Introduction

Study Area & Methodology

Result & Discussion

Conclusion

References

Results and Discussion

Land Use Analysis
Table 3. Land use analysis of Gujarat part of NWG

Northern Western Ghats	Comments
	Among all the 3 states of NWG, Maharashtra parts of NWG has least semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous (8850.93Km2), and dry deciduous (7500.18Km2). SE forests are almost absent in Gujarat part of NWG. Goa part of NWG have 441.5Km2 SE and 148.3 Km2 scrubland forests.
⦁ NWG: District of Gujarat	Statistics (sq. km)
	Moist Deciduous: 0.61 Scrub Land: 0.001
	Moist Deciduous: 15.29 Dry Deciduous: 168.05 Scrub Land: 66.01
	Moist Deciduous: 827.57 Dry Deciduous: 5.5 Scrub Land: 30.84
	Moist Deciduous: 797.93 Scrub Land: 32.55
	Moist Deciduous: 44.1 Dry Deciduous: 290.97 Scrub Land: 158.35
	The Dangs have 827.57Km2 land area under moist deciduous, Valsad have high dry deciduous (290.97Km2) and scrubland forests (158.35Km2).

The land use pattern of the Gujarat parts of NWG of Gujarat has been studied by classifying it into ten major categories. Forest categories include semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and scrubland. From table 3, it is seen that in 2018 among forest categories, around 1685.5 Km² area of Gujarat is occupied by moist deciduous forests, followed by semi-evergreen and scrubland. Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forest areas showed less extent due to the demand for land, forest resources, and economic crops. Among all the districts of NWG of Gujarat, The Dangs showed the spatial extent of moist deciduous forests, around 46.93 % (827.57 Km²), due to the presence of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary in the region, which has moist and dry deciduous forest types. Scrubland is more in Valsad district, i.e., around 158.35 Km² (22.01%). The main reasons for the decrease in forest cover are shifting cultivation, biotic pressure, diverting forest lands into non-forest lands, and expansion of tree cover outside forest areas (Athreya et al., 2007). Gujarat's total forest cover is 14,757 Km² in 2017 in a geographical area of 196,244 Km² (FSI, 2017), out of which the WG area of Gujarat is about 5,568.67 Km² having a forest cover of 2,150 Km². Among non-forest categories, land use in NWG of Gujarat is mainly occupied by cropland (943.26 Km²) due to an increase in agriculture expansion. Non-forest categories include cropland, horticulture, plantation, built-up and open area. It can also be seen that the 286.7 Km² area in the WG region of Gujarat state is occupied by open area (1342 Km²), followed by horticulture which occupies 109.4 Km² and built-up area, 7.29 Km². Built-up in Tapi district is about 217.1 Km², around 10.19% of the total area. Among non-forest categories (Table 4) open area is more around 1342 Km² (24.1%), followed by cropland and horticulture. The conversion of land for alternative land use patterns is due to the expansion of agricultural and development activities.
Table 4. Land use statistics of Gujarat parts of NWG (2018)

Table 5. Land use analysis of Maharashtra part of NWG

⦁ NWG: Districts of Maharashtra	Statistics
	Moist Deciduous: 101.51 Dry Deciduous: 217.68 Scrub Land: 47.81
	Moist Deciduous: 222.15 Dry Deciduous: 477.17 Scrub Land: 21.47
	Moist Deciduous: 544.72 Dry Deciduous: 1108.64 Scrub Land: 108.3
	Semi Evergreen: 17.51 Moist Deciduous: 1259.02 Dry Deciduous: 1444.03 Scrub Land: 53.09
	Semi Evergreen: 4.94 Moist Deciduous: 91.71 Dry Deciduous: 469.87 Scrub Land: 170
	Semi Evergreen: 54.32 Moist Deciduous: 1706.59 Dry Deciduous: 874.76 Scrub Land: 583.7
	Semi-Evergreen: 96.12 Moist Deciduous: 610.36 Dry Deciduous: 1569.4 Scrub Land: 601.9
	Semi Evergreen: 101.8 Moist Deciduous: 467.89 Dry Deciduous: 495.3 Scrub Land: 624.8
	Semi Evergreen: 48.32 Moist Deciduous: 2132.8 Dry Deciduous: 80.33 Scrub Land: 1758
	Semi Evergreen: 83.96 Moist Deciduous: 699.81 Dry Deciduous: 381.1 Scrub Land: 549.7
	Semi Evergreen: 15.93 Moist Deciduous: 83.61 Dry Deciduous: 10.41 Scrub Land: 84.61
	Semi Evergreen: 316.9 Moist Deciduous: 930.76 Dry Deciduous: 371.79 Scrub Land: 965
	Comments Kolhapur has 316.9Km2 area under SE, followed by Satara (101.8Km2), and Raigarh (96.12Km2). MD (2132.08Km2) is more in Ratnagiri and dry deciduous areas (1569.4Km2) are more under Raigarh. Scrubland (1758Km2) is more under Ratnagiri.

