Palai Kalan, Lakhimpur Kheri, September 23, 2015: Wildlife Trust of India in partnership with Aircel Pvt. Ltd. organised a media workshop on ‘Media for Wildlife Conservation’ at Palia Kalan, near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, on September 23. The motive of the workshop was to explain to media the adverse impacts of negative and sensationalised reporting on wildlife related issues, especially human-wildlife conflict situations. Surrounded by human habitation, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has been a hotspot of man-animal conflict wherein humans and large carnivores, especially tigers and leopards, often come face to face leading to negative interactions between the two. Several humans and wild animals have lost lives to such incidents.

Considering the quantum of conflict situations, media plays an important role in disseminating information about such incidents, which are more often blown out of proportion in this landscape. The local media often labels tigers and leopards venturing into human habitats as man eaters which creates panic amongst locals who then demand that the animal either be caught or shot dead. It was such rampant negative reporting on wildlife issues in the state that it led WTI and Aircel Pvt. Ltd. to dwell upon organising a workshop for local media personnel wherein they could be told about the nuances of reporting during such situations, and made aware of their critical role as important stakeholders in wildlife conservation.

More than 17 journalists from Delhi, Palia, Lakhimpur Kheri, Katerniaghat, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur participated in the workshop which was inaugurated by Shri. P.P. Singh, Deputy Director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. In his inaugural address, Shri Singh said, “Nearly 30-40% of people still live in the fringes of the reserve and often venture into forests for their daily needs which leads to conflict with wild animals. Sometimes human lives are lost, which leads to human-wildlife conflict.” He added that due to lack of awareness, people spread rumours about wildlife which can be harmful for these animals. “It is here that media plays an important role by disseminating facts over fiction to the society. The media should follow responsible journalism and relay such sensitive information in a way that human-animal conflict can be brought down.”

WTI’s Sociologist, Shri Prem Chand Pandey, moderated the event and informed media persons about WTI’s Large Carnivore Conflict Mitigation Project in the landscape. Later, Dr Mayukh Chatterjee, Regional Officer in Charge, Uttar Pradesh State, WTI, addressed the participants and said, “Media personnel are important stakeholders in wildlife conservation, as wildlife and natural ecosystems provides for all humanity. Media personnel need to realise that they are more than just reporters; they are educators of the common masses, and need to incorporate this realisation while reporting, be it on politics or human-wildlife conflict”.

Several journalists also presented their views on negative reporting on human-wildlife conflict and assured that they will keep the things discussed in the workshop in mind while reporting about such events. Nikhil Ghanekar from DNA spoke about his experience of reporting on leopard-human conflict in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai and how conflict has gone down drastically with the help of media and other stakeholders.

Shri NK Mishra, senior journalist from Rashtriya Sahara, spoke on the role of media during conflict situations and he said, “It is our responsibility to report facts and not sensationalise. This workshop has helped journalists understand the nuances of reporting during such situations. We too need similar support from the Forest Department and WTI so that we have the correct information and do not deviate from facts. If we coordinate with each other, I am sure that media will also do its job.”

The workshop also saw participation from WTI’s five Primary Response Team (PRT) members from various villages that have witnessed highest number of conflict cases in the area. They spoke how they need media to help them in conflict situations, and how media should refrain from inadvertently causing harm to animals involved and the habitats they live in, through misinformed reporting. One of the PRT members requested media not to disclose the exact location of wild animals in media since that can alert poachers about animal movement.

The UP Big Cat Conflict Mitigation Project run by WTI in collaboration with the UP Forest Department and financial support from Aircel Pvt. Ltd. since 2011, is today perhaps one of the most successful projects on human-wildlife conflict mitigation in northern India. The project has successfully employed holistic measures, which include participatory approaches, such as constitution of Primary Response Teams (PRT) in conflict affected villages, to resolve conflict situations on the ground and prevent damages to human and animal lives.

These PRTs, constituted of villages and forest department staff, are responsible for making informed decisions during conflict situations and prevent human injuries death, prevent angry mobs from lynching animals, provide first aid, if injuries occur, and most importantly, form the bridge between local communities and local enforcement agencies. These efforts have proven very successful over the past few years and it is only imperative that local media be made aware of such efforts and are also made an important stakeholder group in such efforts.