\u201cOur rainfall pattern has become erratic, making farming difficult. To top it all, changing climate has impacted vegetation in the forests, which has increased human-wildlife conflict,\u201d said Roshan Kaushik, general secretary of Lakshaya Organisation. According to him, the conflict affects all 290 households in Kitam-Manpur village council area, but the worst affected villages are Lower Kitam, Middle Kitam and Belbotey that are located right on the boundary of Kitam Bird Sanctuary.<\/p>\n
Whereas there is no established cause-and-effect relation between the changing climate and the rising human-wildlife conflict, various reports of the state government point towards such a linkage. The draft State of Environment Report Sikkim 2016<\/a> reads, \u201cClimate induced changes have directly or indirectly impacted the habitat and distribution limits and the food availability for wild animals. Due to the shortage of food, wild animals wander around human habitations in search of food.\u201d<\/p>\n It further notes, \u201cWith flowering and fruiting being affected by the changing climate, availability of food inside the forests for wildlife has changed over time. This has a direct correlation to more incidences of wildlife straying into villages, leading to increased human- wildlife conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Over 82% of Sikkim\u2019s total geographical area is under the administrative control of the Forest Department, and more than 30% of the state\u2019s total geographical expanse is classified as protected areas. Because of high forest cover, a large portion of the state\u2019s population lives in close association with the forests.<\/p>\n \u201cSkirmishes with wildlife used to happen even in the past, but the conflict has grown manifold in the last 10-15 years,\u201d Til Bahadur Chhetri, a 92-year-old farmer from Hee Patal village in West Sikkim, told indiaclimatedialogue.net<\/a>. He blamed the black bear, porcupine, barking deer, wild hare and Assam macaque for maximum crop damage.<\/p>\n Similar conflict situation exists in other districts as well. B. B. Rai, a 75-year-old resident of Talkharka village near the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in East Sikkim, said: \u201cMy maize crop is destroyed by black bear and wild boar; vegetables and millets are eaten up by deer; porcupine damages yam, potato, pumpkin, and other crops. Poultry is killed, too.\u201d He claimed in the last one decade, his crop losses had increased from INR 3,000 a year to over INR 11,000 (USD 43-156) every year.<\/p>\n Although there isn\u2019t any comprehensive data on human-wildlife conflict in the Himalayan state, some research studies have calculated the losses. A 2015 study<\/a>, carried out by Darjeeling-based DLR Prerna and Gangtok-based WWF-India Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme, estimated three villages around the Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary in West Sikkim lose up to 64.44% of their crops (maize, potato, beans, green peas, cardamom, soybean, millets, etc.) due to the human-wildlife conflict.<\/p>\n Six years ago, another study<\/a> recorded crop losses due to rising human-wildlife conflict in five villages around the Kitam Bird Sanctuary. \u201cOf the total land being cultivated in these villages, an average of 85.92% damage was done by the wild animals to their fields,\u201d noted the 2012 study.<\/p>\n It is important to note that only 12%<\/a> of Sikkim\u2019s total land is cultivable, whereas 65% of its population is dependent on farming for a living. As per news reports<\/a>, a large number of farmers in the state have quit farming due to the rising human-wildlife conflict and other environmental factors. This is noted in the draft State of Environment Report Sikkim 2016<\/a>, which reads: \u201cThe contribution to Sikkim\u2019s economy from agriculture and allied sectors has been on the decline\u2026 There has been a decline in the total cultivator\u2019s population.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking note of the rising conflict, the state\u2019s Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling<\/a>, announced on March 10 in the state assembly that villagers can chase away<\/a> wild animals (when they are foraging into farmlands or attacking cattle or poultry) using stones, sticks or weapons, and no legal action would be taken if the wild animal was killed in the process, as it would be treated as an accidental death. In December 2015, his government notified<\/a> a grant for the loss incurred by wildlife, which is applicable to the entire state irrespective of distance from the protected areas.<\/p>\n There are multiple factors responsible for the rise in human-wildlife conflict in the state. \u201cIn some areas, such as Ribdi-Bhareng GPU in West Sikkim, forest cover has increased leading to an increase in wildlife population and hence, the conflict,\u201d Kailash H. Gaira, scientist with the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development in Gangtok, told indiaclimatedialogue.net<\/a>. \u201cHuman-wildlife conflict has also increased due to invasive species and lack of sufficient food for wildlife inside the forest boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n Chhetri believes grazing created a symbiotic relation between forests and cattle. \u201cEarlier, we had cowsheds in the forest areas on hilltops. The cow dung and urine used to slowly flow down the slopes and keep the forestland healthy,\u201d said Chhetri. Insects in the cow dung were rich source of food for animals like wild boars, he added. \u201cWe used to extract oil from a local wild berry, which was eaten by the black bear. Those berries have gone missing. Oak nuts have disappeared, too,\u201d lamented Chhetri.