Experts unsure of barricade plan to check jumbo menace

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Wildlife biologists and ecologists are not enthused about the State government’s plan to combat human-elephant conflict by way of barricades.

On July 7, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the state Budget wherein Rs 120 crores was allocated for completion of barricades to keep elephants out of human settlements. He revealed that 312 kilometres of the 520 kilometre-long barricades had been completed.

Wildlife biologist, CEO of Metastring Foundation and Coordinator of Biodiversity Collaborative Ravi Chellam insisted that the barricades were an ineffective and expensive option.

He added that it would have been better to set aside the Rs 120 crores for ecological restoration, development interventions focused on communities which have to deal with conflict, local, site-specific and low-cost solutions to mitigate conflict and to fast-track compensation to victims.

“Instead of spending such large sums of money on barriers, use it to fund efforts working with the affected communities including for payment of compensation, community development and ecological restoration. Work with the people to find much more sustainable solutions,” Chellam said.

“To me, fencing is not the answer. Barriers are never a universal and standalone solution. They are too expensive to erect and very difficult to maintain and not very effective especially given the cost. For that amount of money, you can achieve a lot more,” he said.

“What has been the track record of barriers in India till now and what has been achieved so far? These are the questions to be asked,” he added.

Chellam said that India is known for coexistence with wildlife.

“The normal Indian rural citizen believes in acceptance and co-existence. It’s the rich, the powerful and the politically connected who want quick solutions because it’s linked to what is seen as larger economic and political goals over the short-term. Even today, a significant number of lions, leopards, tigers, elephants, bears and many other species live outside our protected areas. How is that possible if the farmer doesn’t have patience or is not accepting of their presence?” Chellam asked.

“We are approaching it the wrong way. Who is causing the conflict? If we continue to destroy the environment and cause climate change, why blame the elephant?” Chellam said.

“We have to learn to change our relationship with the environment. We have to accept there’s a problem with our current approach,” he added.

‘Fences don’t address forest food scarcity’

Conservation Scientist Vinay Sekar was more open to barriers but added that they weren’t a solution if there was scarcity of food in the elephants’ habitat.

“It’s true that barriers may or may not address the underlying causes of human-elephant conflict (HEC) if elephants are seeking out anthropogenic resources because there is insufficient food or water in their ‘natural’ habitat. Furthermore, many bar riers are expensive or hard to maintain. Still, to the best of our knowledge, effective barriers are often a part of a holistic approach to minimizing HEC as they make it more difficult for elephants to access tempting, nutritionally dense crops and household resources,” he said.