Fixing food

In an attempt to reduce human-wildlife conflicts around Jim Corbett National Park, the Uttarakhand forest department is replacing teak and eucalyptus plantations with native and fruit-bearing trees

- HIMANSHU NITNAWARE RAMNAGAR, UTTARAKHAND

ON MARCH 17, Channa Devi of Teda village in Uttarakhand woke up to a distressing sight—her wheat crop, ready for harvest, had been trampled by a herd of elephants. “I had planted the crop on my entire 1.2-hectare (ha) field. Almost a quarter of the crop has now been damaged,” Devi tells Down To Earth (DTE), estimating the loss at 500 kg of wheat, along with the earning that would have sustained her family for at least six months. The herd of elephants must have wandered off from the nearby Jim Corbett National Park, says the 50-year-old, adding that raids by wild animals have become frequent in recent years.

In all the five villages that DTE visited in April, farmers narrate similar tales. These villages are located on the fringes of the Jim Corbett National Park and the adjoining Ramnagar forest division. Most of the farmers here have small landholdings and practice subsistence agriculture. They report crop raiding by wild herbivores, from chital (spotted deer) to sambar deer to nilgai to elephants, resulting in significant economic losses.

To curb the growing conflicts between wildlife and the farming communities, Ramnagar forest division has adopted a new approach. Since 2023, it has been replacing its monoculture plantations of teak and eucalyptus on the forest fringes, with multi-species forest plantations such as fruit trees.