Across the thirteen countries where endangered Asian elephants yet roam, habitats and movement corridors are increasingly being fragmented by infrastructure like roads, rails, and canals. Collisions leading to both human and brute deaths are also more common. These stressors of growing human being presence are being linked to a variety of repurcussions such as Bharat documenting 186 elephants beingness killed by trains over a period of more than ten years and China's herd of elephants moving 500 kilometers away from Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve during 2020-2021. Such issues are a wake up call for a better understanding of the impacts of human evolution on habitat connectivity, and what measures can exist taken to avoid or mitigate time to come conflicts.

To inform a more comprehensive agreement of the issues and growing number of solutions to accost impacts, the Asian Elephant Transport Working Group (AsETWG) today launched a groundbreaking publication titled "Protecting Asian Elephants from Linear Transport Infrastructure." The event of collaboration among infrastructure ecologists and elephant biologists, contents include:

  • Information about the projected expansion of linear send infrastructure (LTI) in range countries;
  • The research and evidence of impacts that such growth is having on Asian elephants;
  • A focus on guidelines, policies, laws, practices, and emerging technologies for reducing Asian-elephant ship conflicts;
  • Seven wildlife crossing instance studies roofing Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mainland china, India, and Malaysia; and
  • Recommendations for advancing efforts, policies, and enquiry.

Information technology is estimated that fewer than 52,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. Currently listed equally "endangered" on the IUCN Red List, Asian elephants thrive when they take the freedom to follow their traditional movement routes to access food, water, and mates. However, herds beyond South and Southeast Asia are declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation, which prevent them from meeting their life cycle needs. In response to dwindling elephant numbers and growing threats—including infrastructure development—the 13 range countries (see map) where Asian elephants nevertheless live met in 2017 and signed the Djakarta Announcement for Asian Elephant Conservation. The declaration includes prioritizing actions to reduce infrastructure development in "Asian elephant conservation landscapes" and increasing advice and collaboration amongst the countries so elephant motility is considered in planning for all development.

As a contribution to the countries' conservation objectives, experts are collaborating through the AsETWG every bit a growing network of 25+ infrastructure ecologists and elephant biologists providing expertise and solutions for fugitive and mitigating the impacts of linear transport infrastructure—specially roads, rails, and canals—on Asian elephants. Formed as a joint collaboration of the IUCN Globe Commission on Protected Areas Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (CCSG) and the IUCN Species Survival Committee Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG), AsETWG is focused on contributing to the improvement of core habitats and movement corridors that are threatened by new evolution and upgrading of linear infrastructure. Some contributing authors have the following to say most this new publication and its potential to set more comprehensive conservation achievements for Asian elephants in move:

"This publication is indeed the upshot of cantankerous-sectoral and cross-boundary collaboration. Conserving Asian elephants and their habitat connectivity requires endorsement from stakeholders such as road agencies. This publication volition help lay foundations to support strategic planning of "wildlife friendly" linear infrastructure in Asian elephant range countries."

— Becky Shu Chen, AsETWG Member; Technical Advisor, Zoological Guild of London

"This work is beneficial for all stakeholders, including road agencies, ecological protection staff, and the public interested in wildlife. Information technology is the starting time of developing more than specific guidelines to help build greener linear infrastructure in Asia."

— Dr. Yun Wang, AsETWG Member; Senior Researcher, China  Academy of Transportation Sciences

"Nosotros can't beget to wait, since new linear infrastructure development is expanding rapidly. Ideally, new transport infrastructure can avoid crossing through key elephant habitat birthday. But if that tin't happen, and then nosotros need to build elephant-sized wildlife crossings where they are needed, and nosotros must become started equally soon equally possible."

— Rob Ament, AsETWG Co-Chair; Senior Conservationist at the Middle for Large Landscape Conservation

  • Press and additional inquiries can be addressed to the AsETWG Secretariat at connectivity@largelandscapes.org.
  • This publication was made possible through a unique collaboration of experts and their institutions supported past the Center for Large Mural Conservation and funding from the New York Community Trust, Woodcock Foundation, and friends.
  • The publication can be cited every bit follows:

Ament, R., Tiwari, S.Thousand., Butynksi, Chiliad., Chen, B.Due south., Dodd, N., Gangadharan, A., Jayasinghe, N., Laur, A., Oppler. G., Wong, E.P., van der Ree, R., Wang, Y. (2021). Protecting Asian Elephants from Linear Send Infrastructure: The Asian Elephant Transport Working Group's Introduction to the Challenges and Solutions. AsETWG (Asian Elephant Transport Working Group; IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group/IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist
Group). https://doi.org/10.53847/VYWN4174

More than links

  • Full report
  • IUCN Cherry List: Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
  • Asian Elephant Transport Working Grouping
  • Related information: Linear Infrastructure Safeguards in Asia (LISA) Project