Conservation perceptions and attitudes regarding monitor lizards in West Bengal, India

By

Bhattacharya, Shreya
Zia, Syeda
Mahato, Santanu
Gangwar, Ravi Kumar
Singh, Neha
Auliya, Mark
Koch, André

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024

Original Publication

Nature conservation

Volume

56

Pages

201--222

Subjects

Awareness , ecosystem services , educational workshops , Nature protection , Varanidae , wildlife exploitation

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2012-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.133577

 

Abstract

Local and illegal exploitation of wildlife is particularly widespread in highly populated and bio-diverse countries such as India. In such countries, illicit utilization practices and how these are perceived among local communities are commonly not well-documented. Due to a lack of data, and environmental education measures to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, the extent of this exploitation appears immense and often goes unnoticed. Therefore, in 2019, a series of awareness workshops targeting the conservation of wildlife focused on monitor lizards (Varanidae) was conducted in five districts of West Bengal, India. The environmental awareness workshops were conducted through PowerPoint slide presentations and questionnaires collecting baseline data from the participants regarding their perceptions and relationships to the three species of Varanus recorded for West Bengal. Our findings reveal specific human attitudes and varying local utilization patterns of monitor lizards. This study was the first to communicate and spread awareness in the study areas about why the conservation of local wildlife such as Varanus species is important for ecosystems and human well-being based on the ‘Nature Contributions to People Concept’.