Technical Reports

This review consists of three parts. In the first part, largely through secondary sources, we provide a background of the North Koel Reservoir Project and information on Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR) where the project is situated. We mention how the task of reviewing the Site-specific Wildlife Management Plan (January 2021) in lieu of diversion of 1007.29 hectares area (ha) of forest land for the project came to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). We also describe our review objectives, methodology and approach towards the task, as well as limitations, as communicated to the Department of Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand. In the second part, we first provide general comments and observations on the plan and thereafter chapter-wise analyse and evaluate the same, with respect to our objectives and based on relevant guidelines framed and circulated by the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW), Government of Jharkhand in this regard in 2015. We provide detailed observations and suggestions towards strengthening each chapter. We then mention details of our field visit including our learnings and insights gained from interactions with different stakeholders. In the third and concluding part, we provide recommendations towards improving the plan to benefit inhabiting wildlife and ecosystems in and around the project site and in its impact zone, as well as PTR as a whole. The second and third parts, thus, contain primary inputs in the form of actionable comments and suggestions from WII. We recommend a multi-seasonal year-long biodiversity assessment in the project impact zone. We also suggest exercising caution and applying scientific rationale in the use of barriers to reduce negative human-wildlife interactions and/ or to limit illegal activities. We also recommend setting aside budget towards empowering ecodevelopment committees in various management and conservation activities; upgrading facilities, providing training, equipment and field gear, and welfare for frontline staff (both temporary and permanent); and a comprehensive research program for PTR. We recommend drawing up detailed plans for ecotourism in PTR, providing alternative livelihood opportunities for the local indigenous population, habitat creation and habitat management towards wild herbivores’ population augmentation etc to enable further scrutiny of such plans, among other suggested interventions. Relevant appendices are provided towards the end

High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs) is an emerging concept used to identify important areas based on a variety of parameters including biodiversity, landscape context, threatened or endangered ecosystems, provisioning of basic ecosystem services, and dependence of local communities. The assignment aims to Identify High Conservation Value (HCV) categories of areas in the project landscape of Himachal Pradesh, delineate their boundaries and map them, and suggest relevant recommendations with respect to the potential threats prevalent in the areas, specific for each HCV category. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India along with UNDP has implemented a GEF funded project: SECURE Himalaya (Securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems). The project aims to promote sustainable land management in alpine pastures and forests in Indian Himalayan ecosystems for conservation of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats and sustaining ecosystem services. The project SECURE Himalayas would be implemented over a period of six years in the high-altitude trans-Himalayan region, which covers an area of about 184,823 km2 representing 5.62 percent of the total geographic area of the country. The selected landscape for the project is Lahaul-Pangi & Kinnaur Landscape in Himachal Pradesh. The Himalayan ecosystem in India is of critical importance for its immense biological, sociocultural, and hydrological values. The biodiversity and ecosystems that it harbours form an important life-support system for a large number of agro-pastoral communities that depend on it. However, these natural ecosystems are under severe threat from high dependence of local communities on natural resources. The major threats as identified in the landscape are intensive grazing of the pasturelands by domestic livestock, inter-specific competition between wild ungulates and domestic livestock, human-wildlife conflict resulting in crop destruction and depredation of livestock, over-harvesting and illegal extraction of medicinal and aromatic plants by intruders, over-exploitation of natural resources and uncontrolled conventional tourism interfering with the fragile ecosystems and the wildlife of the area. The current assignment identifies and delineate the potential high conservation value areas in the landscape through a knowledge-based approach i.e. data compilation, remote sensing & GIS approach, and ground truthing. The information is presented through the appreciation and understanding of the study sites by short-listing of areas of high conservation value and their management regimes. We reviewed 101 documents (74 peer reviewed and 27 unpublished) pertaining to the subject, and concept of high conservation value forests. Remote sensing and GIS data was used to generate various layers like digital elevation model (DEM), land-use land cover (LULC), drainage network, road network, protected areas network, distribution, occupancy maps of species, forest cover, slope and maps of villages in the landscape in concern. With the help of the secondary data and various GIS layers, potential high conservation value areas were identified and mapped in the remote sensing and GIS environment. Through ‘ground truthing’ of the available data and stakeholder consultations followed by field visits to the potential areas, 28 villages were visited, 13 in Lahaul and 15 in Pangi valley. Village level meetings were organized and data were collected using semi-structured open-ended questionnaire, for validation of potential high conservation value areas (HCVAs). Key informants were identified and interviewed for further validation and verification for HCVAs. A presence survey was conducted in the landscape to understand mammalian species distribution by using a combination of direct and indirect methods. Direct methods were based on visualencounters of animals whereas indirect methods relied on quantification of indirect evidences such as animal feces (pellet groups, scats, droppings), tracks (pug marks, hoof marks, scrapes) and other signs (feeding/ digging). Since all the areas surveyed were located at higher altitudes on steep and uneven terrain, the trails in the forests and alpine regions were surveyed. A total of 79 trails (1 km each), were surveyed, 25 in Lahaul, and 54 in Pangi. A total of 17 areas with high potential for conservation were identified in the entire landscape, 11 in Lahaul valley, namely, Miar valley, Naingar & Neelkanth lake, Billing-Istingri, Darcha-Jispa, Koksar, Kuruched, Hadsar, Chandratal lake, Mrikula Mata temple, Trilokinath temple, Kardang monastery; and 6 areas in Pangi, Sural Bhatori & Sural Gompa, Hudan bhatori, Kadu nallah, Sechu Tuan, Luj and Mindhal. Consequent upon these consultations and ground verification, biodiversity values and associated threats to these biodiversity values have been identified for each of the short-listed area of high conservation value and relevant recommendations prepared. It is proposed that in order to conserve the integrity of each HCVA type the status of the land in concern needs to be ascertained. The key recommendations towards this end include- 1) Demarcation of critical areas within the short-listed areas of high conservation values to serve as important livelihood source for herder communities; 2) Integrated pastureland management regimes to reduce the pressure on the pastures, and provide some time for restoration; 3) Anti-predatory livestock management through fences and other barriers, human-accompanied herding of livestock to reduce livestock losses is recommended; also, the strategies suggested by the SECURE-HWC (human-wildlife conflict) project in Lahaul-Pangi landscape, shall be followed. 4) Enhanced training to the key stakeholders concerning the extraction, harvesting and sustainable use of medicinal and aromatic plants; 5) Enhanced collaboration between the enforcement agencies (like the forest department and security forces) for improved surveillance to identify, monitor and prevent illegal activities. 6) Policy harmonization for potential HCVAs in the form of recognizing such areas as Community Conservation Reserve, Biodiversity Heritage Sites or Medicinal Plant Conservation and Development Areas.

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