The stench of dried oil sardines and other fish could keep troops of monkeys away from ploughland, and planting Chethi Koduveli, a commonly found flowering shrub, around farmlands would keep crop-raiding animals at bay!

Porcupines would avoid areas sprayed with a mixture of soap and kerosene, and wild boars that rummage through paddy fields would avoid Chenna, a long, slender rice that was once farmed in Wayanad.

These are some of the vignettes of traditional knowledge in the collective memory of the tribespeople of Kerala that will soon be tried in areas of high incidents of human-wildlife conflicts.

The Kerala Forest department is in the process of compiling such information from the residents of over 300 tribal hamlets in the State as part of the Mission Tribal Knowledge, one of the 10 missions announced to tackle the increasing instances of human-wildlife conflicts.

Sreejesh of Mannan tribal hamlet in Munnar suggested the burning of dried red chillies in gunny bags to keep wild animals away from human habitations.

Conclave soon

Most of the tribespeople who took part in the knowledge-sharing exercise called for the controlled burning of grasslands annually, which, according to them, would prevent the possibility of uncontrolled forest fire, besides ensuring a rich yield of wild varieties of gooseberry, ‘karakka,’ and ‘punnakka.’

The tribal knowledge will be scientifically validated and tried out in areas of conflict shortly. A conclave of tribespeople, policymakers, technologists and forest officials will be convened soon to review the tribal knowledge and implement the feasible ones, said Pramod G. Krishnan, Chief Wildlife Warden, Kerala.

Start-ups’ role

The Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, will bring out a compendium on tribal wisdom. Start-ups could be roped in to develop products and technology from the tribal wisdom, said Raju Francis, the Mission coordinator.

K.S. Mallan, of Adiya Colony in Wayanad, blamed it on the disappearance of paddy and wetlands from the district for the increase in wild boar population.

Earlier, foxes that came looking for crabs and crustaceans in the paddy fields also used to prey on piglets, thus keeping their population in check. The disappearance of wetlands thus led to an increase in the population of wild boar, he said.

To be made in labs

Chemicals that produce the stench of dried fish or those found in Chethi Koduveli could be isolated and produced in labs to develop animal repellents. Such research projects will help in addressing the issue, said Mr. Francis.

Incidentally, the increasing incidents of crop raids and conflicts involving wild animals, which often end up in loss of lives and property, have attained humongous proportions in the State.