Dialogue initiated to reduce human-wildlife conflicts in Margalla Hills

Islamabad: Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has initiated a dialogue with the local people of the villages falling in the vicinity of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) to minimise human-wildlife conflicts.

According to the details shared by the IWMB, the officials held a meeting with inmates of Kot Jandaan village and listened to their viewpoint about the loss of livestock due to attacks by the wildlife animals.

It is pertinent to mention here that some 300,000 people are living in almost 40 villages in the Margalla Hills that provide natural habitats to the wildlife animals.

The wildlife experts have time and again warned that increasing human interventions in the habitats of the animals have started damaging their food chain thus forcing them to turn towards goats, cows and other livestock to meet their food requirements.

When any predator attacks livestock the villagers try to kill it and in most of the cases it happens, underlining the need to tackle this situation at the earliest.

The wildlife experts are of the view that when people compete with wildlife for food and resources then it leads to human-wildlife conflicts and this situation is now quite visible in the Margalla Hills.

“The cause of human-wildlife conflict is human settlements, agricultural expansion, illegal grass collection, overgrazing by livestock and deforestation in the national park,” they said.

They said people around the world usually express deep hostility toward carnivores because of real and perceived impacts on human health and livestock.

The IWMB said that the interactions with the local people would help understand their problems and evolve a strategy to not only protect their livestock but also ensure the protection of habitats and food chain of the wildlife animals.