Crop Raiding Research Articles

Human-Wildlife Conflict and its Implication for Conservation at Sundarpur, Udayapur, Eastern Nepal

Local people are the major stakeholders of biodiversity conservation. Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) could result in a negative attitude of the general public towards wildlife adding challenges for conservation. This is more applicable in the landscapes which are outside the protected area (PA) coverage. But, the majority of HWC related studies in Nepal have centered on PAs and their peripheries. This study documents the prevailing situation of HWC in Sundarpur of Udayapur district that shelters some HWC prone wildlife species, while situating outside PA. Data about conflict and people's perception of wildlife conservation was collected using household surveys supplemented by key informant interviews and direct observation. Monkeys (93%, n=93) and elephants (86%, n=86) were found to be the major animals involved in the conflict, mostly resulting in crop raiding, the major form of conflict as reported by (95%, n=95) of respondents. Livestock depredation cases were mostly by common leopard (84%, n=21) and sloth bear was involved in the majority of human attack cases (90%, n=9). The results showed increasing trend of conflicts for elephants (63%, n=63) and monkeys (73%, n=73), while declining trend for sloth bear (64%, n=64), wild boar (85%, n=85), and leopard (46%, n=46). People believed the natural attraction of wildlife towards crops and livestock to be the major driving factor of conflict. Majority of respondents had a positive attitude towards wildlife conservation. However, implementation of community based conflict management strategies, robust compensation schemes along with conservation education programs are highly essential to achieve desired conservation success.

Status of crop raiding caused by wild animals in Lansdowne forest division, Uttarakhand

The human-wildlife conflict is one of the serious problems faced by people living in forest fringe villages. This has been a major problem since ages especially for the people residing near the wildlife protected areas but the problem has aggravated over the period of time. After the mid 19th century, it is being considered as a major problem, affecting the social, economic and cultural life of the people especially in the Himalayan region of our country. The aim of our study was to access crop damage by the wild animals in the agricultural areas of Lansdowne forest division of Pauri district of Uttarakhand. Crop damage by the wild animals was found in almost all the study sites (ranges) during the study period.

Alternative crops as a mitigation measure for elephant crop raiding in the eastern Okavango Panhandle

Elephant crop raiding causes food losses to subsistence farmers in the eastern Okavango Panhandle in Botswana. This study evaluated the effectiveness of using alternative crops such as groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and chilli (Capsicum frutescens) as a strategy to reduce elephant crop raiding. The study further evaluated the effectiveness of safflower and chilli as potential buffer crops against elephant raiding. Maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) were controls, being crops typically targeted by elephants in crop raiding incidents. A randomized complete block design experiment was conducted on a major elephant corridor in December 2018. The study compared the frequency of elephant visitations to plots, crop stand at harvest, crop losses, and actual and expected yield to determine crop resilience to elephant damage. The percentage of plants damaged differed significantly, with the lowest damage observed in chilli and the highest in maize. Non-buffered maize and sorghum suffered the worst damage. The lowest damage to legumes was in chilli-buffered crops with the highest damage in safflower-buffered crops. Chilli consistently deterred elephants from damaging crops when incorporated into the cropping systems. Therefore, we conclude, farmers should grow chilli in combination with both legumes (groundnut and cowpea), and cereals (maize and sorghum), which need to be buffered with chilli shrubs. Safflower has little effectiveness as an elephant deterrent compared to chilli. Diversifying crops could reduce the number of elephant raids and enable farmers to obtain increased incomes and improve food security. Résumé Le maraudage des récoltes par les éléphants causent des pertes de nourriture aux agriculteurs de subsistance dans l'est de l'Okavango au Botswana. Cette étude a évalué l'efficacité de l'utilisation de cultures alternatives telles que l'arachide (Arachis hypogaea L.), le niébé (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), le carthame (Carthamus tinctorius L.) et le piment (Capsicum frutescens) comme stratégie de réduction du maraudage des récoltes par les éléphants. L'étude a en outre évalué l'efficacité de cultures de carthame et de piment en tant que zones tampons potentielles contre le maraudage par les éléphants. Le maïs (Zea mays L.) et le sorgho (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) ont été choisies comme cultures témoins, étant des cultures typiques ciblées par les éléphants lors d'incidents de maraudages. Une expérience en blocs aléatoires complets a été réalisée sur un couloir majeur d'éléphants en décembre 2018. L'étude a comparé la fréquence des visites d'éléphants dans les parcelles, la récolte finale, les pertes de cultures, le rendement réel et attendu pour déterminer la résilience des cultures aux dommages causés par les éléphants. Le pourcentage de plantes endommagées différait considérablement, les dégâts les plus faibles étaient au piment et les plus élevés au maïs. Le maïs et le sorgho sans zones tampons ont subi les pires dégâts. Les dommages les plus faibles aux légumineuses ont été observés dans les cultures avec des zones tampons au piment, les dégâts les plus élevés ont été observé dans les cultures avec des zones tampons au carthame. Le piment dissuadait systématiquement les éléphants (Loxodonta africana) d'endommager les cultures lorsqu'ils étaient incorporés dans les systèmes de culture. Par conséquent, les agriculteurs devraient cultiver du piment en combinaison avec à la fois les légumineuses (arachide et niébé) et les céréales (maïs et sorgho), qui doivent être cultivées avec des arbustes à piment comme zones tampons. Le carthame a peu de valeur dans la dissuasion des éléphants par rapport au piment. La diversification des cultures pourrait permettre aux agriculteurs réduire le nombre de raids d'éléphants et permettre aux agriculteurs d'obtenir des revenus accrus et d'améliorer la sécurité alimentaire.

