The Elephant Habitat Enrichment Program
Due to depleting forest habitats and resources, we recognize the lack of food security as a pressing concern for elephants. To aid this problem, we have designed a program focusing mainly on identifying and mapping elephant migratory routes and subsequently improving the quality of those areas through the plantation of favourable grass species such as Tiger broom grass (Thysanolaena), Tora (Alpinia nigra), Napier (Cenchrus purpureus), and fruit trees such as elephants apples (Dillenia indica), and Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) - to supplement the nutritional requirements of elephants. The logic behind this initiative is that by improving food security for wild elephants in their natural habitats, crop raiding behaviours in community crop fields will drastically be reduced.
Hatikhuli and Nonoi, Assam
Hatikhuli, Assam is one of our primary and pioneering areas of operations where the habitat restoration program was first initiated. Hatikhuli, which falls under two districts - Golaghat and Karbi Anglong, is marked as an important and frequent migratory route for wild elephants. However, expansion of agricultural and industrial activities have left forest areas in Hatikhuli barren and depleted. To address this issue, we initiated a Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Tiger Broom grass (Thysanolaena) plantation program in Hatikhuli - which has been ongoing since May 2020. Both Napier and Tiger broom grass are endemic to the area and are characterized as fast-growing grass species with high regenerative capacity. For this program, we planted 100,000 saplings of Napier and Tiger Broom grass (each) on approximately 70 acres of barren land in Hatikhuli. Based on our field observations and report, plantation of such fast-growing - yet favourable grass species - was a significant step forward towards supplementing food security and enriching the quality of elephant habitat in the area. Due to the program's positive outcome in Hatikhuli, we extended our habitat enrichment model to Nonoi, Assam which has also been identified as another important elephant migratory route in need of habitat restoration and preservation.
Community skill development and training program
As mentioned earlier, one of our core beliefs is to help empower rural communities to manage humanelephant conflict and manage the subsequent losses that are associated with it. Our community skill development and training program mainly focuses on agriculture-based vocational training such as bee-keeping, animal husbandry, agroforestry practices etc. The purpose of this training program is to help enrich and elevate local skillsets and support local communities to enhance their livelihoods and businesses. By doing so, we empower communities affected by human-elephant conflict to manage their losses effectively and find additional livelihood opportunities that benefit them economically and socially.
Our ongoing skill development and training workshops focus on developing vocational skills and improving livelihood opportunities for rural communities living in fringe areas. Often, due to lack of good employment opportunities, exposure, training, and consistent income - communities living in remote forest areas resort to illegal activities such as logging, poaching, and stone quarrying. These illegal activities impede conservation efforts and cause a major threat to the sustenance of natural habitats and local wildlife. Moreover, many rural and marginalized communities experience substantial economic losses due to crop and property damage caused by elephants. Such losses often fuel aggression and violence towards elephants. To address this, we have - and continue to - organize workshops in the fringe areas of Chapanala, located in Assam's Nagaon district, to empower isolated and low- income communities through vocational skill development and training workshops three days a week. Hati-Bondhu provides agriculture-based training with government-supported schemes and facilities to help create better economic opportunities for those who require it and are economically affected by human-elephant conflict. Our community skill development and training program is ongoing and we aim to continue improving the livelihood status of rural communities and help mitigate economic losses sustained from human-elephant conflict.
Community Paddy Plantation Program
This is a collaborative program with local communities to initiate paddy plantation for elephants on community land - thereby creating a ‘Food buffer Zone’ to keep elephant herds strategically contained in a demarcated area for a short period and away from primary crop fields during the harvesting season. This program is currently ongoing and is operational in a remote village area called - Ronghong Village, situated in Assam’s Nagaon district. Sixty-five acres of community land is selected annually to plant paddy crops for migrating elephants to forage, thus preventing them from straying towards community fields in search of food. This has been one of our most successful projects and has helped inform our study on elephant behaviours.
Paddy plantation in Ronghong village and Golaghat, Assam
Farming communities in Ronghong village located on the foothills of
Karbi Anglong experience high levels of crop raids and property
damage by elephants annually- thereby causing frequent conflicts
between local farmers and wild elephants in search of food. Both
locals from the area and elephants have suffered fatal injuries and in
some cases - death, due to rising tensions between the two. As a
part of our initiative to mitigate human-elephant conflict, we started
a paddy plantation on 68 acres of community-owned land for
elephants in Ronghong Village in 2018. After twenty sessions of
stakeholder meeting and focus group discussions, Hati Bondhu was
able to convince farmers from Ronghong village to work towards the
cause of elephant welfare and gained their support for the paddy
plantation program.
The project outcome revealed that the intervention was effective as
herds of approximately 350 elephants feasted on the paddy
plantations and remained confined in the plantation site for three
days during the - typically tense harvesting season. This outcome
enabled farmers from Ronghong village, and neighbouring villages to
harvest their paddy crops without any external disturbances. Our
field study and observations revealed that 10,000 acres of
community agricultural fields benefitted from this intervention. Due
to our program success, we have continued our program operations
in Ronghong village and are expanding our paddy plantation
activities in the fringe areas of Karbi Anglong, with help from our
local partners. Currently, our paddy plantation program is also
operational in Golaghat which is in urgent need of human-elephant
conflict management. we are expanding our mitigation operations in
the area and have identified strategic locations to initiate mass
plantation of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) - thereby
creating natural buffers for elephants that stray towards local
villages in search for food.
Currently, our paddy plantation program is also operational in
Thuramukh area located in Golaghat district, which is in urgent
need of human-elephant conflict management. We are expanding
our mitigation operations in the area and have identified strategic
locations to initiate mass plantation of Napier grass (Pennisetum
purpureum) - thereby creating natural buffers for elephants that
stray towards local villages in search for food. The project is being
implemented in collaboration with, and support from, Numaligarh
Refinery Limited (NRL).
Sensitisation and Awareness Program for Rural Children
Our sensitisation and awareness program aims to inform and educate young audiences in rural areas on the various environmental challenges existing today such as climate change, forest degradation, illegal poaching and human-wildlife conflict - with a special focus on elephant conservation. The program engages learning tools such as games and simulations, debates, discussions, presentations, and artwork to stimulate young audiences to pave the way for positive environmental change.
As part of our mission to protect elephants in the wild, we have organised a series of activity-based workshops for rural school children focusing on environment and wildlife conservation in our Hati Bondhu base camp, located in Chapanala, Assam. The workshops allow us to inform young audiences of different age groups on the various environmental challenges that confront our society today. Our sensitisation and awareness workshops are conducted in the Hati Bondhu training centre, once a week. We engage learning tools such as games, plays, discussions, and presentations to stimulate students from different academic backgrounds. We are currently expanding our program outreach from 2021 by extending our scope of participation to senior students studying in neighboring colleges and universities near Chapanala. The goal is to create dialogue among the youth living in rural areas on multiple environmental issues - especially human and elephant conflict. Our program also sponsors resource persons - such as local environment entrepreneurs, activists, conservationists, practitioners - to help facilitate workshops and impart their field knowledge and experiences.