eField Report: Amidst Despair and Conflicts…Hope comes to the people and elephants in Wasgamuwa

http://www.slwcs.org/

On Monday, November 17th a remarkable and novel event happened in the jungles of Wasgamuwa, where for the first time in Sri Lanka, a well-known corporate entity, the Colombo Jewellery Stores (CJS) and their international celebrity brand ambassador, Jacqueline Fernandez joined forces with the international award winning Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS) to create awareness, support and initiatives for the long term conservation of the Sri Lankan elephant. This was one of the preliminary steps prior to the launching of Colombo Jewellery Stores’ Unforgettable jewellery collection and A Future in the Wild campaign in support of elephant conservation. Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Jacqueline Fernandez and Akram listening to the villagers Jacqueline Fernandez, CJS Chairman, Akram Cassim and SLWCS President, Ravi Corea Nearly a year and half of discussions, several field visits and meetings culminated with an Elephant Walk where CJS brand ambassador, Sri Lankan born international Bollywood star, Jacqueline Fernandez accompanied by the villagers of the remote village of Himbiliyakade walked through an elephant corridor. The Elephant Walk was conducted to raise awareness and support to provide a solution to the increasing human-elephant conflicts in the corridor as well as in the rest of Sri Lanka. Children of the Elephant Corridor walking with Jackie Human-elephant conflict has become one of the biggest man-made natural disasters in Sri Lanka. While there is tremendous awareness in the country’s conservation forum of its magnitude and scale and the profound impact HEC has on elephants and people alike, the efforts to address it at the national level has not being too successful. The CJS-SLWCS initiative with Jacqueline Fernandez will hopefully help to bring much needed international and local corporate donor support to fund efforts to develop effective measures to address this issue island-wide. Annually due to conflicts nearly 80 people are killed by elephants and over 225 elephants are killed mostly by farmers in retaliation for destroying their lives and livelihoods. Habitat loss due to encroachment and mega development projects are ongoing threats to the survival of the elephant in Sri Lanka. Compounding matters further is the loss of the ancient passage ways and corridors that allow elephants to move within and between their traditional home ranges. A farmer killed by an elephant The death of a cultural icon: an elephant killed by farmers The Unforgettable: A Future in the Wild campaign launch began with Jacqueline participating in the Elephant Walk through the elephant corridor accompanied by the people and children of Himbiliyakade village. During the walk Jacqueline listened to and participated in discussions on issues and concerns in regard to living with elephants from the villagers who joined her, together with Chairman of CJS, Akram Cassim and SLWCS Founder and President Ravi Corea and SLWCS Project Managers, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, and Chandima Fernando. Chandima Fernando, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, Ravi Corea, Jacqueline Fernandez and Akram Cassim The Elephant Walk began by the electric fence surrounding the Weheragalagama village and led over the dam of the Weheragala Tank and over the spill and through the elephant corridor to end by the Tree Hut. The walk commenced amidst a backdrop of several elephants grazing and socializing on the littoral plains on the far side of the tank. They were probably there to give their blessings to the campaign. A herd of five elephants provided a backdrop for the Elephant Walk An auspicious sign for the success of the campaign From the conversations with the villagers, Jacqueline learned about the threats and dangers imposed on their lives whenever they had to move through the corridor in the presence of elephants. The villagers especially the young children recounted to Jackie their experiences of moving through the corridor in the presence of elephants practically on a daily basis especially during the school terms. Whenever bulls are present and because of their bold demeanor these children had to either wait at a safe distance or find refuge up a tree until the bulls decided to move away or they were lucky enough that a vehicle would come by that was able to transport them safely to the school. They explained how such situations caused them to miss classes and prevented them from participating in school activities including in national academic and athletic events. On many such occasions when SLWCS field personnel had been present the Society’s Land Rover has been used to transport these kids safely to school or to their homes. A boy from the village talking to Jackie Villages explaining about the challenges they face everyday when traveling