Coexisting in Harmony
“The second Pinarayi Vijayan government took the human-wildlife conflictvery seriously.That is why the projects were formulated with the help of KIIFB.The projects were planned with the understanding that climate change affects wildlife more than humans.”
-A.K. Saseendran
Minister for Forest and Wildlife
The long-standing concern over the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) along the forest boundaries of the state, which persisted for more than two decades, has now been resolved. To address these issues, the government undertook a series of administrative and legal measures to ensure that residential areas, government institutions, semi-government bodies, and public sector undertakings were excluded from the demarcation of ESZs surrounding wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. These efforts culminated in a favorable verdict from the Supreme Court, bringing much-needed clarity and relief to affected communities. In order to intensify efforts to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, the state government declared human-wildlife conflict as a state-specific disaster in March 2024. A bill to amend the Central Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, to change the provisions that hinder the prevention of wildlife attacks has been passed. The period of empowering panchayats to eliminate wild boars that pose a danger to human life and property in populated areas has been extended by one more year. Till date, about 5,000 wild boars have been killed and eliminated.
$ Out of 955 deaths due to humanwildlife conflict during the period 2016- 17 to September 2025, 645 (67.53%) were due to snakebite. Sarpa scheme prepared to tackle this threat. $ From 123 deaths in 2019, the number of deaths due to snakebite has reduced to 30 in 2024. $ In the period 2021-22, 113 people died due to human-wildlife conflict. By 2024-25, the number of deaths had come down to 67, and by September 2025, a total of 22 people had died in wildlife attacks. $ Since this government came to power, Rs 68.69 crore has been sanctioned as compensation till the end of July 2025. About 95 percent of the outstanding compensation has been paid. $ The compensation for deaths due to snakebite and wasp/bee stings has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. The compensation for disability and injury has been increased by changing the slab. In addition, compensation will be provided for hospital stay. $ The government is also providing compensation for houses destroyed in wild animal attacks, for damaged clothes, for household appliances, for loss of livelihood, the daily wage rate under the Employment Guarantee Scheme, the actual cost of evacuation during disaster/rescue operations, deceased, etc. $ The government is providing Rs. 1500 per pig and Rs. 2000 per killing and disposing of wild boar carcasses.
Wildlife Human Conflict Mitigation
• A 24-hour State Level Emergency Operation Centre and 36 Forest Emergency Operation Centres at the Divisional Level have been established to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
• 420 Volunteer First Response Teams in 171 Panchayats.
• 28 RRTs have been deployed. • Satellite RRTs are also available 24 hours a day at forest stations.
• 3 crores for purchasing modern weapons and better training
• Equipment including 26 vehicles, 12 bore pump action guns (73 in number) and 1000 camera traps have been provided to enhance the functioning of the Rapid Action Force.
• 70 meters of smart fencing installed on a trial basis within the limits of Irulam Forest Station in Chethalath Range of South Wayanad Division.
• Animal Intrusion Detection and Repellent System has been implemented on a trial basis to know the presence of wildlife in advance. Equipment including 267 AI warning systems, 10 thermal drones and 1000 camera traps have been installed.
Missions for Wildlife Attack Prevention
• Mission Real Time Monitoring – To know the movement of wild animals in advance
• Mission Primary Response Team – To ensure timely intervention
• Mission Tribal Knowledge – To collect traditional knowledge adopted by tribal communities to mitigate human-wildlife conflict
• Mission Food-Fodder-Water – To ensure availability of water and food for wild animals in the forest
• Mission Bonnet Macaque – To legally control native monkeys
• Mission Wild Pig – To control wild pigs
• Mission Sarpa – To completely eliminate snake bite mortality
• Mission Solar Fencing – 1148 km of solar fences have been made fully operational.
• Mission Sensitisation to Public – To create awareness among the people about wildlife conflict.
• Mission Manjakonna – To eradicate invasive plants
• Mission Agriculture Revival and Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation
Afforestation
A plan has been envisaged to remove trees such as Acacia, Eucalyptus etc. in a phased manner and re-establish them as natural forests. Restoration activities are being carried out in an area of 9040.40 ha. 1583.85 ha of monocrop plantations have been converted into natural forests.
• 82.66 lakh saplings were planted.
• 107 Vidyavanams were planted in schools in the state.
• 32 urban forests were started in various districts in the state.
Relief Measures for Forest-Dependent Tribes
• 500 people from forest-dependent tribes have been appointed as Beat Forest Officers.
• A scholarship of Rs. 15,000 given annually to tribal girls studying for professional courses.
• 4,477 individual title deeds have been issued for 2315.247 hectares of land.
• Forest resources are being processed and value added without the intervention of middlemen and marketed through Vanashri.
• A project called Gotrabheri has been started to utilise the traditional knowledge and expertise of the tribal community.
• Narum Noor has been implemented to restore traditional tuber cultivation among the tribal communities in Idukki Marayur Sandal division.
• Under the Navakiranam project, compensation of Rs. 145 crores has been distributed to 1092 family units facing wildlife attacks in the forest. People have been relocated from 218.8973 hectares of land.
New Initiatives
• The construction of the world’s first elephant natural history museum is in progress in Kottoor, Thiruvananthapuram.
• Thrissur Zoological Park, spread over 336 acres of forest land, was inaugurated with the financial assistance of Rs. 371 crore.
• The Natural History Forest Museum established n Kulathupuzha, Kollam.
• Biological park to be set up in Peruvannamoozhi, Kozhikode.
• The construction of an animal hospice center in Perambra, Kozhikode is in progress.
• Steps are being taken to declare Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary as the first butterfly sanctuary in India.