Time to think of biodiversity conservation beyond protected areas

One of the key targets of the first draft of the Global Biodiversity Framework published recently is to conserve at least 30% of global land and sea areas as protected areas (PAs). The framework is aimed at advancing the goals of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

PAs, though crucial, are not enough to conserve biodiversity. This is especially so in the case of landscapes where PAs are not well connected, and buffer areas are largely multi-use. According to new research, one way to enable wildlife conservation in such areas is to monetarily incentivise landowners.

The paper states that wildlife-friendly land use, in developing economies like India, with shrinking wildlife habitats and expanding infrastructural developments, could supplement rural incomes and potentially expand habitat for wildlife, thereby being a promising conservation strategy.

The researchers surveyed 699 landowners in villages around Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks in Karnataka between April and July 2019. They found that 81% of the surveyed landowners were interested in adopting wildlife-friendly land-use programmes.

The wildlife-friendly programme entails the setting aside of a portion of the available land for growing native, fruiting and medicinal trees. The rest of the land can be managed as it is managed today, that is, with agricultural practices. This preference was dependent on a monetary incentive of Rs 64,000 per acre per year. The money could be utilised, for instance, to cover upkeep costs like labour or even for the procurement of saplings of medicinal trees.

Human-wildlife conflict and larger conservation goals

Dincy Mariyam, lead author of the paper and research assistant at the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), said that the authors of the paper were familiar with the challenge of conflicts in the region, because of the organisation’s ongoing work with Wild Seve, a programme run by CWS to provide effective access to government-run compensation schemes aimed at tackling human-wildlife conflict. “There are a lot of agricultural losses from conflicts with elephants and wild pigs in these areas. And this was my starting point for the research,” she explained.

The study found that a majority (84%) of the villagers reported facing losses due to wildlife, and crop damage was the major (83%) form of loss. Erratic weather was another reason for agricultural losses, Mariyam added.

Post the contract period when the compensatory incentives stop, tourism could also be an incentive for the farmers and landowners, as the wildlife-friendly trees create a wildlife tourism asset in the area, said Mariyam.

“If you look at conservation the world over, you will see that there are multiple ways in which areas are protected [for conservation],” said Krithi Karanth, co-author of the paper. “Models include government-owned lands where wildlife conservation is a priority like national parks and sanctuaries, privately-owned wildlife parks and community-managed wildlife habitats. For example, there are community-based wildlife conservation initiatives in countries like Namibia and privately-owned ranch lands in Brazil that focus on jaguar conservation,” she added.

Also read: Rajasthan: Law meant to save camels is leading to its decline

In India, around 5% of the land area has been set aside as PAs under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. “But there is a lot of wildlife outside the PAs, on communal and private lands. We need to find solutions that allow humans and wildlife to coexist outside the government-mandated protected areas,” Karanth explained. “The larger goal is to create different models of conservation and land-use that facilitate more space for wildlife,” she added.

However, one critique of the model is about whether it might lead to more conflict. “Given that conflict resolution is one of the aims, would it not work at cross-purposes if large, potentially dangerous wildlife and people, are brought into closer contact [because of wildlife-friendly land-use]?” asked conservation scientist, M.D. Madhusudan.

Critique of sampling methods and choice-based assessments

The survey was conducted in 287 villages located within a five-kilometre radius of the Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks. It was found that 81% of the landowners surveyed were interested in adopting wildlife-friendly land-use practices. Those who opted out of the programmes cited intent to continue ongoing agricultural practices; inadequate economic benefit; paucity of land to commit to the program; lack of faith in institutions and water scarcity.

Some experts, not associated with the study, critique the method of the survey. “The paper does not contain enough information to understand whether the sample was truly representative [of the population],” said Divya Karnad, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Ashoka University. She highlighted the need to include the total population size and how much of it was sampled, and the number of villages around the parks, as part of the methodology.

Also read: Kerala fishermen bear the brunt of climate change

Karnad critiqued choice-based assessments in general. “It gives a good idea about what people think they are willing to do under experimental conditions. But it may not translate into what they will really do given multiple pressures like indebtedness and role in society,” she explained.

Madhusudan concluded by saying, “The approach adopted in the paper might be valuable as a descriptive tool that might help identify and explain factors that underlie actual choices made by landowners in switching voluntarily from agriculture to growing native trees in real-world circumstances. But it is less useful as a predictive tool because it is based on how people navigate hypothetical choices under highly simplified scenarios.”

(The story first appeared on Mongabay)