COIMBATORE: Warning that technology and enforcement alone cannot resolve the growing crisis of human-wildlife conflicts, senior forest department officials on Wednesday insisted on public cooperation to protect both lives and livelihoods in forest fringes.

Addressing a seminar on mitigating human-animal conflict at the Central Academy for State Forest Service in Coimbatore, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) D Venkatesh said it was impossible to control human-animal conflict without active participation from local communities.

“The districts along Western Ghats, including Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Theni, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri, were witnessing a high incidence of human-animal conflict. Due to the threat of invasive plants, a hill range may appear green, but it could still be a ‘green desert’ without native trees or grasslands. Elephants once seen in the Berijam region of Kodaikanal are now spotted across district borders in Dindigul as they have altered their movement patterns due to habitat loss,” he said.

Identifying various causes for rising conflict, including encroachment of forest land, conversion of mud roads into tar roads, and cultivation of cash crops near forest boundaries, Venkatesh said over the past decade, 685 people have lost their lives in human-wildlife conflicts in Tamil Nadu, including 43 deaths last year alone.

“While accidental encounters accounted for most fatalities, the human-induced disturbances to wildlife also contributed significantly to conflict situations. We are taking sustained steps to gradually reduce conflicts by using artificial intelligence-based monitoring systems to track elephant movements around the clock,” he said.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of the Forest Force (HoFF) Srinivas R Reddy and forest officials from Coimbatore, Hosur, Sathyamangalam, the Nilgiris, Dindigul, Kodaikanal, Tenkasi and other regions participated in the seminar.