Human–wildlife conflict & forest fire: HoFF flags off awareness vehicle from Tanakpur
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Haldwani
To strengthen community awareness, the principal chief conservator of forests/ Head of Forest Force, Ranjan Kumar Mishra flagged off a special public awareness vehicle from the Sharda Range office of the Haldwani forest division at Tanakpur on Saturday. He said that the initiative aims to sensitise the general people about the prevention of human–wildlife conflict and effective forest fire management.
As part of the campaign, special video messages recorded by the local MP and MLA have been prepared in both Kumaoni and Hindi languages. These messages appeal to citizens to adopt safe practices, remain vigilant in wildlife-prone areas and actively cooperate in preventing forest fires. In addition, several theme-based awareness videos have also been developed with the same objective in view.
Equipped with modern audio-visual screens, the awareness vehicle will reach villages under Haldwani Forest Division over the next one month. The senior Forest officers said that through engaging and easy-to-understand content, villagers would be informed about precautionary measures to avoid human–wildlife encounters, emergency response protocols, safe movement practices and various aspects of forest fire management, including causes of fires, preventive steps and procedures for timely reporting.
The Forest officers further said that the campaign seeks to strengthen community-based participation, encourage behavioural change in vulnerable areas and ensure last-mile outreach through technology-enabled communication. “The Forest department is confident that this initiative will help reduce incidents of human–wildlife conflict and further reinforce public cooperation in forest fire prevention efforts,” a senior officer added.
