Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Project Elephant recommendations likely by May-end

Coimbatore: The task force constituted for Project Elephant is working on issues relating to conservation of pachyderm population and a set of recommendations are likely to be submitted by May-end, said Director of Project Elephant A.N. Prasad. from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

He was talking to ‘The Hindu' on the sidelines of a two-day workshop “Securing Elephant Corridors and Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation in Tamil Nadu” organised by the Wildlife Trust of India in association with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

Mr. Prasad said that the subject being a dynamic and evolving one, there was no fixed time frame for achieving the whole set of objectives. The recommendations would largely focus on issues relating to conservation and mitigation of man-animal conflict situations.

Securing of elephant corridors, especially the 88 corridors identified as crucial and critical across the country, would also form part of the recommendations. The recommendations would have a nation-wide perspective with regard to elephants.

Mr. Prasad said that eviction of encroachments in the migratory corridors, enhancement of plantations to make the habitat and corridors more elephant-friendly and acquisition of lands to restore the corridor were some of the measures through which corridors could be secured.

He lauded Tamil Nadu and Kerala for having taken the initiatives in Project Elephant to a considerable extent and said that some States were still in ‘infant' stage in working on the project and corridor restoration. Periodical meetings and workshops were being conducted to activate those States to gear up for achieving the objectives of Project Elephant.

He also pointed out that confinement of elephant population to a specific area and making it an enclosure in Sri Lanka had resulted in the decline of elephant population there. Break in corridors and fragmentation of forests happening in India could lead to a similar situation.

“Hence, there is an imperative need to conserve the elephant population and ensure ideal and vast habitat for the flagship animal.”

To a query on concerns over imbalance in male – female ratio in elephant population, Mr. Prasad said that it was a concern during the 1990s but the census figures of 2002 and 2007 had shown a considerable improvement in the proportion.

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