Indushree Banerjee is a Postdoc in the project. She makes Agent-Based Models of tiger habitats in Nepal and investigate the impact of climate change for tiger conservation, integrating modeling with knowledge gained during field visits and workshops with the local community. Given that water is essential for both wildlife and human society, the current trend in unpredictable rainfall and increasing temperatures has led to both tigers and humans struggling with water scarcity. In Nepal, many buffer zones (i.e., areas adjacent to national parks) are witnessing increased human-wildlife conflicts. In my research I use Agent-Based Models to investigate factors that can lead to or prevent human-wildlife conflict, and investigate the effectiveness of management policies designed to reduce these conflicts.

Figure 1: Together with the community in the forest

Figure 2: Workshop for validating model with local stakeholders

This year in March and April I have conducted workshops in Bardia National Park Nepal, combined with field visits and semi-structured interviews with tiger experts and local communities. I am currently occupied with writing papers and experimenting on my new model for understanding what resources or lack of resources lead to different spatial usage by tigers. In these Agent-Based models I use data collected through my field visits and participatory workshop that includes representatives from community forest development, local conservation heads, anti-poaching operations, nature guides, and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation from Bardia National Park. In these workshops we have discussed my previous model and arbitrary scale selection choices (e.g., whether we choose to model meters or kilometers, days or years), which can lead to incompatible conservation policy recommendations. Additionally, I am supervising two master’s thesis projects focused on water availability in the buffer zone of Bardia National Park. The first thesis investigates irrigation challenges, while the second examines women’s access to domestic water.

Future goals – In the coming months, I am focusing on expanding my model to analyze the relationships between different ecological resources (water, grasslands, and prey populations) and their impact on tiger habitat usage. I have developed sub-models to test how various spatial distributions of these resources influence tiger movement patterns and territory preferences. The model framework is being designed to eventually incorporate and evaluate the effectiveness of different conservation policies, allowing us to assess their potential impact on the broader ecosystem. This will provide valuable insights for evidence-based conservation management in tiger habitats.