New solutions
In Cambodia, conservation group Flora and Fauna International (FFI) is looking at an innovative method of keeping elephants away from farms and crops. By helping farmers in the country’s remote Cardamom Mountains ring their crops with chilli plants, volunteers have been able to help form natural barriers against giant intruders. Elephants, favouring sweet fruits and vegetables like corn and bananas, were deterred by the chilli plants and reportedly wandered back into the forests for food. Protection of this kind is crucial for poorer farmers, who rely on their small crops
for survival.
Conservation efforts
Elephas maximus populations are believed to have declined across Asia by more than 50 per cent over the last three generations. All three subspecies are now regarded as endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.
As elephants require huge tracts of land to live in, space continues to be a massive problem for conservationists. In Thailand, elephant parks provide a safe haven from human conflict and exploitation. Elsewhere throughout Asia, other projects have had varying levels of success at preserving land for elephants to live, play and eat as well as giving access to their migratory routes. Creating space for the world’s biggest land mammal without drastic impact on human development is a delicate process.
Arteries of life
Protection of habitat also means preserving the elephant’s migratory routes, which is important for other animal species as well. An elephant moving through forests is a natural bulldozer, pulling down trees, creating paths and digging waterholes. Smaller animals depend upon the openings they create in these dense wooded areas. Bands of jungle, grassy plains and scrub forest are the arteries of life for elephants and smaller species alike.
Efforts to protect the Asian elephant are still in their infancy. Solutions often require international cooperation and can be slow to implement. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is currently working to restore biological corridors to elephants and other large animals across parts of Borneo and the Himalayas, but many other areas are yet to establish a plan for the long-term protection of the species. What happens in the next few decades may be critical to their survival.
Read more: For the full article, see Science Illustrated magazine, January/February 2010 Australian edition.