Assessing attitudes towards gorilla conservation via employee interviews.

To determine the effectiveness of conservation strategies, not only should we monitor biological variables, such as population size and levels of illegal activity, but also we should examine changes in attitudes and behavior of local community members. Here, I use semistructured interviews of employees at two field sites, in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda and Loango National Park, Gabon, to understand if their employment influenced their attitude towards gorillas and conservation and led to behavior change. In contrast to western views of gorillas as "gentle giants," staff viewed gorillas as dangerous animals before working for these projects. Overall, employment leads to viewing conservation and gorillas more positively, and in many cases, viewing the gorillas as kin. The most common value attributed to the gorillas was economic, yet intrinsic and non-use existence values were frequently mentioned. Loango staff, but not Bwindi staff, reported behavior change related to hunting and bushmeat consumption, which likely is related to bushmeat consumption being commonplace in Gabon but not in Uganda. The Bwindi staff seemed to have a more positive and broader outlook towardconservation than the Loango staff, possibly because they had more years of formal education, they worked with gorillas longer, there is more history of conservation activities in Bwindi, and/or they have been less directly affected by negative consequences of conservation (e.g., crop raiding). This study shows the importance of explaining that gorillas are not dangerous if not provoked and using their human-like characteristics as a means to change conservation values and interest of local communities, while concurrently recognizing that providing economic benefits and reducing negative effects of wildlife are a reality for conservation buy-in.

Movement tortuosity and speed reveal the trade-offs of crop raiding for African elephants

Animals living in heterogeneous landscapes are often faced with making a trade-off between maximizing foraging success and avoiding risk. Using high-resolution GPS-tracking data, this study explored the fine-scale movement patterns and risk sensitivity of crop-raiding African elephants, Loxodonta africana, in the anthropogenic landscape of Tsavo, Kenya. We analysed patterns in the speed and tortuosity of elephant movements over the 24 h surrounding crop-raiding events and compared them with those of nonraiding elephants during corresponding periods. Crop-raiding elephants moved faster and straighter (less tortuously) with closer temporal proximity to farmland, which we argue reflects their increased intensity of risk avoidance behaviours in response to approaching humans. Once inside farmland, elephants appeared to reduce movements associated with risk avoidance to forage intensively on crops, decreasing their speed and reducing the likelihood of moving in straight lines while crop raiding. These results highlight trade-offs in the fine-scale movement patterns of elephants living in anthropogenic landscapes with differing levels of habitat quality and exposure to humans, providing new insight into how they perceive the risks associated with crop raiding.

