Aaranyak, with support from SBI Foundation, and in collaboration with Dhansiri-Sikaridanga Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) is working towards replenishment of 100 hectares of degraded forest in Bhairabkunda Reserve Forest in Dhansiri Forest Division, Udalguri through plantation of native species and habitat enhancement — with a focus on improving ecological connectivity for wildlife, especially elephants thereby helping mitigate human-elephant conflict (HEC).
This year marked the third-year plantation drive that got underway on May 14. The plantation was undertaken with participation from forest officials of Dhansiri Forest Division, FXB India Suraksha, the Bhairabkunda Development Committee and the Dhansiri-Sikaridanga Joint Forest Management Committee. On the first day of the third-year plantation drive 510 saplings of 11 native species were planted.
“The key native plant species which are being planted during the drive this year include — Outenga, Bel, Kola Siris, Gamari, Bhatgila, Amla, Jamun, Bhomora, Xilikha, Bhelkor, Kum, Odal, Tora as they are called in local parlance. We aim to plant one lakh saplings during this summer,” informed Aaranyak’s official Rabiya Daimari.
Habitat replenishment can have lasting impact in favour of mitigation of the HEC as it provides a long-term solution to promote coexistence between wild elephants and people.
Aaranyak initiated this ambitious project for improvement of elephant habitat covering an area of 100 hectares in this Reserve Forest two years back.
“The Aaranyak team is striving for habitat improvement and restoring degraded areas under the project to secure elephant habitat, facilitate elephant movement for long-term mitigation of human-elephant confrontation, and sustain the watershed for the region,” says Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, a senior conservation scientist in Aaranyak.
The area of interest for habitat replenishment is a mosaic of grasslands and woodlands, with different soil substratum ranging from sandy coarse to rocky and swampy areas.
Aaranyak has been on an overdrive to empowering local communities and securing habitats to promote human-elephant coexistence. The Asian elephant being a wide-ranging species needs expansive resources for its survival, and thus comes in confrontation with people, often resulting in human-elephant conflict (HEC) in the form of crop and property damages, human injuries and deaths and retaliatory killings of the elephants.
“Raging HEC undermines efforts for conservation of elephants and their habitat, besides affecting the well-being of people. The complex issue of HEC mitigation requires a multi-pronged and multi- stakeholders approach as has been adopted by research-driven Aaranyak,” said Dr Alolika Sinha, a senior conservation biologist in Aaranyak.