Securing Tiger and Elephant Habitat in India

We are proud to report that WCS has been very active on land purchase efforts in the past few months. In March, after much negotiation, WCS was successful in purchasing the lands of the three families that live in Naifed village, which is located in Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve. These families – the first to ever voluntarily relocate out of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve – moved out immediately, and with assistance from WCS they have found new homes outside of the Tiger Reserve. Their houses (see photo above of one of the houses) have since been demolished and the lands have been handed over to the Government of India. These lands are now incorporated into Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve and are reverting back to a wild state.

The purchase of these lands in Naifed by WCS achieved something we very much hoped for, and which was the key aim of our efforts in Dandeli-Anshi: catalyzing the movement of other families out of the Tiger Reserve through the Government of India’s voluntary relocation mechanism. In April, after seeing the positive results for the families in Naifed, 30 families scattered across four villages in Dandeli-Anshi requested and received voluntary relocation funds from the Government of India to move out. These families are now 100% on the track to voluntary resettlement and they are scheduled to do their final house demolitions and move out of the Tiger Reserve in September, after the summer monsoons.

There are about 2,000 families living in Dandeli-Anshi and we believe it will require a long-term commitment by WCS for their voluntary relocation. However, we are confident that these 30 families are just the first of many who will voluntarily move out of Dandeli-Anshi, now that they have seen it done successfully. We know this because WCS has applied the same approach before with great success in Nagarahole National Park, where the very first relocation efforts in the early 2000s of just a few families resulted in the resettlement of over 400 families outside the park during the subsequent ten years, freeing up large areas for tigers and elephants to return. With your help, we have been able to move the first families out of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve – a critical first step in the process.

In addition to efforts in Dandeli-Anshi, WCS also continued land purchase efforts in Kudremukh National Park. In contrast to Dandeli-Anshi (where the primary aim was to catalyze others to move out), lands were purchased in Kudremukh to ensure that large, critical regions of Kudremukh were freed from human enclosures. In particular, there is a small cluster of just a few houses in an enclosure called the “SK Border.” Only two families live in SK Border, which is the only human enclosure in a region that is otherwise tens of square kilometers of forested lands (home to tigers, elephants, and many other endangered species). In March, one of the two families sold their land and demolished their house and moved out, followed by the second family in April. The lands of SK Border have since been handed over to Kudremukh National Park.

It has been a very productive few months and we hope you enjoyed this good news from Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve and Kudremukh National Park. From all of us at WCS, thank you for your contribution to saving wildlife and supporting local communities in India. We couldn’t do it without your help!

Top photo: One of the houses in Naifed village that was demolished after the families voluntarily moved out.
Bottom photo: The cluster of houses that make up SK Border. In April 2014 they were all demolished.

Photo credits: WCS.

Dear Wildlife Conservation Society supporters,

Just wanted to share a bit of news: Wednesday, February 12 is GlobalGiving's first Bonus Day of the year! All donations will be matched by 30% beginning at 9 AM (EST) until funds run out. This means a donation of $100 will raise an additional $30 in matching funds, increasing the impact of your gift! We hope you will consider using this opportunity to support WCS’s efforts to secure important tiger and Asian elephant habitat in India. 

Kudremukh National Park, in the heart of the Western Ghats of Karnataka, has one of the largest tracts of protected rain forests in India and harbors rare, endangered, and endemic wild flora and fauna, including tiger and lion-tailed macaque. Unfortunately, this protected forest is continuously threatened by the presence of over 1,300 families settled in remote and isolated hamlets; these families face constant conflict with wildlife, live in marooned conditions lacking even basic amenities, and are deprived of the benefits of government developmental programs with no hope for better livelihoods.

In an effort to address these problems, WCS first implemented the land purchase project in 2003 in the Bhagavathi settlement inside Kudremukh National Park, through which 8 families were successfully relocated with fair and just compensation. Since then, WCS has relocated over 55 families in Kudremukh under this model. The lands relinquished by these families are then merged with Kudremukh, thus giving them legal protection and rendering inviolate space for wildlife. In addition, WCS remains actively involved in providing effective and continued post-relocation support to the relocated families.

We are so proud to report that today, after a decade of continued efforts towards voluntary relocation driven by WCS and with support from the Government of India, more than 600 families living inside Kudremukh National Park have submitted applications seeking voluntary relocation. With your support, we can continue to assist families in moving outside key habitats and ensure that these areas are free of human-wildlife conflict and safe for tigers, elephants, and other species. 

Top photo: Bhagavathi settlement, with numerous domestic livestock, before relocation efforts. Bottom photo: Bhagavathi after relocation - gaur (tiger prey) return to the area