Three-year, joint management project to curb man, elephant conflict

KOLKATA: Apeejay Tea and WWF India on Thursday announced a three-year, joint management project to find lasting solutions to manage the human-elephant conflicts in Assam. The first phase, which focuses on reducing human-elephant mortality levels substantially, will commence immediately with an intensive conflict management effort in Sonitpur district.

As per the plan, a matrix will be developed to calculate the quantum of loss that is usually borne by the tea estates on account of damage to property, including tea bushes and shade trees, infrastructure, and injuries among residents. This matrix will bring the issue in strategic focus and will attract attention and investment for a new agenda for adaptation and management that would benefit the state, region and the country. The project envisages mapping of the new paths that elephants have established to move away from forests. This will be done for the first time in tea gardens.

Securing elephant movement path adjacent to Sessa, an Apeejay Tea garden in Sonitpur, will be starting point for tracking and early warning of elephants on the move. The route used by elephants through Sessa tea estate will be formalised as amovement corridor. The corridor will be hedged by a bio fence, in place of the electric fence that has been the norm so far. This is the first time that bio fencing will be used as protection that is safe for elephants and other wildlife. The nurseries for growing the thorny bamboo will be inside the Apeejay tea estates in Sonitpur.

These nurseries will be replicated in other Apeejay tea locations in upper Assam over the next two years. “The unprecedented fragmentation of elephant habitats has isolated resident wild elephants, leading to an increase in conflict with people living in such landscapes,” said Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF India. “WWF India has been working relentlessly towards managing this conflict in Assam. ”