completed · Climate

Strengthening human-elephant co-existance in the Eastern Terai of Nepal

This project was developed in close collaboration with local communities and District Forest Officials in Jhapa, Nepal, the easternmost district in the Terai landscape, in order to strengthen elephant conservation efforts. Project objectives include: 1) support local communities in the management and maintenance of electric fences to prevent elephants from entering villages; 2) form, train, and equip community-based Elephant Response Teams (ERT) and strengthen their capacity to deal with HEC; 3) create a database for long-term tracking of human-elephant conflict (HEC) data; and 4) conduct community awareness workshops to encourage behavior change towards elephants. These interventions are expected to reduce community resentment towards elephants and lead to behavior change which reduces both human and elephant fatalities from HEC in this priority landscape of eastern Nepal.