Warning over 'needless' human/elephant conflict
Tuesday, 13 May 2008 11:58
End conflict between elephants and farmers, WWF urges
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Governments in Africa and Asia could end decades of conflict between farmers and elephants by outlawing unregulated development, it has been claimed.
Environmental organisation WWF said consideration of the needs of wildlife would prevent elephants straying into areas of human settlement, which can lead to people being trampled to death.
According to the charity, Namibian farmers lose up to $1 million (£510,000) a year due to elephant incursions.
Communities in Nepal suffer greatly also, WFF claims, with poor farming families having their incomes cut by a quarter by wild elephants.
The problem has social implications as well, with men in "elephant-ravaged" villages struggling to attract wives.
Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International's species programme director, urged governments to reform their planning policies to prevent the encroachment of human settlements.
"Conflict with elephants causes death and suffering for many marginal poor communities living close to wildlife areas, and is often followed by the retaliatory killing of wild elephants," she explained.
"But we can go from lose-lose to win-win for both humans and wildlife, with the clearest gains coming from the implementation of effective land-use planning aimed at reducing the potential for conflict."