken by the Karnataka government to curb poaching in the forest. According to the 2023 elephant census, there are 6395 elephants in the state and the state is at the first position in the number of elephants. Similarly, Karnataka, which has 563 tigers, is at the 2nd position in the number of tigers, which is a matter of pride for the state, said the Forest Minister.

He said that it is painful that an average of 30 people are killed by elephant attacks every year in the state and hoped that as a result of the brainstorming held in this conference, a suitable solution for human-elephant conflict management would emerge.

Our ancestors learned to co-exist with the forest and wildlife. Even today, tribals who live in the forest are rarely killed by wild animals. But Eshwara Khandre opined that we as urban dwellers are now losing that sense of coexistence in the modern age.

Our Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has taken great interest in preventing wildlife and human conflict. Rs 100 crore for the construction of railway barricade in the year 2023-24. He said that additional grant has been given. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has also supported the safety work of the forest department and the steps taken by the department towards forest conservation. On this occasion, he thanked both of them on behalf of the Forest Department.

Today the whole world is facing the challenge of global warming and climate change. We can find a solution to this only by increasing the green cover. Thus, our government has decided to plant 5 crore saplings in the year 2023-24. You all may be surprised, we have achieved beyond the target by planting 5 crore 48 lakh saplings. He also informed that we are doing geo tagging and auditing to know how many of the saplings planted in this way have survived.

The number of animals is increasing. But the forest area is not growing accordingly. Thus Karnataka government declared 3395.73 hectare area as forest last year. Besides, more than 2500 acres of forest encroachment has been cleared.

Online FIR to prevent forest crimes and punish the culprits. We are working to bring the system. He said that with the help of modern technology, we have taken steps to protect the forest and wildlife.