Prevalence of crop damage and crop-raiding animals in southern Ethiopia: the resolution of the conflict with the farmers

The conflict between humans and wildlife often arises from crop raiding and has a significant impact on both subsistence humans’ livelihoods and long-term wildlife survival in developing countries. The study aimed to identify crop-raiding wild animals, the prevalence of crop damage, and the conflict resolution mechanism. Data were collected by questionnaire, interview, and direct field observation to estimate the extent of the crop loss and species of an animal involved in crop-raiding. The findings identified Anubis Baboon (Papio anubis), Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), and Grivet Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) as the major crop pests, followed by Porcupines (Hystrix cristata), Birds and Mongoose (Helogale hirtula). Foraging typically Maize (Zea may) followed by Teff (Eragrostis tef), Enset (Ensete ventricosum), and Barley (Hordeum vulgare). Deforestation, illegal agricultural activities, and farmland distance to the forest were identified as causes of the conflict. In addition, scarecrow, chasing, and permanent guardians have been identified as traditional crop damage prevention techniques of the local people of the area. Therefore, to alleviate the existing impact of crop damage or loss by crop-pest or crop-raiding animals in the area adopting various most suitable approaches along with the awareness and involvement of local farmers would be a critical step.

Human–wildlife conflict and coexistence: a case study from Senkele Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary in Ethiopia

Human–wildlife conflict presents major challenges to both wildlife managers and rural livelihoods. Here, we investigated human–wildlife conflict in and around Senkele Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary (SSHS). We estimated the densities of wild animals within SSHS and conducted questionnaire interviews about livestock predation and crop raiding patterns with individuals in 378 households occurring <3000 m outside the Sanctuary's borders. Respondents reported that hyenasCrocuta crocutaand African wolvesCanis anthuswere the only livestock predators and were responsible for combined losses of ∼ 10% (29 207 USD) of their livestock over a three‐year period. Hyenas predated cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys and horses, whereas African wolves targeted only goats and sheep. Hyena predation occurred both inside and outside SSHS, whereas African wolf predation occurred mainly near the inside periphery of the sanctuary. Most (58%) of the respondents experienced crop raiding of their farms by Swayne's hartebeestAlcelaphus buselaphus swaynei, warthogsPhacochoerus africanusand/or crested porcupinesHystrix cristata. Nearly two‐thirds (64%) of the crop raiding occurred 1–1500 m from the sanctuary. Potatoes and maize were the most commonly raided crops. Local communities used guarding, patrolling, loud noises, smoky fires, flashes of light, fences and trenches as deterrence methods. Of the crop raiding species, only Swayne's hartebeests were regarded positively, while warthogs and crusted porcupines were viewed negatively by respondents. We conclude that although SSHS is of critical conservation value to the Swayne's hartebeest, the surrounding communities endure significant livestock predation and crop raiding by wild animals sheltered in the sanctuary. The survival of this relict population of Swayne's hartebeest in the sanctuary remains at risk unless the human–wildlife conflict in surrounding areas is resolved. This calls for site‐specific measures in consultation with the local community.

Assessing How Collaborative Resource Management Impacts Victims' Perspectives on Wildlife Crop Raids

Assessing How Collaborative Resource Management Impacts Victims' Perspectives on Wildlife Crop Raids

Elephants in the neighborhood: patterns of crop-raiding by Asian elephants within a fragmented landscape of Eastern India.

Loss of forest cover, rise in human populations and fragmentation of habitats leads to decline in biodiversity and extinction of large mammals globally. Elephants, being the largest of terrestrial mammals, symbolize global conservation programs and co-occur with humans within multiple-use landscapes of Asia and Africa. Within such shared landscapes, poaching, habitat loss and extent of human–elephant conflicts (HEC) affect survival and conservation of elephants. HEC are severe in South Asia with increasing attacks on humans, crop depredation and property damage. Such incidents reduce societal tolerance towards elephants and increase the risk of retaliation by local communities. We analyzed a 2-year dataset on crop depredation by Asian elephants (N = 380) events in North Bengal (eastern India). We also explored the effect of landscape, anthropogenic factors (area of forest, agriculture, distance to protected area, area of human settlements, riverine patches and human density) on the spatial occurrence of such incidents.Crop depredation showed a distinct nocturnal pattern (22.00–06:00) and majority of the incidents were recorded in the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Results of our spatial analysis suggest that crop depredation increased with an increase in the area of forest patches, agriculture, presence of riverine patches and human density. Probability of crop depredation further increased with decreasing distance from protected areas. Villages within 1.5 km of a forest patch were most affected. Crop raiding incidents suggest a deviation from the “high-risk high-gain male biased” foraging behavior and involved proportionately more mixed groups (57%) than lone bulls (43%). Demographic data suggest that mixed groups comprised an average of 23 individuals with adult and sub adult females, bulls and calves. Crop depredation and fatal elephant attacks on humans were spatially clustered with eastern, central and western parts of North Bengal identified as hotspots of HEC. Our results will help to prioritize mitigation measures such as prohibition of alcohol production within villages, improving condition of riverine patches, changing crop composition, fencing agriculture fields, implement early warning systems around protected areas and training local people on how to prevent conflicts.

