New project aimed to rein in man-animal conflict

Seema Sharma, TNN | Aug 19, 2014

DEHRADUn: Concerned by receding habitats of tigers and leopards, state's forest department has announced the launch of a project aiming to address the issue.

Increasing the natural terrain of the big cats would also rein in wildlife-human conflict in the region. Nityishmani Tripathi, divisional forest officer of Lansdowne Forest Division, told TOI that the Rs1.25 crore-project would engineer the habitat by providing "a perfect ambience and food for animals" to prevent them from " straying into human settlements".

Another senior forest official said the flora in the region was increasingly getting homogenized. Mixed forests are diminishing, he said. "Moreover, a lot of space in forests are taken up by useless plants such as lanatana, gazar grass and kaal pasa. This project will replace these plants with bushes or trees useful for big cats in the area. This will, in turn, improve their habitat," he said.

Tripathi added that cheed at higher altitudes and teak in the plains do not allow growth of other trees and plants, thereby coalescing forest cover. It is always healthy to have a mixed flora in forests to suit the big cats, he further said.

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