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Encounters and resulting conflicts between humans and wild animals have become increasingly common as human activity encroaches into wildlife habitats. One such example lies in the 126,000-hectare Way Kambas National Park (WKNP) in Sumatra. Home to nearly 180 wild Sumatran Elephants, the population accounts for more than 10 per cent of the remaining wild population.
Conversion of forest to other land use types due to illegal logging, cultivation and livestock grazing has resulted in elephants crossing paths with local villagers, damaging crops and property. This in turn has given rise to local community hostility towards these wild elephants.
To this end, Mandai Nature supports the operations of Elephant Response Units (ERUs) located in these conflict zones, which were formed to conduct regular patrols, monitor and prevent illegal activities and keep watch on elephant herds observed to be venturing out of WKNP. The ERU teams also support and train the local community to conduct regular crop guarding at night and wild elephant drives. Real-time exchange of information via mobile phone further improves the effectiveness of the ERU teams and local community groups, working together to prevent human-elephant conflicts (HEC). Since the start of these efforts, occurrences of wild elephants crossing into human settlements have reduced by more than 70 per cent and loss of crops has decreased by more than 90 per cent.
Education and enforcement are central to mitigating human-elephant conflicts.
Mandai Nature continues to support the operations of these units, improve care and welfare of elephants under human care, and develop the skills of mahouts and local communities as conservationists. In 2021, 22 villages with a total of more than 70,000 inhabitants benefitted from and participated in this HEC mitigation strategy with the ERUs, working towards a sustainable coexistence between elephants and the local communities.
Komunitas Hutan untuk Sumatra (KHS)/Community for Sumatran Nature Conservation (CSNC) is an Indonesian non-profit conservation organisation, established in 2015 by a small group of Indonesian and foreign conservationists working in Sumatra for nature protection and wildlife conservation.