Table 6. Land use statistics in Maharashtra parts of NWG (2018)

The land use pattern of the Maharashtra parts of NWG has been studied in ten major categories. Forest categories include semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and scrubland. From table 5, it is seen that in 2018 among forest categories, moist deciduous is more in NWG of Maharashtra (8850. 93 sq. km) followed by dry deciduous (7500.18 sq. km) and scrubland (5568 sq. km). Most of the moist deciduous forests can be seen in Pune (17.03%), Thane (1259.02%), and Ratnagiri (36.91%) district (Table 6). Total land use by semi-evergreen, moist deciduous and dry deciduous is 739.8 sq. km, 8850.93 sq. km and 7500.18 sq. km. Koyna WLS in Satara district, Radhanagari WLS in Ratnagiri, and Chandoli NP between Sangli and Kolhapur districts contribute a high proportion of the forest land areas in the region. According to FSI Report (2017) on forest cover, Maharashtra state has a geographical area of 307,713 Km² with a forest cover of 50,682 Km², out of which NWG of Maharashtra covers an area of 57,690.4 Km² having a forest cover of 22,658.91 Km². Non-forest categories include cropland, horticulture, plantation, built-up and open area. Among non-forest categories, the highest proportion is occupied by cropland which covers 20427.3 sq. km of the land, followed by open area, which covers 10507 sq. km. Built-up covers 1084.1 sq. km. Agriculture land is more in Nashik, Pune, and Satara districts of NWG of Maharashtra. In contrast, open area is more in Pune (23.6%), Satara (14.74%) and Ahmednagar (25.77%) and built-up land area are increasing in Pune (4.37%) and Satara (2.19%) districts. Notably, plantation land area is reported from the Sindhudurg district (30.2%). Due to commercial and economic purposes of the teak plantation (Tectona grandis) in NWG, high diversity areas are cleared, affecting the habitat of flora and fauna species (Kulkarni et al., 2007) .
Table 7. Land use analysis of Goa part of NWG

⦁ NWG: Districts of Goa	Statistics (sq. km)
	Semi Evergreen: 88.99 Moist Deciduous: 152.7 Dry Deciduous: 21.61 Scrub Land: 0.05
	Semi Evergreen: 352.5 Moist Deciduous: 478.5 Scrub Land: 148.2
	Semi-evergreen (352.5Km2) and moist deciduous (478.5Km2) more under South Goa district. There is acacia plantation in North Goa.

Table 7. Land use Statistics of Goa parts of NWG (2018)

The land use pattern of the Goa parts of NWG has been analyzed, where different land use categories have been identified. The total land area has been divided into ten major categories. Forest categories include semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and scrubland. From table 6, it is seen that in 2018 among forest categories, around 631.17 Km² area of Goa is occupied by moist deciduous forests, followed by semi-evergreen and scrubland. The total geographical area of Goa state is 196,244 Km² with a forest cover of 2,229 Km² (FSI Report. 2017), whereas the NWG area of Goa is 1,846.34 Km² with a forest cover of 1,242.58 Km². Non-forest categories include cropland, horticulture, plantation, built-up and open area. Among non-forest categories, land use in NWG of Goa is most occupied by coconut plantations. From table 7, it is seen that 286.7 sq. km in the Western Ghats region of Goa state is occupied by open area (15.5), followed by horticulture which occupies 206.5 sq. km and built-up by 7.29 sq. km. The South Goa district of Goa shows maximum forest cover compared to North Goa district. But, coconut plantation is more in North Goa. Open areas in South Goa occupy land cover due to the increase in mining activities. Most of the mining activities were reported from Santona, Kodli, Sangod areas of South Goa. After analyzing supervised classification results, it can be concluded that dense forests areas of NWG of Goa are declining in recent years. The overall accuracy of the classification ranges from 81.66 % to 87.51%, and kappa value ranges from 0.77 to 0.80 (Table 8).
Table 8. Accuracy Assessment

S.No.	District	Overall Accuracy	Kappa Statistics
1	Navsari	81.66	0.77
2	Ahmednagar	88.61	0.79
3	Pune	86.34	0.79
4	Thane	85.34	0.8
5	South Goa	87.51	0.8

