The main conservation efforts beganin 1996 when the villagers came together to get the Kathiawadis out of their forests. The Kathiawadis had been allowing their cattle and donkey to graze in the forest for the entire year which cause rapid degradation of the forest. The villagers, with the help of Dr. Mohan Jha, managed to make the Kathiawadis leave the area. This incident prompted the villagers to join the Joint Forest Management scheme under the Forest Department. The villagers helped to protect their forest and also managed to find other sources of income while the forest was regenerating. The declaration of The Dnyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in 1998 caused serious problems for the villagers as the land that they previously used as part of their forest was taken away and no human use was allowed at all in that land. This angered the villagers, but they continued protecting the area. An attack on the Forest Protection Committee members also took place in August 1998 which shook the confidence of the villagers in the system as the department did nothing to help the villagers. Crop damage by animals and lack of action and trust in the department are major hurdles for this village.