The West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand is considered to be one of the richest in terms of forest resources and biodiversity and also minerals. Concerns have been raised on the impact of mining activities on the wildlife and the people. There are site specific Wildlife Management Plans and EIA Reports for the mining areas. However, there had been suggestions to have an Integrated Conservation Plan for the West Singhbhum district, which will help in planning the development activities in the area. Government of Jharkhand constituted a Committee for the purpose and as per the instruction of the Government, the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) initiated action for such a Plan providing logistic and financial support. The work was initiated in October, 2011 after a reconnaissance in July and discussions with the officials of the Jharkhand Forest Department. The team of experts visited the area in December 2011, January – February 2012 for biodiversity survey, studies on mining and impacts, socio-economic studies, status of elephants and distribution, people and livelihood issues and other data collection as per the plan format. This is the final report of the work submitted to the Department of Forest and Environment, Government of Jharkhand after incorporating the suggestions and comments received from the Director, WII, Dehradun, Dr. R. K. Singh and PCCF (WL&BIOD cum
Chief wildlife Warden, Jharkhand) on a draft of the Plan.