Why this project was important
The Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) is an important science and knowledge forum for academics and field conservationists across Asian elephant range countries. However, until recently, its members lacked the capacity to share knowledge, offer expert opinion to policy-makers, and scale-up solutions—except on a volunteer, ad hoc basis.
For the first time in history, Elephant Family funded a post for a full-time coordinator. Now the group benefits from seminars, conference calls, meetings and a better website to facilitate information flow, helping to ensure implementation of best practice while avoiding duplicative efforts.
In November 2016, the specialist group came together for the first time in over a decade. The meeting saw 75 Asian elephant experts from 15 countries gather in Guwahati, India, to develop conservation solutions that will maintain space for Asian elephants in our increasingly crowded world.
At the meeting, we made a three-year commitment to the group to continue working with our fellow experts to achieve positive Asian elephant conservation outcomes and reduced human-elephant conflict.
In April 2017 the AsESG helped organise the second Asian Elephant Range States meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia with members from 12 elephant range countries attending. The meeting discussed the challenges confronting elephant conservation in Asia, possible solutions and ways to enhance cooperation among Asian countries to conserve elephants in Asia. The meeting resulted in the “Jakarta Declaration for the Asian Elephant Conservation” being agreed by all 13 countries.
Read the proceedings from the 2019 meeting here: 2019 Updates.
You can read the latest from the 2018 meeting here: Update from the 9th annual meeting, Bangkok, April 2018
Read the 2018 journal of the AsESG – Gajah – by clicking here
Read an overview of the last six months of 2018: Expert solutions for Asian elephant crises
