SEIJOSA, 18 Mar: The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the environment & forests department, with support from KEPL and IFAW on Wednesday organized a ‘grain for grain’ programme where victims of elephant crop-raids in and around the fringe villages of the Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) were given temporary relief in the form of rice.
This year, 58 families who were victims of elephant crop-raids were provided with 100 kgs of rice per family by the WTI. The ‘grain for grain’ initiative is a rapid action project under the WTI and it has been in operation for 20 years.
This year, the programme witnessed an increase in the number of claimants as more and more people are reporting crop-raiding incidents and not resorting to harsh actions against the elephants raiding their crops.
“This year we also saw the local people being more appreciative
and were more aware of the whole concept,” said PTR DFO Tailang Pali in a press release.
Pali expressed appreciation for the initiative, and stressed that “the forest department, the NGOs and the local people should all work as a team and keep moving ahead in the best way possible for nature conservation, particularly in Pakke Tiger Reserve.”
