More than 7,000 people living in pockets of south Bengal and are vulnerable to human-wildlife conflict received new sets of clothes this festive season.

The drive, which began in August this year, has covered pockets such as Dayapur, Pakhiralaya and Rangabelia, on the fringes of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve; G-Plot and Sadhupur in the South 24-Parganas forest division of the Sunderbans; Sahajora and Dejuri in Bankura; Moupal and Salboni in West Midnapore; Harop, Haturia and Bagnan in Howrah and Haripal and Gurap in Hooghly.

The nature of human-wildlife conflict is different in these villages.

In the mangroves, fishermen entering the forest, often illegally, in search of crab and fish are attacked by tigers. Tigers have in the past entered human habitats.

Crocodiles are also often washed away during high tide and end up in a village pond.

Elephants from Jharkhand’s Dalma forests frequently march into villages in Bankura, West Midnapore and Jhargram, destroying crops and occasionally killing humans. The jumbos, too, get injured and killed.

In Howrah and Hooghly, the conflict is usually between humans and snakes and “lesser mammals” such as fishing cats and civet cats.

“We have distributed clothes in close to 30 locations so far. In all these places, people share spaces with wildlife. All these places have a recorded history of human-wildlife conflict in various forms,” said Joydip Kundu of the Society for Heritage and Ecological Research (SHER), an NGO that works to reduce human-wildlife conflict and is behind the project.

The drive is being conducted in collaboration with the forest department in phases. The recipients have been identified with the help of the joint forest management committees.

The majority of the beneficiaries are children. Elderly people and women make up the rest.

The terrain of the Sunderbans makes large swathes of the forests almost impenetrable for humans. But in other parts of south Bengal, like the western districts or the Jungle Mahal, the forests are not contiguous. They are interspersed with human settlements.

In pockets like Howrah and Hooghly, rapid real estate development are swallowing up wetlands, home to fishing cats and a host of other wildlife. As humans are encroaching on the homes of these animals, the scale of conflict is expanding.

Fishing cats, the state animal of Bengal, civet cats and snakes are often beaten to death by people. Roadkills also account for some casualties.

“We are trying to strengthen the bridge between the forest field staff and residents in these high-voltage conflict areas,” said Kundu.

The project is in its ninth year, he said. Around 20 educational institutes in Calcutta, alongside individual and corporate donors, have collaborated with SHER in this project.

“Such efforts help win the trust of the local population. When we participate in festivities together, we expect them to be part of our conservation efforts. No conservation effort can be successful unless it involves the local communities,” said Nisha Goswami, the divisional forest officer of South 24-Parganas.