Pench: ‘Trees for Tigers’ to curb human-wildlife conflict

The number of tigers in India has been continuously increasing for the last few years. India is so confident in the increasing number of its tigers that it is now planning to send its tigers to Cambodia as well. But in view of this increasing population, India's forests are continuously shrinking.

According to a report, 30 percent of India's tigers are forced to roam outside their protected areas. A direct consequence of this difference is human-tiger conflict. In the year 2020 alone, Pench had witnessed 17 human-tiger conflicts in which 6 people had lost their lives. An organization named Grow-Trees is running a project named Trees for Tigers in a village adjacent to the forests of Pench, keeping this issue at the center. Let's know what the Tree for Tigers project is.

What is the Trees for Tigers project? 

Grow-Trees, an organization, manages the Tree for Tigers project. This project is being run in many forest areas of the country, like the Sunderbans and Ramtek. In this project, a large-scale plantation is done in the areas adjacent to the forest.

In Madhya Pradesh, the project is being run in Potlai, a small village in Seoni district adjoining Pench. There are basically 4 objectives behind this project, such as increasing green cover, limiting human-wildlife conflict, improving wildlife habitat, and providing employment to the local people. To meet these objectives, 20140 trees have been planted on 5 hectares of land in Potlai village.

What things are kept in mind while planting trees?

Raju Jatav, the project manager of the project, told us that he first communicates with the villagers. In this project, his team had decided on the species of plants for the plantation by meeting the villagers.

During plantations, special care has been taken to plant mixed species. Grow-trees and villagers have together selected 10 species of trees. This includes fruit trees, medicinal plants, and non-fruit trees. These trees include tamarind, banyan, jasmine, turmeric, neem, and jackfruit.

The main reason behind the selection of these species is that they are indigenous species of trees. Apart from this, these tree groups will be able to meet all the needs of the villagers, from medicine to fruits to wood. One of the main reasons for planting different types of trees is that it will balance the nutrition of the soil.

Selection of Land

Raju says that the community land under the gram panchayat has been selected for the plantation. For this, they have first taken a permission letter from the village sarpanch and then started the work. Speaking on these formalities, Raju says,

The general purpose of this was that these trees would not be subject to any land dispute tomorrow because the land belongs to the Panchayat. Apart from this, these trees will not be cut without the permission of the Gram Panchayat.

Apart from this, the work from digging pits to tree plantations in this project has been taken from the people of the village itself. Raju says that he started this work at the end of June 2024. Since there were too many trees, they had to plant in two months of the rainy season. Therefore, he had included the people of the nearby villages in this work besides Potlai.

Although Raju's team wanted equal participation of women and men in this work, the participation of women in this work has been limited due to social reasons. Raju informed us that in these two months, the project has generated employment of more than 180 man-days. Ravi Atmaram Wadekar is also one of the people who has worked on the project. Speaking about his experience, Ravi said,

We have worked in it for about 22 days, for which we used to get 300 rupees as wages and also the travel expenses. We liked that trees of guava, mango, etc. have also been planted. We are just waiting for them to grow up now so that we can all benefit from it.

Human-wildlife Conflict

The villagers often go to the forest to get fruits, medicines, and firewood. This increases the risk of tigers attacking forest villagers. Therefore, if the necessary forest resources are made available to the villagers near the village, the risk of human-tiger conflict will be limited. In addition, under the Trees for Tigers project, it has also been ensured that employment is also provided to the villagers through tree plantations.

23-year-old Sukhram, who lives in Potlai village, has also put in his share of labour in the project. Sukhram says that many times the villagers go to the forests to get firewood and sitaphal, etc. Many people were also injured during this time. In addition, many times the lion has also preyed on pets. In a conversation with Ground Report, Sukhram said, 

We often have to go to the forests for different works. In the recent past, lions have come to our farms several times. We have seen its paw prints, and we have also sent its picture to the forest department.

I have also worked for 20–25 days on the trees that are being planted in our village. I hope the trees grow soon, and we don't have to go to the forest for our needs.

The village is also protecting trees

Raju says that he has kept the person from the village for care. Apart from this, the village also gives full support by giving water, etc. to these trees. Raju said,

The villagers have been associated with the project since its inception. Their hard work is involved in this, due to which the villagers do not feel responsible for these trees.

Raju says that for the next two years, his team will take care of these 20,140 trees of Potlai. During this time, we have strictly forbidden people to come to the village plantation area and bring their animals. Apart from this, we have also requested the villagers to pluck leaves for animal feed, take small twigs, etc., but do not cut trees. The people of the village are also excited about this program. Naresh Singh Tekam, the sarpanch of the village, says,

Our village is adjacent to the forest; 700–800 people live here. Lions often come here and attack livestock. For this, we have taken the help of the forest department several times. But through this plantation, it seems that a concrete solution will be found to this problem. With this, the environment of our village will also be clean, and along with fruits, income will also come.

He adds, "There are wild trees in our village, but the trees planted by us are fewer." All the people of the village have worked hard in this plantation work. They are happy that such a large number of trees are being planted in their village.

Raju said that he has created awareness by constantly communicating with the villagers. They are fully committed to making this project a success. If a tree does not grow in these two years, a new plant will be planted in its place.

But there are some things that Raju is apprehensive about. Raju said,

There have been several incidents of fire in the area in the past few days. Despite our efforts to inform the villagers, such incidents are beyond our control. In addition, last year was extremely hot. Even if this year's heat is greater, trees may be at risk.

For the last few years, the forests of Pench have been burnt in forest fires several times. From 2001 to 2023, Seoni district has lost 19 hectares of tree cover to forest fires. In the last 22 years, forest fires have destroyed about 17 percent of the forests in the Chhindwara district, which also comes under Pench forest area.

These figures show that there is a need for better protection and technical effort to save the tree cover of Pench. In addition, human interference in the ever-decreasing forest and woodland cover across the country has increased the possibility of human-wildlife conflict. With these events, the main components of the environment are becoming hostile to each other. The present times demand a holistic effort to enhance wildlife conservation as well as human-wildlife interaction.

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