On 16 July 2026, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), in collaboration with the Kerala Forest Department, conducted a one-day orientation program at Mananthavady, Wayanad, titled “Orientation Program for Forest Frontline Staff of the Northern Forest Circle, Kerala, on Elephant Corridor Conservation.”

The program is the first initiative of its kind in Kerala and marks a significant step towards strengthening elephant corridor conservation. It serves as a proactive measure to enhance landscape-level conservation and a pre-emptive measure to mitigate human-elephant conflict in the Wayanad landscape.

The inaugural session was led by Mr. Renjith Kumar S, Range Forest Officer, Begur Range. A total of 46 forest staff participated in the programme, including Forest Watchers, Beat Forest Officers, and Range Forest Officers from the Kannur, Kozhikode, and Wayanad Forest Divisions, representing the Periya, Mananthavady, Tholpetty, Begur, Kottiyoor, Thirunelly, and Kuttiyady Ranges.

The officers also took part in a practical session on systematic corridor monitoring | Photo © TeamWTI

The technical sessions began with Mr. Ramith M., Consultant, WTI, who delivered a presentation titled “Introduction to Elephant Corridors and Their Importance.” This was followed by a session on “Elephant Corridors in the Northern Forest Circle of Kerala” by Mr. Sujnan M.K., Field Officer, WTI. Participants then engaged in a group activity to identify existing and emerging threats across the four elephant corridors of the Northern Forest Circle, as per Right of Passage: Elephant Corridors of India, 2017.

The programme continued with a session on “Corridor Conservation Initiatives of the Kerala Forest Department in the Northern Circle” by Mr. Anandan K.V., Deputy Range Officer, Rapid Response Team (RRT), Wayanad North Division. This was followed by “Legal Interventions for Protecting Elephant Corridors in India” by Advocate Meera Chandran, Founder and Secretary of Forest First Samithi. The final session was a practical session on the “Introduction to Systematic Corridor Monitoring” conducted by Mr. Sivachand, Consultant, WTI.

Adv. Meera Chandran talked about the legal interventions for protecting elephant corridors in India | Photo © TeamWTI

While identifying and securing corridors is essential, their long-term conservation depends on the knowledge and commitment of frontline forest staff who manage these landscapes on a daily basis. By enhancing their understanding of corridor ecology, emerging threats, and systematic monitoring approaches, these trainings help translate corridor science into effective on-ground management. 

R Santhosh Kumar, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Wayanad North Forest Division, stated that the program was quite informative, noting that it was the first time the officers attended a training focused on elephant corridors. He said the sessions provided detailed insights into every aspect of corridor conservation, including systematic monitoring, and expressed the hope that similar forest station-wise orientation programmes would be conducted for field staff across all forest stations.

Upasana Ganguly, Head of WTI’s Right of Passage Projects, said that such capacity-strengthening programmes are a key component of WTI’s Right of Passage (ROP) initiative, which aims to monitor and secure India’s elephant corridors through science-based conservation, stakeholder engagement, and strengthened institutional capacity.