21st Project Elephant Steering Committee Meeting
Source: PIB
GS III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Overview
- News in Brief
- About the Meeting
- About Project Elephant
Why in the News?
21st Steering Committee Meeting of Project Elephant was held at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun, under the Chairmanship of Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav.
News in Brief
- The meeting brought together senior officials, scientists, and field experts from elephant range states, along with representatives from key conservation institutions, to review the progress of Project Elephant and to deliberate on the way forward for elephant conservation in India.
- The meeting laid strong emphasis on human-elephant conflict, which continues to pose a significant challenge to human safety and elephant conservation.
- The discussions stressed community involvement in managing human-elephant conflict.
About the Meeting
- 1,911 genetic profiles completed across 22 states, marking progress in identification and welfare.
- Phase-I of synchronized elephant population estimation was completed for the Northeastern states.
- Over 16,500 elephant dung samples collected for population estimation
- Railway Collisions: 77 high-risk zones identified to mitigate elephant-train accidents. 73 elephant deaths due to train collisions reported between 2019–20 and 2023–24.
- Regional action plans discussed for Southern and Northeastern India to manage the Human-Elephant conflict.
- Important documents were released during the meeting
- Report on suggested measures to mitigate Elephant-Train collisions
- Comprehensive study on 23 years of human-elephant conflict in Assam, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh
- Advisory on safe tusk trimming practices for captive elephants, and the latest edition of Trumpet, the Project Elephant quarterly newsletter.
- The committee recommended inclusion of Sloth Bear and the Gharial in the Species Recovery Programme, as per the Ministry.
Which are the different Elephant Ranges?
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
About Project Elephant
- Project Elephant was Launched in 1992.
- It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme by the Government of India.
- Project Elephant provides financial and technical support to key elephant range states.
- Aim
- Conservation and protection of elephants in the wild.
- Protection of elephant habitats and corridors.
- Mitigation of human-elephant conflict.
- Welfare of captive elephants.
Indian Elephant
- The Indian elephant is the most widely distributed among the three Asian elephant subspecies.
- They are also found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- Indian Elephant is protected under Appendix I of CITES and Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
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