KOCHI: The forest department has launched Mission FFW (food, fodder and water), to improve wildlife habitat and ensure availability of water in the forest in an attempt to reduce human-wildlife conflict in forest fringe areas of the state.
The project will be implemented in three phases from January 1 to the beginning of Monsoon season. During the first phase, forest teams will identify rivers, streams, waterholes, natural ponds, man-made ponds, checkdams, grasslands and open areas in forest areas and map them. The waterbodies will be segregated into those that have dried up and ponds that never dry up. These activities will be completed before February 10.
During the second phase that extends from February 11 to April 30, the forest department will construct brushwood checkdams across narrowing streams. All check dams and ponds will be desilted to ensure availability of water. All invasive plant species will be removed from the area and damaged checkdams will be repaired.
In areas where there are no waterholes or ponds, the department will build shallow concrete tanks to ensure availability of water for wild animals. All grasslands and open areas in the forest will be mapped and protected to ensure availability of fodder for herbivores.
These activities will be completed before April 30. The third phase will start from May 1. The department will ensure that checkdams do not hamper the movement of fish species from rivers to streams for breeding during the rainy season. All invasive plants will be removed before they start flowering.
The grasslands will be divided into strips and controlled early burning will be conducted to avoid forest fire. The early burning will be conducted during morning and evening and forest staff will ensure that there are no birds or wild animals in the area. Overgrowth on either side of forest roads will be removed to a distance of 5.5 m to improve visibility and to avoid accidents.