Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the interim government's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has said the government has taken up a new project to resolve human-elephant conflict and monitor elephant movements. Under the project 16 tree towers will be built. An elephant sanctuary will also be set up at Chunati in Chattogram, where captive elephants will be rehabilitated.

She gave the details as chief guest at a discussion held at Bon Bhaban on 19 August to mark World Elephant Day.

Rizwana Hasan said ecological boundary bio-fencing would be built to reduce human-elephant conflict, creating a 10-kilometre boundary of living, thorny hedges including cane, lemon and jujube. Activities will also be stepped up in areas next to elephant reserves by forming an "Anti-Depredation Squad (ADS)", an "Elephant Response Team (ERT)" and an "Elephant Rescue Team". Two elephant rescue centres will also be set up, at Gazipur Safari Park and Dulahazara Safari Park.

She said it was urgent to regulate captive elephants, raise awareness among rural people and ensure sustainable habitat for elephants. A special project has been taken up for elephant conservation, under which gardens of trees that elephants feed on will be created on 350 hectares, along with 50 hectares of bamboo, and the planted vegetation will be properly protected.

The adviser said temporary sheds would be built in the Sylhet, Chattogram, Rangamati and Sherpur regions to treat injured elephants. Assessments of anthropogenic impacts and the effects of climate change, and an ethnographic survey, will also be carried out to help resolve human-elephant conflict. An elephant sanctuary covering ten acres will be set up at Chunati in Chattogram, where captive elephants will be rehabilitated.

The event was chaired by Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, chief conservator of forests at the Forest Department. Speaking as special guests were Md Khairul Hasan, additional secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Dr Mohammad Ali Reza Khan, former principal wildlife specialist at Dubai Safari Park and a wildlife expert; and Dr M Monirul H Khan, a professor in the Department of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.