September 25, 2023
By S.P. Silambarasan & Habeeba Fathima
Consultant & Technical Coordinator, Biodiversity Conservation
In September 2023, the Biodiversity team conducted several human wildlife awareness sessions for the villages of Mettukal, Semmanarai, Kadasolai, and Karikkaiyur. Within the Nilgiris, human-wildlife interactions are incredibly commonplace, with negative interactions becoming more frequent as increasing development occurs throughout the region. Through Keystone’s sessions, villagers and children alike learned how human-wildlife conflict occurs and how to avoid it – 82 people from Semmanarai, 78 in Kadasolai, 72 in Karikkaiyur, and 36 in Mettukal.
The sessions advised people on proper waste management and its role in reducing human-wildlife conflict, the importance of outdoor lighting after dusk, and warned them against sleeping in the outdoors, and setting up snares. They were also advised to clear walking routes of invasive bushes, and close wells and septic tanks to prevent wildlife from falling in. A video screening was also organised, on ways to avoid snake bites.
The Biodiversity programme used the sessions to survey the other needs and issues faced by people. They shared needs such as streetlights, water supply, public roads, electricity, fencing for their agricultural lands, as well as distribution of crop saplings to strengthen livelihoods.
