‘Lantana’ become a livelihood opportunity for Bandipur tribals and ‘Yuva Mitra’ en route wildlife conservation

Located amidst the surroundings of the western Ghat mountains on the Mysuru-Ooty highway in Karnataka Bandipur Tiger Reserve has a sizable number of 143 Tigers and 3047 Wild Elephants. Apart from a huge number of tigers, there are 200 total leopards out of which 150 leopards stay inside Bandipur and a great sum of wild dogs can also be spotted. Famous for wildlife and big cats, Bandipur these days is in the spotlight entirely for different reasons. The Bandipur national park was formed by including most of the forest areas of the Venugopala Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1941 and was spread over only 90 sq. km. at that time. Once a private hunting reserve for the emperors of Mysuru transformed into the Bandipur National Park and then Tiger Reserve. The National Park was brought under Project Tiger in 1973 and established as Bandipur Tiger Reserve. During that time amongst the nine prominent Tiger reserves in the country, it was one of the major tiger reserves. Later in the 1980s the area was enlarged and extended over an area of 874.2 sq km. After including some nearby reserve forest areas, the Bandipur Tiger Reserve presently holds control over an area of 1036.22 sq. km. with 872 sq km. core area and rest as the buffer area. 

The entire 1036.22 sq. km. of the area is infected with Lantana invasive weeds. Lantana density varies where 38% of the forest area is infected with high density, 50% with medium, and 12% with low density of Lantana. It is to be noted that the plant Lantana Camara is the silent killer of the tiger ecosystem. It alters the nutrient cycle in the soil. Extensive feeding on lantana has led to allergies in animals, diarrhoea, liver failure, or even death of an animal. Also, excessive growth of this plant leads to forest fires.In this vein, the forest department of Bandipur has initiated a unique drive. In an exclusive interview with me, Bandipur Field Director and Conservator of Forest Dr. Ramesh Kumar P. said, “Through manual removal of Lantana and the grassland development program, 70 to 100 local tribal people work on a daily basis. The by-product of this activity is the Lantana craft making. We also impart lantana craft training to tribals. Through 56 days of training, tribals earn their livelihood without depending on the forest. So far, two women’s self-help groups have been trained with 20 members in each group. These tribals learn to make a variety of furniture items and products with the stems of the lantana plant. The department also provides a space to sell the finished products. ”This way the waste of Lantana converts into wealth. To restore tiger habitats Bandipur forest department’s drive for the elimination of Lantana weeds is also bestowing an alternative source of livelihood to the tribals. Launched on Jan. 3rd, 2023 the other initiative is the “Bandipur Yuva Mitra” program. The Union Minister for Environment Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav launched the initiative in Bandipur and flagged off the first batch of students’ safari. With an aim to conserve wildlife, the forest department is preparing local students and people from adjoining villages as 'Yuva Mitra' or eco-volunteers of Bandipur and educating them about the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and its wildlife. These trained volunteers will further create community awareness, and help develop a cordial wildlife-people relationship that will help to resolve wildlife problems with any conflict that occurs between humans and animals. Dr. Ramesh described the program in detail and said that the program is based on the learning-by-exploring approach. The program includes field visits to forests, wildlife, and the forest ecosystem. Under the initiative, officials take students and local people from the adjoining villages to Bandipur; provide them classroom sessions with free food, and finally, take them for free safaris. The program connects the participants through the ‘teacher to student, student to student, students to parents, parents to the community’ approach to address conservation and forest issues. Dr. Ramesh said, "The target is to prepare 15k students and 1000 teachers in a year. So far 1100 students have been sensitized and become Yuva Mitra of Bandipur. The trained volunteers have been given eco-membership volunteer cards. We want to develop a feeling of ‘My Bandipur’ amongst these people that it is their own region and they have to take care of the area. These people in the future will protect the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and support us in our various forest activities.” It is to be noted that an eco-conservative tiger reserve Bandipur shares its boundaries with Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the South, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in the South West and the Kabini Reservoir on the North West Side separates the Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. And hence, these three national parks along with the Bandipur Tiger Reserve create India's biggest and largest protected area 'Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve' with a total area of over 5520 sq. km. The Northern side of the Tiger Reserve is surrounded by a human-dominated landscape with villages and agricultural lands. According to 2018 statistics, 724 tigers are in the ‘Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve’ which is the largest tiger population in a single landscape.