Monitoring and mapping the biological diversity of NWG, an area of high biodiversity and under threat, is a challenge today (Gadgil et al., 1998) . Grazing, rainfall, slope, human settlement, development activities, the introduction of invasive and economic species, are the main reasons for creating disturbances in the region. Forests and their resources are important to fulfill the increasing need for food, water and shelter worldwide. Forest degradation is the loss of forest cover and the loss of many endemic, economic and medicinal species that are part of forest areas. There is an urgent need to assess land-use changes in NWG, and also, there should be an understanding of how rapid urbanization is expanding and land transformations are affecting and disturbing the ecological balance. With the help of environmental programmes and policies of indigenous people's participation in local forest department programmes, attempts should be made to protect the remaining ecologically important forest areas of NWG.
Forest Fragmentation
Table 9. Forest Fragmentation of NWG (2018)b>

Northern Western Ghats	Comments
	Among all 3 states of NWG, interior forest area (1063.71Km2) and patch area (565.57Km2 )
⦁ NWG: Districts of Gujarat	Statistics (sq.km)
	Patch: 0.09 Edge: 0.07 Interior: 0.15
	Patch: 34.26 Edge: 34.33 Interior: 34.95
	Patch: 69.81 Edge: 121.21 Interior: 288.2
	Patch: 137.69 Edge: 77.92 Interior: 107.93
	Patch: 0.09 Edge: 0.07 Interior: 0.15
	Gujarat has total 263. 85 Km2patch forest, 264 Km2 edge forest and 538.6 Km2 interior forest.
⦁ NWG: Districts of Maharashtra	Statistics(sq.km)
	Patch: 72.88 Edge: 36.49 Interior: 47.63
	Patch: 221.54 Edge: 181.71 Interior: 48.99
	Patch: 537.81 Edge: 207.8 Interior: 111.89
	Patch: 123.47 Edge: 303.62 Interior: 917.2
	Patch: 227.84 Edge: 26.35 Interior: 10.7
	Patch: 565.57 Edge: 260.61 Interior: 491.72
	Patch: 110.19 Edge: 259.12 Interior: 1012.87
	Patch: 120.18 Edge: 177.66 Interior: 541.46
	Patch: 272.97 Edge: 58.73 Interior: 415.07
	Patch: 118.46 Edge: 303.01 Interior: 698
	Patch: 15.24 Edge: 8.98 Interior: 106.4
	Patch: 150.82 Edge: 243.13 Interior: 1063.71
	Maharashtra has total 2536.97 Km2 patch forest, 1927.05 Km2 edge forest and 5465.64 Km2 interior forest.
⦁ NWG: Districts of Goa	Statistics
	Patch: 11.22 Edge: 15.3 Interior: 158.33
	Patch: 15.52 Edge: 77.88 Interior: 626.85
	Goa has total 26.34 Km2 patch forest, 93.18 Km2 edge forest and 785.18 Km2 interior forest.

Fragmentation of forests at the landscape level was assessed to understand spatial patterns in forest degradation using land-use of 2018. Western Ghats area shows high fragmentation due to an increase in cropland and developmental activities. Forest areas constitute various herbs, shrubs, and tree species. Figures 5 and Table 9 depict the pattern of the fragmentation process in NWG and list the spatial extent of different types of fragments (interior, perforated, edge, transitional, and patch forests).
Forest fragmentation of Gujarat part of NWG depicts domination of non-forest areas (47.93%) in the state. Interior forests (9.67%) are located near the forest reserve, WLS, and water bodies. Unplanned developmental activities such as large-scale power projects and several irrigation projects have led to the degradation of forests and formed barren hilltops (Table 10).
Forest fragmentation of Maharashtra part of NWG depicts domination of non-forest areas (60.43%). Perforated forests (17.03%) are located near coastal areas of the district, whereas interior forests are only 9.47%. Interior forests in NWG of Maharashtra consist of dry deciduous, moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, thorn forests, and swamp forests. The decline in interior forests is due to industrialization, infrastructure development, intensified agriculture, and plantations. Patch forests (4.39%) are mainly located at the interfaces of forests, intermixed with agriculture and urban classes over small portions. Mining activities in the district leave significant ecological, economic, and social footprints.
Goa part of NWG depicts domination of interior forests (42.52%) due to dense evergreen and moist deciduous forests in the region. Interior forests are located near Mahadei WLS. Edge forests (5.04%) were basically reported from cropland areas. Forest fragmentation in entire NWG depicts domination of non-forests in the entire Western Ghats because most of the forest in the region is dry, and leftover forests are degrading due to forest fires and anthropogenic activities. Earlier, it was reported that NWG had experienced a decline in forest cover by 2% (Ramachandra and Bharath, 2020) .
Table 10 Forest fragmentation statistics of NWG (2018)

