Escape Velocity Grants

Jasrath, a village in Lahaul, faces recurring brown bear incursions into farms and orchards. Households report substantial crop losses and limited access to practical, non-lethal mitigation measures. As horticulture and cash crops become increasingly important for livelihoods, the economic and emotional costs of repeated damage rise, making coexistence harder without effective prevention. This proposal builds as a focused pilot under our larger, ongoing conflict mitigation effort supported through seed funding from Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI); the requested micro-grant will help close a critical last-mile gap for implementation of mesh-wire solar electric fence on the bear entry points/paths of villages