A number of tea plantations in Assam would soon be converted into wildlife havens to protect its fauna and reduce cases of man-animal conflict.
Apeejay Tea, which owns 17 plantations in Assam, has tied up with wildlife body WWF to initiate elephant conservation measures, while India's second largest tea producer Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL) is also chalking out a plan to nurture wildlife in its gardens.
"Large mammals cannot be excluded from the tea gardens. It is part of their natural habitat. With their natural habitat depleting rapidly, more and more such animals have been taking shelter in the tea estates and a sustainable comprehensive management plan is required," A K Bhargava, Managing Director of Apeejay Tea, told PTI here.
Almost like a secondary forest, tea gardens host a number of animals and migratory birds. Among large mammals, leopards are frequently sighted hiding amidst tea bushes while elephants use tea estates for fodder, passage and shelter.
"You will also find many types of deer. Even rhinos cross over to adjoining tea gardens from Kaziranga forest upon flooding," says wildlife expert Robin Eastment, who is preparing an elephant management plan for APPL.
This move will also help reduce human-elephant conflict as jumbos are also responsible for damages to the crop and attack on labourers.
To allow free movement, Apeejay has decided to make the passage used by elephants through its Sessa Tea Estate in Sonitpur as a formal elephant corridor.
