It's incredibly sad when an Elephant gets shot because he raided a garden. It's terrible for the farmer who lost his produce. He needed that crop to feed his children, to pay school fees. What he doesn't need is Elephant meat as a substitute - that's a temporary solution! Next week his family will still be hungry, but the Elephant will still be dead! The farmer needs his crops replaced; he needs seed to replant. We need to break the cycle. We need to offer a better solution!
Rural people live and plant in known wildlife corridors, relying on subsistence farming to survive but sharing the land with Elephants. People plant sweet tempting crops but do not have the means to protect them. Elephants do not understand the difference between natural food and farmed food. It's all food! The wildlife authorities cannot compensate crops to all the affected farmers. The 'problem' animal becomes the unwritten compensation, meat becomes the pacifier that appeases the community.
Farmers who work with CATS to implement conflict mitigation techniques around their gardens and fields and undertake an elephant sensitization course will be included in a farming cooperative. This will grow communal crops to act as compensation to farmers who lose their crops to Elephants. Instead of paying the bill in Elephant meat we will provide fresh produce and new seed. We will show people how to coexist and maximize the tourism value of sharing with Elephants instead of killing them.
People will learn that coexisting with elephants is a bonus, not a curse! They will learn to understand and appreciate the value of wildlife in their area. Farmers will learn how to deter elephants from their gardens using non-confrontational methods. This means less risk of loss of life for both people and Elephants. Eventually farmers may change to cash crops that are not attractive to Elephants, like chillies. Tourism brings jobs and income. Coexistence promotes growth, conflict brings death.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
