An effort to preserve forests, wildlife
The story of nature and wildlife conservation in India, particularly in West Bengal, presents a brighter picture compared to many so-called "developed" industrial nations.
Urbanisation due to high population has led to escalating conflicts between humans and wildlife. Areas, especially forest lands, which should remain untouched, are citified. It was recorded and presented before the Parliament that between 2014 and 2025, 1.7 lakh hectares of forest land were converted for non-forest use.
An insightful talk show, ‘Talk Trees’, was held by the Siddha Group on 28 March to address the critical issue of forest land depletion and urban wildlife encounters. The session was moderated by Jayenta Basu, the faculty of the Department of Environmental Science and Department of Journalism, Calcutta University and arranged by Aayushman Jain, the director of Siddha Group. Other panellists were Pradeep Vyas, IFS (Retd), former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of West Bengal; Sunil Limaye, IFS (Retd), member of the Central Empowered Committee and former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of Maharashtra; and actors Alokananda Roy, Indranil Sengupta and Rituparna Sengupta.
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Tiger encounters
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As per the last census, Sunderbans had 4.5 million people, while Kolkata had 4.4 million. People in the Sunderbans lack proper livelihood options. Often, saline water intrusion caused by cyclones, such as ‘Aila’, makes cultivation impossible for a period of two to three years, forcing them to rely on the forest for their survival. Consequently, people resort to fishing or other activities to sustain themselves inside the forests. This functional encroachment within the Sunderban forest areas poses a significant threat to the region’s ecosystem. People there are deprived of fresh drinking water, and if available, it is expensive. Hence, they either have to survive only on rainwater or collect it from ponds in forests, where they risk encountering tigers.
The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve (STR) covers an area of approximately 2,585 square kilometres, with the core area being 1,330 square kilometres.
Pradeep Vyas, explaining the importance of saving tigers, said, “I came to Sundarbans in 2001. Before I was posted in SBR, a tiger had once entered a village and harmed no one. Yet, it was still killed, chopped into pieces, and thrown into the river by miscreants. After I joined, I held meetings to understand the situation and realised that things were not in order.I realised why tigers leave the forest and why the staff couldn’t safely guide them back. I recognised that even when tigers ventured into villages, they posed no threat to the residents. Based on my understanding, I decided to adopt a holistic approach.”
“We built roads so that they can walk even in rainy seasons. We also built health camps, conducted training camps for joint forest management, and made frequent visits. We concentrated on the staff. We put them on training. I assured them that I would rather a tiger die at the hands of my staff trying to save others than at the hands of poachers. I promised them before anything happened to them, it would happen to me first. Since 2001, tigers have encountered the villages, but none got killed.”
Leopard encounters
The human-leopard conflict in Maharashtra has existed for years. With the state’s increasing urbanisation and shrinkage of forest areas expanding into leopard habitats, survival has become a threat to them.
Sunil Limaye described causes and strategies to pause leopard encounters in urban areas of Maharashtra. He said, “Primarily we searched for why leopards are moving out of the jungle and coming to the city. Massive garbage dumps from urban areas attracted stray dogs, cats or pigs, which therefore attracted leopards to hunt them. Hence, they started to have a hunger for street domestic animals.”
“We made the locals understand that if they don’t want leopards to stray in their areas, certain rules must be followed.”
Ensuring good garbage disposal and keeping it away from domestic animals in the neighbourhood.
Not allowing children to play in open areas without supervision, especially during evenings and early mornings.
Installation of good lighting to alert leopards of human presence.
Install cameras to track the movements of leopards.
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