Environmental organisations Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi (WPSS) and Coexistence Collective Kerala have demanded an end to what they described as a campaign by vested interests posing as farmers and Adivasis to portray environmental activists as anti-farmer.

In a statement issued on Monday (June 22) following a meeting of the organisations, WPSS president N. Badusha alleged that certain groups had launched a campaign against Coexistence Collective Kerala, a platform of environmental organisations, scientists, researchers, experts, and activists from across the State. He said environmental activists had consistently taken a pro-farmer stand on human-wildlife conflict, pressuring the Forest department and governments to find solutions while also organising protests demanding action.

The organisations said environmental activists had long warned that human-wildlife conflict would intensify following the felling of bamboo groves in Wayanad and the Western Ghats for the benefit of Gwalior Rayons, the introduction of acacia plantations in grasslands, and clear-felling operations in forests. Environmentalists, they said, had led protests and faced legal action over these issues, while many of those now projecting themselves as protectors of farmers and Adivasis had supported the authorities and the Forest department at the time.

They also noted that environmental activists had opposed unregulated tourism activities in and around forests in Wayanad, Munnar, and Nelliyampathy, warning that such activities could drive wild animals into human habitations. Similar campaigns were carried out against quarrying near forest areas, they said.

The organisations further said environmental activists had recently written to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi opposing the appointment of a person they described as anti-environment and hostile to forests and wildlife to the personal staff of Forest Minister Shibu Baby John. The letter, they said, contained no criticism of farmers. However, associates of the individual were spreading rumours and targeting environmental activists in Wayanad, Palakkad and Vellarikkundu, the statement said.

The groups said the government had failed to provide adequate protection to farmers, their crops and their lives. Reaffirming their commitment to addressing human-wildlife conflict, they said Coexistence Collective Kerala would continue efforts to find a lasting solution to the problem.

M.N. Jayachandran presided.