To reduce man-animal conflict in villages near two large wildlife reserves in Maharashtra, the State Forest Department has decided to create a sustainable tourism model on the lines of South Africa's Kruger national park.

A pilot project, on the lines of the Kruger park, offering homestay and jungle lodge facilities for tourists and wildlife enthusiasts has been started by the Department in the buffer zones of Tadoba national park and Nagzira wildlife sanctuary. Buffer zone is an area contiguous to the forest but has human settlements.

About 100 villages in these zones have been provided with cooking gas and biogas units so that villagers' dependence on forest for collecting firewood is reduced. They are also being encouraged to cultivate horticulture and other crops, which animals don't eat.

The project is seeking to provide an alternative livelihood to the villagers based on tourism and horticulture, which is more sustainable, rather than the traditional cattle and farming model.

The State Forest Secretary, Mr Praveen Singh Pardeshi said the two initiatives will create a win-win situation for all. The tourism business will fetch villagers a steady income and they also become guardians of wildlife. Their foray into the jungle for firewood collection will also drop eventually, he said.

He said the villages wanting to set up biogas unit are being provided with 75 per cent subsidy on the capital cost. Villagers with higher income are being offered gas stoves and six month supply of cooking gas at subsidised prices.

Mr Pardeshi said that horticulture crops like custard apple and Indian gooseberry can wean villagers away from the traditional crops without affecting their income.

rahulw@thehindu.co.in

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