Experts meet to discuss elephant conservation in Tamil Nadu
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): Elephant conservationists and forest officials of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu met today at Coimbatore, beginning a two-day workshop to discuss initiatives undertaken and plan potential future activities for long-term conservation of Asian elephants in the state.
The workshop on ‘elephant corridor securement and human-elephant conflict mitigation’ brings together experts who have been working on various aspects of elephant conservation to present their initiatives and to deliberate on issues affecting the species in Tamil Nadu. It is being jointly organised by Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Project Elephant and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), supported by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Elephant Family and the World Land Trust (WLT).
R Sundararaju, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu, who chaired the inaugural session of the workshop, stressed that habitat degradation and fragmentation are among the major causes of human-elephant conflicts. He called upon the participants of the workshop to formulate viable recommendations to reduce conflicts and help conserve the elephants.
Highlighting the significance of corridors in elephant conservation, AN Prasad, Inspector General of Forests and Director, Project Elephant, said, “Elephants are wide-ranging and are continuously on the move, so connectivity is always a necessity for elephant’s survival. If the connectivity is broken, elephants either remain trapped in small areas or they migrate to other unchartered territories leading to conflicts.”
“Despite elephants being found in large numbers in India, and despite them being revered as a God, the species is in danger. It is important to make people understand the elephant and its needs to facilitate its conservation,” said Vivek Menon, Executive Director, WTI. “Science is undoubtedly a valuable tool in conservation, but we must also make use of the ethics, morals and beliefs of our people to ensure a safe home for elephants.”
Thomas Mathew, Executive Director, Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF), praised the Tamil Nadu Forest Department as being one of the most efficient in the country. He also complemented WTI on its various projects particularly the elephant corridor securement project, and added that the organisation has been playing and would continue to play a vital role in elephant conservation throughout the country.
Among the issues discussed in the inaugural session was the WTI publication Right of Passage that documents 88 elephant corridors across India. While there was a general agreement that the publication was the most comprehensive document available on elephant corridors in India, Menon clarified that “it is an evolving document”.
“Right of Passage was published few years ago with the support of our international partner the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). While those 88 corridors mentioned in the publication were those that were accepted as elephant corridors, these are not the only elephant corridors in the country. We are in the process of updating the publication. The next edition is expected by 2011 and that will include new corridors,” Menon added.
The workshop is a follow-up on the recommendations of the national elephant corridor workshop organised in Bangalore in December 2007. Over these two days, the workshop participants including Forest Department staff, NGO representatives and independent conservationists will discuss human-elephant conflict scenario, status of corridors, as well as mitigation of elephant deaths due to train hits in various forest divisions in Tamil Nadu.
R Sundararaju, PCCF (WL) and CWLW, summarised with a call to the public of Tamil Nadu, “Help us conserve the elephant and forests for our own survival.”
