The World Wide Fund for Nature, India (WWF) has taken an initiative for the conservation of wildlife in north Bengal.

The WWF will carry out the task with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) under its “Strengthening Landscape Management and Conservation” project in the forests of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts for the next three years.

Sumit Roy of WWF India, who is heading the project, said: “The project will be implemented for the next three years by involving the state forest department and representatives of the small tea growers. The project will work to mitigate man-animal conflict, develop safe passages for elephants along the elephant corridors and explore options for people living near the forests so that income options can be created for them through the cultivation of alternative crops.”

In both districts, man-animal conflict is common as elephants and leopards often stray into human habitats adjacent to forests. Also, over the years, corridors used by elephants to move from one forest to another have shrunk.

“People living in villages near forests often complain of elephant damaging their property and crops. It is pertinent to find out which other crops they can cultivate so that elephants do not walk into their fields to devour those as fodder,” said a senior forest official.

Along with the state forest department, the WWF will survey the core areas of the reserve forests where the project will be implemented during the next week.

“The stocktaking survey would be conducted to gather information about the elephant corridors and the human habitats. Our department is working on a long-term project on these issues,” said Bhaskar JV, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife, north).