The two-day conference on Asian elephants concluded here on Friday with a resolve to establish a regional think tank with nodal officers from Indian, Bhutan and Myanmar.
The meet also stressed the need for bringing back focus to manage elephant ranges as cornerstone to achieve clearly defined and measurable targets of conservation of elephants both in the wild and in captivity in the three neighbouring countries.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the conference, Ranjit Barthakur, Chairman and Founding Trustee of the Balipara Foundation, which organised the conference, said that elephants experts and conservationists who participated in the discussions, resolved that trans-national green corridors should be protected and strengthened. Other resolutions include increased coordination between enforcement agencies of the three neighbouring countries, involvement of younger generation in conservation programmes to infuse dynamism in initiatives, and enabling trans-boundary protection of Asian elephants.
The conference, while noting fragmentation of elephant reserves and corridors due to setting up of railway lines, construction of highways, building of dams and tea gardens have given rise to man-elephant conflict also resolved to initiate innovative measures to reduce man-elephant conflicts.
The experts said that along with protection of trans-boundary corridors, the protection of elephant reserves and corridors within north-east region of India was equally important.
The region has, according to experts, 58 elephant corridors and a population of about 9,300 elephants, some of which undertake trans-boundary movement to neighbouring Myanmar and Bhutan.
Dr Khyne U Mar, Research Associate and Project Co-ordinator, Myanmar Elephant Research Project, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield a.k.a “Elephant Lady of Myanmar”; Dasho Palijor J Dorji of National Environment Commission, Government of Bhutan; Mr Nicholas Claxton, Director Wow Media and Founding Trustee of The Elephant Family; Dr Ajay Desai, Co-Chair Asian Elephant Specialist Group; Ms Belinda Wright, Executive Director of Wildlife Protection Society of India; Professor Raman Sukumar of the Centre of Ecological Studies; and Dr Jagdish Kishwan, former Additional Director General (Wildlife) at the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and presently Chief Adviser, Wildlife Trust of India were among the experts who took part in the discussions.
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