The role of community in the management of human-wildlife conflicts, although recognized, has neither been adequately evaluated nor clearly documented. Therefore net economic loss was evaluated due to crop depredation in a PA neighboring village of Uttarakhand, capital cost of a power fence to deter wildlilfe entering the crop fields and recurring cost of maintenance, and cost of crop protection.

Creation and subsequent expansion of Protected Area (PA) network has often deprived local people of their usufruct rights and displaced communities from their traditional lands. This 'isolationist' approach has resulted in severe conflicts between local people and PA authorities.

Similipal Biosphere Reserve of northern Orissa is one among the seven such reserves of India that form a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The overall objective of the Biosphere Reserve programme was to deal with one of the most important questions of reconciling conservation of biodiversity, quest for economic and social development, and maintenance of associated cultural values.