Using landscape connectivity to predict human-wildlife conflict

Human-wildlife conflict has serious conservation consequences, both for populations of wildlife and for the people who live alongside them. Connectivity analyses can incorporate species-specific landscape resistance, and therefore have the potential to be used to understand where wildlife moves and causes conflict with people. We used circuit theory to develop connectivity models for the African savanna elephant in northwestern Botswana based on step-selection functions of movement data for 15 elephants and tested whether areas of high connectivity were correlated with occurrences of crop raiding. We used government records and field assessments of crop-raiding incidents between 2010 and 2016 to quantify conflict, which we predicted would correlate with landscape connectivity. The step-selection model revealed that linear boundaries such as rivers, fences, and dune crests were barriers to movement that impacted connectivity, while high vegetation index values and distance from villages were strong positive predictors of movement. Connectivity values were positively and significantly correlated with frequency of conflict incidents (p < 1.5e−06) over a six-year time span. However, connectivity had no predictive value for whether fields were raided (p < .54) or how frequently a field was raided (p < .77) during a single growing season. This study shows that connectivity may be a useful metric for predicting patterns of conflict occurrence over broad temporal scales, but may have limited predictive power at shorter time scales. It is crucial that conservation and conflict mitigation efforts recognize that methods may be appropriate for different purposes at different scales.

A strategy for wildlife management in depopulating rural areas of Japan.

Former ranges of wild animals have been reestablished in many developed countries. However, this reestablishment has led to increasing human-wildlife conflict in agroforest ecosystems. In Japan, human-wildlife conflict, such as crop raiding by and ecological impacts of wild ungulates and primates, is a serious problem in depopulated rural areas due to these animal range expansions and increased abundances. Japan's human population is predicted to decline by 24% by 2050, and approximately 20% of agricultural settlements will become completely depopulated. In this scenario, anthropogenic pressures on wildlife (e.g., hunting and habitat alteration) will continue to decrease and human-wildlife conflict will increase due to increasing wildlife recovery. Japan's local governments plan to slow range recovery, prevent species reestablishment, or remove recolonizing large mammals through lethal control. This strategy, however, is not cost-effective, and workforce shortages in depopulated communities make it infeasible. Moreover, the suppression of wildlife prevents the recovery of ecological functions and thus would degrade regional biodiversity. The declining pressure on wildlife that accompanies human depopulation will prevent the restoration of any past states of human-wildlife interaction. We suggest human-used areas in rural landscapes be aggregated in compact cities and that in transition zones between human settlements and depopulated lands that land-sharing approaches be applied. Concentrating management efforts in compact cities may effectively decrease human-wildlife conflict, rather than intensifying human pressures. Reforestation of depopulated lands may lead to recovery of wildlife habitats, their ecosystem functions, and regional biodiversity due to minimization of negative anthropogenic effects (land-sparing approach). Balancing resolution of human-wildlife conflict and ecological rewilding could become a new, challenging task for regional wildlife managers.

Crop raiders in an ecological trap: optimal foraging individual-based modeling quantifies the effect of alternate crops.

Crop raiding is an increasing source of human-wildlife conflict that antagonizes humans and can lead to heightened killing of wildlife. Attraction to crops can trigger ecological traps, where animals prefer areas of their range that confer relatively low fitness. Food can be used to draw animals away from problematic areas, but an alternative considered less often is to replace high-quality food with poorer alternatives. In any case, managers often have no means of anticipating by how much such interventions should impact animal use of space. Optimal foraging theory predicts that foragers optimizing their diet should choose food items according to their relative profitability (i.e., digestible energy/ handling time), a theoretical prediction that can orient management actions. Accordingly, we developed an individual-based model (IBM) simulating movement through empirical rules under an optimal foraging framework. Our objective was to quantify the effect size of cultivating alternate crops to reduce crop raiding and the associated human-induced mortality driving an ecological trap for an energy maximizer, plains bison (Bison bison bison). Results showed that almost tripling the area of cultivation of crops of lower profitability (from 24.3% of the bison range outside the protected area in one management scenario to 70.3% in another) only led to a 25% additional decrease in the intensity of crop raiding (from a decrease of 40% in the first scenario to a decrease of 65% in the second). This suggests that localized interventions in the landscape are likely to have a stronger impact in mitigating crop raiding than broad actions ignoring spatial patterns in food distribution. However, we obtained no significant reduction in the number of simulated bison being harvested in the first scenario, and only a small reduction in the second, when the intervention was spatially broad. Our individual-based approach to animal movement informed by optimal foraging demonstrates that linking landscape configuration to mortality rates can help managers anticipate the effectiveness of manipulating food to keep animals away from problematic zones. Yet disarming ecological traps driven by human hunting appears to be a much more challenging undertaking.

Synthesizing Remote Sensing and Biophysical Measures to Evaluate Human–wildlife Conflicts: The Case of Wild Boar Crop Raiding in Rural China

Crop raiding by wild boars is a growing problem worldwide with potentially damaging consequences for rural dwellers’ cooperation with conservation policies. Still, limited resources inhibit continuous monitoring, and there is uncertainty about the relationship between the biophysical realities of crop raiding and humans’ perceptions and responses. By integrating data from camera traps, remote sensors, and household surveys, this study establishes an empirical model of wild boar population density that can be applied to multiple years to estimate changes in distribution over time. It also correlates historical estimates of boar population distribution with human-reported trends to support the model’s validity and assess local perceptions of crop raiding. Although the model proved useful in coniferous and bamboo forests, it is less useful in mixed broadleaf, evergreen broadleaf, and deciduous forests. Results also show alignment between perceptions of crop raiding and actual boar populations, corroborating farmers’ perceptions which are increasingly dismissed as a less reliable source of information in human–wildlife conflict research. The modeling techniques demonstrated here may provide conservation practitioners with a cost-effective way to maintain up-to-date estimates of the spatial distribution of wild boar and resultant crop raiding.

Economic Benefits, Local Participation, and Conservation Ethic in a Game Management Area: Evidence From Mambwe, Zambia

This study examines views on economic benefits, local participation in wildlife management and conservation ethic among 267 residents of three chiefdoms in Mambwe district, Eastern Zambia. Results show that 68% of the residents who live in the Lupande Game Management Area are not in any way involved in community wildlife management. For those involved, the main reason advanced for participating was economic benefit (79%). Only a small minority of 17% of the residents participated due to motivations to conserve wildlife. Human-wildlife conflicts induced by wild animal crop raiding, property destruction, and loss of human life, and perceived low or non-existent economic benefits seemingly precluded the development of a conservation ethic among residents. The local chiefs asserted wildlife ownership, lamented low wildlife benefits and justified its illegal uptake. Proponents of community conservation projects could encourage pro conservation attitudes among residents by addressing human-wildlife conflicts and raising awareness on intrinsic values of wildlife.

Human-Gelada Conflict and Attitude of the Local Community toward the Conservation of the Southern Gelada (Theropithecus gelada obscurus) around Borena Saynit National Park, Ethiopia.

Understanding the extent of human-primate conflict in areas where habitat overlap reaches at maximum level between local farmers and primates is crucial to developing conservation and management strategies. One of the threats of southern geladas (Theropithecus gelada obscurus) is conflict with the local farmers due to cereal crop raiding. This study was carried out to compare the intensity of human-gelada conflicts and the attitude of local farmers toward the conservation of geladas among local communities neighboring Borena Sayint National Park (BSNP) and an unprotected site far from the BSNP. Data from 356 randomly selected respondents were collected using questionnaire interview method. Overall, 92.13% of the respondents considered southern geladas as cereal crop pests. Those major complaints against geladas did not differ significantly between the two study sites: crop raiding (p = 0.435) and competition with livestock for pasture (p = 0.990). Overall, 61.78% of the respondents surrounding the Park had positive attitude while 60.00% from the unprotected villages had negative attitude toward geladas, and the difference was significant (p < 0.001). Most of the respondents from both sites had labor bottleneck and station themselves in the sites to guard their cereal crops from being raided by southern geladas. Respondents from the Park boundaries had more interest on the conservation of geladas than those respondents from the unprotected site (p < 0.001). Conservation education program and better human-gelada conflict mitigation measures should be taken to change the negative conservation attitude of local famers toward the southern geladas.

Primates crop raiding situation on farmlands adjacent to South-West of Mole National Park, Ghana

Human activities have led to the overlapping of resource requirements among themselves and animal species and this often results in conflict. This research was conducted to determine the type of animal species involved in crop raiding, crops raided, the reasons for crop raiding events with its associated effects on the livelihoods of surrounding communities and the mitigation measures against it. 10 victims from eight communities were interviewed through a semi-structured guide. Though many animals were involved, the most troublesome and destructive were the following monkey species: Olive baboons (Papio anubis); Patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas); and Green monkeys (Cercocerbus sabaeus). These monkeys raiding events were found to be based on the palatability of crops and the most adopted methods used in deterring them were shouting and trapping. Monkeys were found to raid crops at the various farms in the communities for diverse reasons and recommendations for peaceful coexistence of humans have been made.

Assessment Of Human-Wildlife Conflict And Its Implication For Conservation at sundarpur, Udayapur, Eastern Nepal

This study was carried out to document the prevailing situation of human-wildlife conflict in Sundarpur of Udayapur district, Nepal where significant numbers of sloth bear along with other troublesome wildlife species occur. Data about conflict and people's perception towards wildlife conservation was collected using household surveys supplemented by key informant interviews and direct observation method. Monkeys (93%) and elephants (86%) were found to be major animals involved in conflict mostly resulting into crop raiding, which was the major form of conflict as reported by (95%) of respondents. Livestock depredation cases were mostly by common leopard (84%) and sloth bear was involved in majority of human attack cases (90%). According to respondents, the trend of conflict was found to be increasing for elephants (63%) and monkeys (73%) while it was found to be decreasing for sloth bear (64%), wild boar (85%), and leopard (46%), where people believed natural attraction of wildlife towards crops/livestock to be the major driving factor of conflict. Despite the prevalence of conflict most of the respondents showed positive attitude towards wildlife conservation in Sundarpur. This implies a better future for wildlife conservation in this area if the issues associated with human-wildlife conflict are addressed effectively.

Patterns of human-wildlife conflict and management implications in Kenya: a national perspective

ABSTRACTWith the intention to augment better management of human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) in Kenya, we assessed a national HWC pattern using a decade-long (2005–2016) monitoring data series. The results demonstrate that out of 29,647 reported HWC cases, crop raiding was the most frequent type (73%) followed by livestock depredation (23%) and infrastructure damage (4%). Different crops, livestock and wildlife species involved in the conflicts were also identified. Although HWC cases were reported from all the 47 counties that make up Kenya, about 75% of the incidences occurred in 10 counties, with the highest number of cases being in Taita Taveta County. Human-wildlife conflicts exhibited variations across the seasons and years. Overall, from the HWC cases reported, the number of crop raiding incidences decreased, livestock depredation increased, while property damage was constant. We suggest counties that experienced most HWC cases should be given a priority when implementing measures to mitigate HWC.

Hidden cost of conservation: A demonstration using losses from human-wildlife conflicts under a payments for ecosystem services program

As global efforts to protect ecosystems expand, there is increasing concern about conservation costs borne by rural communities. To date, these costs have often been narrowly estimated in terms of foregone livelihood opportunities directly caused by conservation, while unintended human burdens that accrue with ecological gains from conservation are often ignored. As a first attempt to quantify this previously hidden cost, we estimated the impact of converting cropland to forest under one of the world’s largest conservation policies, China’s Grain-to-Green Program (GTGP), on crop raiding in a demonstration site using the matching approach. We found that GTGP afforestation was responsible for 64 % of the crop damage by wildlife on remaining cropland, a cost worth 27 % of GTGP’s total payment to farmers. Our study highlights that the conservation cost to communities through influencing human-wildlife conflicts can be substantial, which should be quantified and considered in global conservation efforts to avoid unintended burdens on rural communities.

Wildlife Crop Raids: Victims Deserve Support

Wildlife Crop Raids: Victims Deserve Support