AUTHOR=Vasudeva Vaishali , Ramasamy Pitchai , Pal Rabi Sankar , Behera Gatikrishna , Karat Pradeep Raj , Krishnamurthy Ramesh 

TITLE=Factors Influencing People's Response Toward Tiger Translocation in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Eastern India

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Conservation Science

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/conservation-science/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2021.664897

DOI=10.3389/fcosc.2021.664897

ISSN=2673-611X

ABSTRACT=Local communities are an important stakeholder in any carnivore translocation programme and therefore, their acceptance and support are essential to ensure its viability. Recent tiger augmentation efforts in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, India received mixed responses from the local communities, causing a stalemate in its progress. Therefore, as a part of the adaptive management strategy, it was required to assess the concerns and issues to provide a practical solution. Accordingly, we analyzed the attitude of people and its determinants towards conservation and more specifically tigers using structured questionnaire surveys of 1932 households from 43 villages located in and around the reserve. We tested the influence of several variables representing four categories- (1) socio-economic, (2) ecosystem values and dependence, (3) relationship with the forest department and (4) fear and losses, on the attitude towards tiger conservation. The villages were clustered based on the responses received under these categories. 91%, 71% and 35% of respondents felt important to conserve forest, wildlife and tiger respectively. The logistic binary regression predicted that at the household level attitude towards tiger conservation is influenced positively by economic well-being, sense of forest ecosystem services, resource dependence and negatively influenced by restrictions from the forest department, and experience of loss due to wildlife. At the village level, literacy, resource dependence, access to clean cooking fuel and cooperation from forest department influenced a positive attitude towards tiger conservation, while restriction from the forest department, fear for livestock, and experience of losses had a negative influence. We recommend that the villages in the landscape are prioritized based on their needs and accordingly, specific interventions are made to address their concerns. Future augmentation programme must give importance to the intangible factors such as fear and perceived restrictions and opt for the involvement of the local community in the decision-making process.