Global forum to conserve elephants mooted

THOOTHUKUDI: Fifty elephant range countries are set to coordinate the elephant conservation efforts at international level, according to a top official from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.   Speaking to Express on the sidelines of a conservation workshop here, Dr Jagdish Kishwan, Additional Director General of Forests (Wildlife), said the decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of ‘E8 Elephant Range Countries’ in New Delhi recently.“The eight participating countries in the E8 meet are: Botswana, Congo, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand, that are home to the most significant populations of Asian and African elephants,” he said. He said that a forum with wider spectrum than E8 would come into being in the coming years. “Stage is set to form Elephant 50:50 Forum (E 50:50) in 2013, which is aimed at promoting elephant conservation in all the 50 elephant range countries for a period of next 50 years,” he said.It may be noted that the jumbos are found in 50 countries worldwide, including 13 Asian and 37 African countries, and the forum would serve as a plat­form of coordinated con­servation efforts exclusively for elephant. “The bigger forum would coordinate conservation efforts of all these countries at international level so that each elephant range country benefits from the expertise of other countries in conservation activities,” he pointed out. He noted that it would enhance sharing of knowledge, research, veterinary application and methods to prevent or minimise man-elephant conflict among all the 50 elephant range countries.“The significance of this forum is that it would coordinate conservation efforts in the long-term, that is, for another 50 years,” he said. Dr Jagdish Kishwan added that the move would cover all three species of elephants — Asian Elephant, African Bush Elephant and African Forest Elephant.