through the corridor Everyday pedestrians and vehicular traffic such as bicycles, motor bicycles, tuk tuks and hand tractors move through the corridor amidst wild elephants. The natural and inborn apprehension of villagers to elephants has gradually eroded a serene environment to create situations where there had been confrontations between elephants and people though no serious harm had been caused to a person yet. Unfortunately since recently a group of farmers had taken matters into their hands to shoot elephants. On several such occasions when gangs of armed villagers had arrived to shoot elephants, SLWCS personnel at considerable risk to their own lives had intervened and managed to calm down a tense situation and send the people back with the promise of a resolution. Children going to school talking to Ravi Corea while several bull elephants feed in the background Two hand tractors traveling through the corridor while a bull elephant feeds in the background In the follow up meetings with the villagers to discuss possible ways to resolve the increasing tense situations in the corridor, the villagers requested the SLWCS to provide them with Roundup which is a weedicide to keep the two sides along the road clear of grass and scrub. The lack of visibility creates a dangerous situation because from the ground the 9 foot tall Mana grass hides elephants very effectively. On many occasions SLWCS field personnel while monitoring the corridor from the Tree Hut had warned people about the presence of elephants in the Mana grass and then sent the field vehicle to escort these villagers safely to their homes. While providing Roundup to clear the two sides of the road has helped to ease the situation and buy time for the elephants, it is not a permanent solution. Even with the elephants visible it will take only one unfortunate incident for the situation to revert back to a landscape of conflicts. Villagers of Himbiliyakade preparing to spray Roundup along the corridor road A villager spraying Roundup to clear the Mana grass on either side of the road It is imperative to find a long term solution to resolve the increasing conflicts in this corridor. After the Elephant Walk had ended by the Tree Hut, the Colombo Jewellery Stores, the SLWCS and Jacqueline committed to provide the villagers with the first ele-friendly bus in Sri Lanka. The bus will provide a safe and secure conveyance for the children of the two villages located adjacent to the corridor to travel to school and back, and for the adults to go to work and to town. The bus will reduce the pedestrian and small vehicular traffic substantially to create a tranquil habitat for the elephants as well. A family running away from an elephant at the corridor A Buddhist monk and two villagers walking by an elephant On Tuesday, November 18th, Colombo Jewellery Stores launched ‘Unforgettable’, the newest exquisitely handcrafted jewellery collection of CJS based on the elephant’s traditional cultural relationship as well as its role as a key representative of the country’s incredible biodiversity. The launch was held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo to a selected group of invitees and media personnel. CJS Chairman Akram Cassim, Brand Ambassador Jacqueline Fernandez and President of the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, Ravi Corea spoke how the campaign would contribute to the resolution of human elephant conflicts and to the conservation of wild elephants. Akram spoke how the elephant inspired the collection and how through the campaign CJS intends to raise awareness and support for elephant conservation. Jackie shared with the audience how surrealistic the entire experience was when she started shooting with elephants and how her heart went out to them when she realized the intense underlying turmoil between people and elephants and how it impacted on their lives. Jackie affirmed how she was so looking forward to going on this journey together with CJS and SLWCS to support elephant conservation efforts in Sri Lanka. Akram speaking about the Unforgettable campaign Jacqueline sharing her incredible experiences shooting with elephants Ravi speaking about the critical need to develop measures to address human-elephant conflicts Bringing new hope to elephant conservation in Sri Lanka Please go to the links provided below for more information about Unforgettable: A Future in the Wild campaign. If you are interested to support this initiative please contact us at: info@slwcs.org http://hitv.dailymirror.lk/index.php/v/events/cocktails-and-media-conference-of-launch-of-collection-unforgettable www.lbt.lk/news/business/8018-unforgettable-campaign-to-protect-wild-elephants http://www.sundaytimes.lk/141123/plus/cjs-goes-wild-with-unforgettable-128758.html ©2014 Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society | 127 Kingsland Street, Nutley, NJ 07110 Web Version   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi ®