Where grizzled squirrels roam free

conflict-free

Globally, conservationists view India as a country with great tolerance for wildlife. Where else does a population of 1.2 billion people live alongside an array of wildlife, from elephants that raid crop fields to king cobras that curl up in the attics of people’s houses? However, ask conservationists in India about the state of affairs of its wildlife, and their answer will be a grim one. For one, this tolerance that India is touted to have for its wildlife wears thin as conflicts between humans and animals increase alarmingly. For another, a large part of the diverse wildlife that India is home to is restricted to a few pockets of land.

Of these pockets, only 4.9% receives protection in the form of national parks or wildlife sanctuaries. Areas surrounding these protected areas too are important for animals as they know no boundaries. However, these areas are occupied by some of India’s vast population. A population, whose livelihood often depends on agricultural farms and plantations. Due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and conflicts with people, which sometimes end in retaliation, animals in the bordering areas are under threat of blinking out of existence. Bringing more of these pockets under protection is not always an easy solution.

But why not take advantage of the famed tolerance that India has for its wildlife? Why not make people guardians of the wildlife they share space with, and make it profitable for them to do so? The Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL), supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), set out to do just this.

They chose the areas surrounding the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. This sanctuary is in one of the most biodiverse regions of the world — the Western Ghats. It is home to many endangered fauna, including large mammals such as the Asian elephant, Asiatic wild dog and the lion-tailed macaque. Many invertebrates and plant species here still remain unknown to science.

Most notably, it is home to the near- threatened grizzled giant squirrel which is found only in southern India and Sri Lanka. There are less than 500 individuals left in India, which are reported to occur in only six locations in the Western Ghats. Of this, the largest population of around 200 individuals is found in the Srivilliputhur Sanctuary. Many of these squirrels have spread out from the sanctuary and now live in privately owned lands with mango and tamarind orchards. So, researchers from FERAL chose one such village called Saptur to put their plan into action.

As per the project, landowners and farmers who were willing to participate in the programme could choose which of the conservation activities they wanted to undertake. The activities fell in two groups: the first included providing a safe habitat for the grizzled giant squirrel by stopping to lop or cut trees and reducing fuel wood collection: the second involved converting their farms and other uncultivated areas into squirrel-friendly habitats by planting native nesting and fruiting trees, along with commercial fruit trees.

Deciding on the cost
Before this, FERAL had to assign monetary value to the land of each of the volunteering farmers. This was decided based on the number of activities the landowner was willing to carry out and by surveying the land for its habitat quality. The cost incurred by the landowner in carrying out conservation activities had to be decided by him. If the difference between these two amounts is profitable, the landowner could opt to participate in the programme. The actual amount that each landowner received was decided by an auction.

“The auction ensures the maximum number of landowners participate within a limited available budget,” says Senthil Babu, senior fellow at FERAL. He goes on to explain that it also removes any bias towards a particular landowner that may exist if these payments had to be decided through individual negotiations.

To begin with, nine landowners were committed to this idea. A total of 136 acres of land was set to become squirrel-friendly. The progress was monitored over a year, based on milestones that were set in consultation with the landowners.

The results were heartening. The area occupied by giant squirrels increased in fields that had been maintained or restored by landowners. What’s more, the protected land had higher amount of carbon in the soil, greater number of butterfly species (an indicator of habitat quality) and an improved vegetation. The landowners profited from the programme too, and the success of the programme sparked interest among others.

Now that the programme was successfully implemented for a year, FERAL hopes that the government will adopt it and carry it forward, both in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has shown interest in including it in their management plan, to manage conflict and protect squirrel populations in other buffer areas around the sanctuary. “The key challenges of this model,” says Srinivas Vaidyanathan, the lead scientist from FERAL, “is to win the trust of the landowners and understand the prevalent social and political situation of the area.”

There are thousands of villages like Saptur across the Western Ghats and other parts of India, which can be brought under this participatory model. It will ensure conservation at a larger landscape level, rather than protecting only a few isolated pockets of land.

FERAL may have hit upon a simple solution that can work in India: recognise and compensate for peoples’ tolerance towards wildlife. By providing a livelihood to people in exchange for their tolerance and conservation of wildlife, everybody wins.