Mitigating human-wildlife conflict and retaliatory poisonings in India to preserve biodiversity and maintain sustainable livelihoods - Carbofuran and Wildlife Poisoning: Global Perspectives and Forensic Approaches - page 123

as an unacceptable dietary risk (as a residue in food and water), especially to children, have to be
kept in mind. Some of the results regarding bio-pesticides/fertilisers like azadirachtin (and other
fungal agents) are encouraging, but large-scale testing has to be undertaken before such agents can
be declared effective substitutes.
Banning carbofuran will not provide a complete solution either. For example, India has banned
the use of the anti-infl ammatory drug diclofenac (for veterinary use) in order to protect criti-
cally endangered Gyps vultures (see Oaks, Gilbert, Virani et al. 2004). However, even after the
ban, the medicine remains available, and human preparations remain in use (Cuthbert, Green, Ranade
et al. 2006). A similar situation has been reported for strychnine (Martinez-Haro, Mateo, Guitart et al.
2007). Widely used to poison predators in Spain, it was banned in 1994, but it is still used in deliberate
wildlife poisoning (see also Section 5.5). The source of strychnine used today is unclear, but chemists,
veterinarians or existing stocks are all potential sources (Martinez-Haro, Mateo, Guitart et al. 2007).
This chapter has outlined a number of poisoning incidents in India. Data demonstrate that carbo-
furan is only one of several compounds commonly used in malicious wildlife poisoning. If carbofu-
ran were banned, farmers would simply use other toxic compounds. Thus, the most effective way to
stop deliberate poisoning is to mitigate the human-wildlife confl ict that drives it.
4.11 Mitigation of human-wildlife confl icts
4.11.1 Habitat conservation
At the root of human-wildlife confl icts in India is the loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitat (see
Figure 4.6). Efforts are underway to increase the land area designated as Protected and fi ll the gaps
within habitats. A report by the Wildlife Institute of India proposes to increase the present cover des-
ignated as Protected, from 4.70 to 5.74%. Fewer gaps in the pattern of coverage are also suggested,
i.e., larger individual land parcels with more interconnection between them (Rodgers, Panwar and
Mathur 2002). Integrated management of Protected Areas with surrounding 'managed forests' is
also essential. Efforts are currently being made to bridge gaps within certain Protected Areas and the
areas around them. One good example is given by the Terai Arc Landscape programme (launched in
2001 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Indian and Nepalese Government). Wildlife con-
servation organisations, including Save the Tiger, aim to unite 11 existing reserves into one functioning
ecosystem. Under the programme, local people are given incentives to plant trees or tall thatch grass.
Tigers can then use the grass as cover and people can harvest the excess grass.
Similarly, Project Elephant is providing funding to restore lost corridors for elephants and make
easy their movement between habitats. In a December 2008 press release (from the Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Government of India) Project Tiger enhanced its funding for village
relocation/rehabilitation for people living in core or critical tiger habitats from rupees one lakh per
family (approximately 2 250 USD) to rupees ten lakhs per family in order to arrest habitat fragmen-
tation. Given the current economic climate, this increase appears to be justifi ed and suffi cient.
This will be a challenging process (i.e., to patch the holes that now exist in India's wildlife habi-
tat) since human relocation involves issues of ownership, feasibility and cost. Forcing people from
their home and land will quite potentially create a negative attitude towards wildlife. The process
is sensitive and has to be handled delicately, and it may take many years to restore any single area.
But, of all the solutions available, human relocation and habitat restoration for wildlife will hope-
fully provide a permanent solution to confl ict. The Wildlife Trust of India conducted an excellent
survey to identify elephant corridors throughout India and has described the status of each in terms
of human settlement (Menon, Kumar, Tiwari et al. 2005). Such information will be useful when
formulating policy aimed at restoring these important corridors for pachyderms.