Shreya Pandey, Aurobindo Samal, Akash Padhan and Sukanya David
SUMMARY
Numerous protected areas are facing a deep crisis due to negative human-wildlife interactions. Reduced forest cover and food resources outside protected areas have led to increased human-sloth bear conflicts, including frequent maulings. This study focuses on understanding the crucial role of forest frontline staff in mitigating human-bear conflicts. Odisha boasts an extraordinary variety of flora and fauna, including the sloth bear. We aimed to assess the contribution of forest staff to managing and helping prevent negative interactions. As part of this project, several activities were conducted to facilitate community education and spread awareness about early warning systems, strategies for conflict resolution, authentic data collection by the forest frontline staff, long-term roles in driving policy implementation, planning emergency responses in situations of conflict, monitoring human activities around the fringe areas, and potentially striving to maintain positive public relations. By utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire survey, we aim to assess the overall effectiveness of capacity-building programs in enhancing the skills, knowledge, and organizational capacity of professionals engaged in wildlife conservation on the ground, who have the first direct response to any situation and can make a significant difference in handling any incidents. The findings provide valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of existing initiatives and offer recommendations for optimizing future capacity-building strategies to mitigate human-bear conflict in Odisha, India.
Keywords: Frontline staff, Wildlife management, Community outreach, Policy implementation, Coexistence