S.No.	District Name	Fragment Type
		Patch sq. km	Transitional sq. km	Edge sq. km	Perforated sq. km	Interior sq. km	Non-forest area sq. km
1	The Dangs	69.81	98.51	121.21	284.59	288.2	901.05
2	Navsari	34.26	34.33	16.04	129.44	34.95	239.94
3	Surat	0.09	0.08	0.07	0.2	0.15	0.65
4	Tapi	137.69	172.45	77.92	333.06	107.93	1300.65
5	Valsad	22	50.49	48.76	263.87	107.37	227.08
6	Ahmednagar	227.84	163.26	26.35	307.69	10.7	2768.7
7	Dhule	221.54	181.71	41.55	226.12	48.99	1787.75
8	Kolhapur	150.82	234.8	243.13	887.7	1063.71	3710.47
9	Nandurbar	72.88	69.89	36.49	139.44	47.63	608.53
10	Nashik	537.81	375.38	207.8	535.34	111.89	7566.64
11	Pune	565.57	549.57	260.61	1347.44	491.72	6808.21
12	Raigarh	110.19	227.56	259.12	1263.62	1012.87	1289.33
13	Ratnagiri	118.46	393.2	303.01	2500.34	698	1765.64
14	Sangli	15.24	12.78	8.98	51.02	106.4	378.43
15	Satara	120.18	148.78	177.66	699.18	541.46	4501.92
16	Sindhudurg	272.97	271.87	58.73	694.53	415.07	2031.06
17	Thane	123.47	251.62	303.62	1173.25	917.2	1648.97
18	North Goa	11.22	10.6	15.3	47.92	158.33	0.25
19	South Goa	15.52	46.29	77.88	286.9	626.85	244.67

