The latest audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has delivered a scathing critique of the forest department’s performance in safeguarding wildlife habitats and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts across Kerala. Presented in the state assembly, the report scrutinizes the department’s actions and policies over a five-year period spanning from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Key findings from the CAG report highlight the intrusion of human activities into wildlife habitats as a primary driver behind escalating human-wildlife conflicts. The report specifically identifies several development projects that have exacerbated these issues, including the construction of an airstrip near the Periyar Tiger Reserve without requisite environmental impact assessments and clearances. This project, initiated by the Public Works Department in 2017, is cited for potentially disrupting the biodiversity-rich soundscape of the area, impacting flagship species such as elephants and tigers, and intensifying human-wildlife conflicts. Furthermore, the report criticizes the establishment of an IIT campus on land within the Nilambur elephant reserve in Palakkad, stressing inadequate consideration of conservation concerns and adverse impacts on wildlife habitats. Another highlighted issue is the rehabilitation of landless tribespeople in the Aralam farm area, which the report suggests has been undertaken without adequate planning and environmental impact assessments, further encroaching upon forested lands.
A former forest official, said that the underscored the challenges faced by the department due to political pressures, noting that objections to developmental activities often invite public criticism and political backlash. This, in turn, complicates the department’s mandate to protect forested areas and wildlife habitats effectively. The CAG report identifies multiple factors contributing to human-wildlife conflicts, including encroachments, invasive species, monoculture practices, slow progress in securing elephant corridors, and habitat intrusion through cattle grazing on forest lands. It specifically highlights disturbances in the elephant habitat in the Chinnakanal-Mathikettan area, attributing these to anthropogenic activities and land use changes that have disrupted vital elephant corridors.