<\/p>\n A recent study<\/a>, published in Mammalian Biology journal,<\/em> notes that rising conflict between the Asiatic black bear and villagers around the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve in Sikkim is due to the food factor. Trees such as oak produce various fruits and nuts, which are staple food for black bears. A decrease in availability of food\/nuts may be leading to an increase in human-bear conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interestingly, the study published in Mammalian Biology has linked the rise in human-bear conflict with the rising temperature in the Himalayan region and delay in snowfall. Reporting on the study, Mongabay India<\/a> notes that an increase in temperature and delayed precipitation means less hibernation period for the black bear and more search for food.<\/p>\n The draft 2016 report<\/a>, too, records a dramatic increase in direct encounter incidents involving Himalayan black bears with stray incidents of leopards. It notes, \u201cOne of the probable reasons for random movement of Himalayan Black Bear in villages and towns in recent years could be climate change.\u201d This species eats acorns and nuts of the previous year, and if the productivity of such nuts decreases due to unusual weather events, they wander around for other foods. Many other animals might have been the victims of such events, warns the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n That the climate in the Himalayas, including Sikkim, is changing is no secret. The state government\u2019s 2012 report, Climate Change in Sikkim: Patterns, Impacts and Initiatives<\/a>, notes that in the last two decades (1991-2000 to 2001-10), the number of rainy days and annual rainfall at Tadong meteorological station have decreased at the rate of 0.72 days per year and 17.77 mm per year, respectively. Further, the rate of increase in the mean minimum temperature between the decade 1991-2000 and 2001-10 is 0.81 degree Celsius per decade, or 0.08-degree increase per year.<\/p>\n Erratic rainfall is also a major concern. \u201cRainfall patterns have become erratic; monsoons are usually late. Torrential rainfall has replaced the monsoon drizzle. This has resulted in high surface run off, dry period during winters,\u201d reads the draft 2016 report<\/a>.<\/p>\n In LunchaKameru village, Sumbuk block, in South Sikkim, where peafowls have become a menace, as they destroy rice and corn crops, every morning a group of desperate farmers carries grains to the forest to feed the peafowls. \u201cWe know this isn\u2019t a long-term solution, but we are desperate to save our crops,\u201d Kushal Tharpu, a resident of the village, told indiaclimatedialogue.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n Villagers around the Kitam Bird Sanctuary are doing something similar. \u201cWe have already planted fruit-bearing trees inside the sanctuary. We are also growing maize, millets, tubers, etc. inside the forest so that wild animals are not forced to attack our crops,\u201d informed Kaushik, who said villagers have also created watering holes inside the forest.<\/p>\n In addition to this, farmers around the Kitam sanctuary have drawn up a plan to fence the boundary of the protected area. In 2013-14, the wildlife division had installed solar hybrid electric fence along the 3 km boundary of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n \u201cWe plan build an additional 3-4 km long barbed wire fence along the remaining boundary of the sanctuary. Bio-fence, a thick mesh of multiple plants, is also part of the project,\u201d Kaushik told indiaclimatedialogue.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interestingly, villagers are using corporate social responsibility funds of the Axis Bank Foundation and labour funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to support their fencing project. They also plan to switch to crops like coffee and turmeric, which aren\u2019t attacked by wild animals. Dairy, cottage industry (pickle making, local wine, etc.) and village tourism are also being promoted in villages around the Kitam sanctuary.<\/p>\n WWF-India is also working with villages on the fringes of protected areas to reduce human-wildlife conflict. \u201cWe are diversifying livelihood options of villagers so that losses due to crop depredation can be offset,\u201d informed Priyadarshinee Shrestha, team leader, WWF-India Khangchendzonga Landscape Office-Sikkim.<\/p>\n In Talkharka village, near India-Bhutan border, WWF-India has trained villagers in bee keeping. \u201cThirteen households have got beehive boxes from which honey would be extracted every month and sold for Rs 1,000 (USD 14.28) a litre,\u201d said Sabina Rai, a local resident trained in bee-keeping. Households have also been provided chicken coops to reduce wildlife attacks on poultry.<\/p>\n Farmers and non-profit organisations believe these initiatives may help find a long-term solution to human-wildlife conflict in the state.<\/p>\n This story is being published as part of IHCAP-CMS Media Fellowship Program. This article was first published on indiaclimatedialogue.net<\/a>. From apples to vegetables in Sikkim<\/a> Recent changes in climatic conditions in the heavily forested Himalayan state of Sikkim could be fuelling human-wildlife conflict around protected areas in the province<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2194,"featured_media":20025446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,764],"tags":[519,523,610],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000111],"class_list":["post-20025445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-nature","tag-climate-impacts","tag-conservation","tag-wildlife","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRising conflict and its impacts<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"map](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/HWC2-1.jpg\")
Why is conflict rising?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"According](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/HWC3.jpg\")
Climate change aspect <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"B.](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/HWC4.jpg\")
Responding to conflict<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGlacial lake threatens Sikkim’s heritage village<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"