Madhya Pradesh is one of the richest biodiversity in India. Landscape consist of Tiger Reserves, National Parks, Reserve Forests, Human Settlement and other liner infrastructure. It is mainly a Tiger dominated landscape. Till 2018 no human elephant conflict incidents were recorded in the state, as per All India Synchronous Elephant Population Estimation only seven elephants presence were recorded which were migrated from Chattishgarh, but now the no rising unto 60 as per MP Forest department. Due to lac of awareness and other mitigation interventions the conflict incidents are raising in a rapid rate including crop and property damage, human injuries and deaths along with elephant injuries. First human killed by a jumbo on 2019 at Sidhi of Sanjay Tiger Reserve and the no raises in a rapid rate (2 human died in STR, Sidhi and Shadow District in 2019, 4 human died in Anuppur,seoni in 2020, 6 human died in STR,Sidhi and Anuppur in 2021). Elephants are basically coming from Chattisgarh. Illegal felling of trees, shrinking of habitat due to mining, infrastructure development, power projects, urbanisation and other reasons were forcing elephants to move from Jharkhand and Odisha to Chattisgarh to Madhyapradesh. Wild elephants have killed 12 people in Madhya Paradesh in last five years, including eight in the three districts surrounding Sanjay Tiger Reserve.
So, to mitigate this issue, SNAP Foundation in collaboration with Nature Mates Nature Club, Supported by Madhya Pradesh Tiger Foundation Society along and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has been stated The Human Elephant Coexistence Project in Sidhi, Sanjay Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. Project funded by : The Nature Conservancy.
Project Details:
- Identification of elephant corridors and movement areas.
- Conflict hotspot and land use land cover mapping.
- Fodder analysis and habitat management.
- Installation of Inno Wild Fencing with Spring Poles, hanging Fencing and Early Warning System.
- Formation of Elephant Quick Response Team.
- Capacity building of forest staffs and EQRT regarding conflict mitigation and management.
Funding support : The Nature Conservancy