Figure 5. Graph representing Forest Fragmentation in NWG

Human-Wildlife Conflict Analysis


Details of affected villages due to human-wildlife conflicts were compiled from published papers, articles, and published reports. The main reason behind the human-wildlife conflict is the transformation of forest lands into croplands, and livestock killing occurs when livestock is left alone for grazing. The present study reviews the current situation of conflict between humans and wildlife and assesses how it affects the livelihood of indigenous people. Figure 5 shows human-wildlife conflict patterns and villages affected by the same. It can be noted that most of the villages affected by human-wildlife conflict are in Satara, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Kolhapur districts of NWG. Villages affected by elephants are Mura, Kirsule, Zadoli, Ambeghar, Punavali, and Dicholi of Patan taluk of Satara district. Livestock that is mainly depredated by elephant attacks are cattle, livestock, buffalo, goat, and sheep. Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary in Satara district comprises western tropical and sub-tropical broadleaf hill forests and west coast semi-evergreen forests; therefore, forest resources are high in this region. Local people enter the protected area to collect forest resources that initiate conflict with wild animals. The Dapoli range of Ratnagiri district is affected by human-leopard conflict. Kolhapur district is affected by human-elephant conflict. Kolhapur forests are tropical semi-evergreen, moist mixed deciduous, and dry deciduous. Villages in Kolhapur which are affected by the conflict are Mahalunge (near Karnataka), Hosur village of Chandgad tehsil, and villages of Ajra tehsil. Elephant entry was also noticed from Maan village in Belgaum to Mangoli village in Sindhudurg district. Sindhudurg forests are composed of tropical semi-evergreen and moist deciduous. Sawantwadi and Kudal range of Sindhudurg and Goa is affected by the conflict between humans and elephants. Tillari dam near Sindhudurg has dense forests and, therefore, there is a frequent movement of elephants in this region from Karnataka. The degraded forests are facing higher conflicts between human and wild species. Due to the unavailability of food inside dried forest areas, many wild species come out of protected areas searching for food, attack the human population, and initiate conflict with the indigenous people (Table 11).
Crop damage was reported by an elephant at Sindhudurg and Kolhapur district. Paddy, wheat, rice are the main crops which were damaged by the elephant. Radhanagari WLS in Kolhapur is highly affected by the attack of Bos gaurus. Main wild mammal species which are involved in crop depredation are elephant (Elephas maximus), gaur (Bos gaurus), wild pig (Sus scrofa), muntjac (Muntiacus muntjac), sambar (Rusa unicolor), hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus), bonnet macaque (Macaca radiate). many villages in NWG are affected by the attack of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), leopard (Panthera pardus), elephant, tiger, and gaur.
Dense forests with natural resources dominate southern parts of Kolhapur district, and elephant migrates from Karnataka towards this region, for food, from November to June (Kulkarni et al., 2008). Expansion of agriculture and human encroachment inside forest areas initiated the elephant-human conflict in the region. Kitavade, Ambarde, Bhogoli, Kolik, Mahalunge are the village having dense population and forest areas and are primarily affected by human-elephant conflict, so there is a need to re-habitat these villages. Similarly, roads that are inside dense forest areas need to be shifted (alternate route) to allow easy movement of elephants without human interference. The Forest department should take appropriate steps to manage elephant migration into the southern parts of the Kolhapur district.
The nutritive value of crops is also one of the prime reasons for its extensive depredation by gaur species (Sukumar, 1990). Increasing agriculture losses are inflicted mainly by gaur species because gaur does not have a hunting threat, affecting the income of the households. Therefore, they have preferred to work as daily wage laborers in towns and cities. Radhanagari WLS has been experiencing a decrease in the forest since 1985 due to increased anthropogenic activities and crop cultivation. Therefore, due to livestock grazing, predator population, and food resources are declining inside the WLS. Gaur species is considered as a sacred cow, and hunting is prohibited in the region (Atul, 2010).
The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is an omnivorous species, but humans directly influence their wild activity by collecting their food and damaging their habits by extracting timber and firewood from the forest areas. Sloth bears caused the highest number of injuries, mostly during winter.
Leopards (Panthera pardus) usually live in human-dominated areas and attack livestock compared to other wild carnivores. But it is observed from many humans dominated landscapes that effective management approaches of forests and animal husbandry programmes reduce human-animal conflicts (Rahalkar., 2008).
There is a conflict between humans and wildlife due to the increasing needs of the human population and protecting Reserve Forests and PA's is a challenge today (Maikhuri et al., 1997). Protected areas, Parks, and Biosphere Reserves are vital as they serve as sites for scientific research, natural repositories, and several other functions. The present study has been done to analyze the causal factors of human and wildlife conflicts in the villages of NWG.
Loss of crops and livestock due to Human-wildlife conflicts has posed conservation challenges worldwide. People tend to have negative attitudes towards wild carnivore species due to the increase in crop-raiding in the region. Therefore many farmers have given up farming and moved to urban areas in search of other income options (Gillingham and Lee,1999) . Kale et al., (2010) provided the possibility of connecting the corridors covering existing protected areas. The research has highlighted that connectivity can allow smooth assage of wildlife and reduce the conflict and the money spent for the compensation. It has shown protected areas such as Tungareshwar, Kalsubai, and Tansa can be connected economically through the lowest cost corridors of length 154 km and a mean width of 11 km on the northeast side and 36.5 km in the east side. Other regions Bhimashankar, Phansad, and Karmala remained isolated due to the absence of forest cover and intense agricultural land use patterns. Acquiring the land to establish forest cover might incur a higher economic burden to the government. The Forest department can compensate for loss either financially or by providing alternate landscape areas. There should be proper grazing practice, grazing close to villages, strengthened enclosures, continuous guarding, and changing grazing practice (Donikar et al., 2011). Table 11: Human-Wildlife Corridor in NWG

District	Wildlife Corridor (Pink Color Depicts Wildlife Corridor	Conflict Areas and Causes
South Goa		Affected areas are Surla, Verlem, Ugem and Rivona. Areas facing attack of tiger and elephant. Conflict occurred near patch and interior forests.
Kolhapur		Hosur, Mahalunge, Ambarde, Kitavade, Bhogoli, Kolik and Ajra are the areas of human-elephant conflict, near patch and edge type. Elephant movement has been reported from Karnataka forests
Satara		Satara district is mainly affected by the attack of elephants in Mura, Kirsule, Zadoli, Ambeghar, Punavali, Dicholi, Taldeo, Patan, near interior and patch fragments.
Satara		There is no corridor in this region, but Sangamner and Akola areas are affected by human-leopard conflict. Affected areas are located near patch forests.
Kolhapur		There is no wildlife corridor. Masale, Pimpalgaon, and Khed areas are facing human-leopard conflict. Conflicts occurred near patch and perforated areas of fragmentation.
Pune		There is no wildlife corridor. Narayangaon, Otur, Chakan, Rajgurunagar, Ghodegaon and Machar are the areas affected by the attack of a leopard near patch and perforated areas of sugarcane land.
Ratnagiri		Dapoli range, Jogele, and Shirkenagar areas affected by elephant attack near patch and perforated fragment type. Elephant damages mango plantation of the region.