Why was this project so important?
The Brahmagiri – Nilgiris – Eastern Ghats region supports almost 6,000 elephants, or approximately 13% of the global population of Asian elephants. Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong supports 1,700. The landscapes are also home to diverse range of flora and fauna, many of them being endemic. However, the landscapes are also dominated by a large human population which through the expansion of settlements, agriculture and indiscriminate economic growth has seen degradation and fragmentation of the habitat.
Wildlife corridors are like bridges between islands, they reconnect forest fragments. They allow elephants and other animals to feed and move freely, unthreatened by humans, farms, roads or railway lines. This project helped transform the lives of up to 2,000 elephants and countless other species.
Project partner: Wildlife Trust of India
Duration: 2011 – 2020
Project goals
This project supported the voluntary relocation of remote communities from dangerous wildlife-migratory areas to safer farmlands and determine the long-term impact of the move on people, elephants and other wildlife.
What we did
Elephant Family funded a 2,200 acre corridor in Wayanad, Kerala, providing a protected path for 1,400 elephants, the world’s largest single population of Asian elephants. In 2015, the corridor received legal protection, meaning that the right of way for elephants has been secured in perpetuity.
However we continually monitor and evaluate the Wayanad corridor project to ensure we use best practices possible to develop new corridors in the future. The corridor has been secured for wildlife by voluntarily rehabilitating 37 families from four settlements (Thirunakulu, Valiya emmadi, Kottapadi and Pulayankolly) and by purchasing 25.3 acres of land. The land has now been handed over to Kerala Forest Department to ensure its long-term conservation.
In Assam, 20 families were voluntarily relocated outside the elephant corridor, avoiding dangerous encounters with wildlife. Their new settlements are nearer to markets and for the first time they have brick houses, electricity and safe drinking water. The village was successfully relocated at the beginning of 2016 with monitoring and evaluation of the villagers and the former village site within the corridor still ongoing.
Elephant Family has invested in officially marking out the corridors country-wide, providing a warning for would-be developers near the routes.
Read the latest Conservation Action Report here.
Read our April 2018 update here
September 2018: VIDEO Field Update – safe passage across the Deosur Corridor