Standardisation of processing methods for production of jackfruit seed flour with functional properties

Abstract

Human-wildlife conflict is a significant and intricate challenge within India, emerging from the overlapping interests and interactions between human communities and diverse wildlife species inhabiting the country. The increasing competition for space, resources, and habitat between human populations and wildlife is a primary driver of these conflicts. Urbanization on the rise and the encroachment of human activities into wildlife habitats contribute to heightened conflicts between humans and wildlife., the expansion of agricultural activities is identified as a major catalyst for alterations in land use and the destruction of habitats (Vijayan et al., 2020). Human wildlife conflict seriously affects Kerala's protected areas like national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, witnessing challenges such as crop damage and livestock predation. In Kerala wildlife species involved in crop foraging causes serious economic loss to farmers actively engaged in agriculture (Govind and Jayson,2021) This study investigated the impact of land use and land cover changes on human and wildlife conflict in Wayanad district, Kerala, India, by exploring the relationship between land use patterns and wildlife distribution and the incidence of conflicts. The effects of changes in land use pattern on interactions between people and animals in the district was also studied. The results of this study offer insightful information to conservationists, decision-makers, and local people, assisting in the creation of strategies for sustainable land management, programs for the conservation of animals, and efficient ways for conflict reduction. The analysis of the spatiotemporal data on the incidences of human-wildlife conflict in the selected forest divisions of the Wayanad district from 2014 to 2018 was undertaken. A total of 9163 applications were received in the North and South forest divisions During the study period, a total of 9,030 conflicts were documented, involving various wildlife species such as Asian Elephants, Bonnet macaques, Wild boar, Deer, Gaur, Tiger, Leopard, and others. Asian Elephants accounted for nearly half of the total conflict incidents during the period from 2014-15 to 2018-19, registering the highest number of occurrences. Within both the North Division and South Divisions, the Bonnet Macaque was identified as the second-most problematic species among the five causing the most issues, with recorded conflicts amounting to 1399 in the north and 1437 in the south Division. Among the ten villages with the highest conflict levels, the top three were Thirunelli, Thavinjal, and Irulam. Thirunelli recorded 1,670 incidents, Thavinjal had 1,081 incidents, and Irulam recorded 892 incidents. The detection of changes in land use and land cover indicated that there was an expansion of agricultural activities, leading to a decrease in evergreen forest cover by more than 61 hectares. Additionally, a decline in the area covered by deciduous forests was also observed. So efforts should be made to protect the evergreen and deciduous forest area and for balancing the agricultural practices in the study area.