|
|Park
Management|Monitoring
& Research|Conservation
Projects|Ecodevelopment|Tourism|
ecodevelopment
Support from
neighbouring communities is
crucial for protection and long-term survival of any protected area. Although
there are no human settlements in the main park but 19 villages are situated
inside the buffer zone reserve forest areas of Corbett. An additional two
hundred villages are situated all around the reserve. These villages depend on
the forest resources for fuel-wood, fodder and non-timber forest produce. Also,
nomadic Gujjar tribals visit Corbett and use the pastures for grazing large
herds of buffaloes.
In such circumstances it is impossible to avoid
human-animal conflicts.
The forest department has initiated an
Ecodevelopment
Programme to involve villagers in conflict reduction and biodiversity conservation. Ecodevelopment committees consisting of representatives of both
villagers and the forest department are being encouraged to enable
communities to plan and implement programmes for resource conservation and
generate livelihood. In the unfortunate case a human casualty caused by wild
animals ex-gratia relief is given to the affected villagers. Also, adequate
compensation is provided for livestock kills and crop damage by wild elephants.
|Park
Management|Monitoring
& Research|Conservation
Projects|Ecodevelopment|Tourism| |