Bappi Marak

Improved Conservation of the Asian Elephant in Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India Through Land Use Planning and Conflict Mitigation

Samrakshan’s conservation intervention in Meghalaya has focussed on preserving wildlife and habitats in community owned lands in the Balpakram Baghmara landscape, with particular focus on the Asian elephant.

Samrakshan has identified land-use planning as the primary tool to reducing conflict between humans and elephants. This is being done by identifying spaces within the landscape that are critical for meeting ecological needs of elephants and securing these spaces through a range of conservation actions. One of the things that this project will enable is the identification of such spaces. However, land-use planning is a slow and gradual process and may not show results as fast as HEC affected people might require or demand. We therefore feel the need to resolve immediate conflict situations in order to contain public resentment against elephants and to ensure that there are no retaliatory killings of elephants. The proposed project will also understand existing mitigation measures taken by people, improve upon them and based on our knowledge of elephant raiding patterns, assist people in more effective mitigation measures.

Thus the project employs twin strategies to address proximate as well as long term conservation issues facing the Balpakram Baghmara landscape.

For more information contact marak.b@rediffmail.com or go to http://www.samrakshan.org