Resolving Human-Elephant Conflict: A Case Study In Kuiburi National Park

ou are asked to write a briefing paper for an organization of your choice (e.g. an NGO or an IGO) about to be sent to work in an area of conflict (also of your choice), with the aim of providing necessary background about the situation, what are the particular concerns for the organization involved, and offering recommendations as to how it should proceed.

The briefing paper is designed to develop your research skills in finding out about a specific organization and its role in working for peace in situations of conflict.
You may choose any organization that works in the areas of peace and conflict – an NGO (e.g. International Alert, the Carter Center, Human Rights Watch), national government, international (e.g., UN, IMF, World Bank) or regional (e.g., EU, AU, ASEAN, OAS) organization. In terms of governments or international organizations, you should specify a particular department or agency (e.g. for the UN, it could be DPKO, UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO etc.)
You must then choose a specific conflict situation – this can be an ongoing conflict or a recently resolved one (up to 10 years ago, where peace remains fragile). It can also be either an inter- or intra- state conflict. It may be a conflict where the organization is not already working – or if it is, where there is room for improvement in its effectiveness.
The aim is then for you to write an advisory briefing paper for your chosen organization – addressed to its chief executive, governing body, board of directors etc. – as to the policy options available to it for making its work in building peace in the selected conflict more effective.
This could mean suggesting, for example, that it devotes more effort to promoting: negotiations between hostile parties; democracy; poverty reduction; economic development; police/military reform; education; health-care; human rights etc. Alternatively, it might mean recommending doing less of something.
Although the paper is being written for an organization, you may still consider potential criticisms (presented in an appropriately ‘constructive’ fashion!) of what it has/has not done previously – in order to suggest how it might need to change in future.

WWF's Initiatives to Reduce Human-Elephant Conflict

The conflict between humans and animals has been an issue that has been trending since a few years recently. The World Wildlife Fund is seeking to solve this issue especially in the context of the conflict between humans and elephants majorly in the continents of Asia and Africa where the habitats and ecosystems in which elephants thrive are being adversely affected by ventures by turning those habitats in agricultural lands. If the issue is investigated from a different perspective it is seen that elephants and their habits are causing widespread loss to the human inhabitants in certain areas through excessive grazing or even killing and injuring people. The WWF is increasingly trying to promote activities and take initiatives that will help reduce these problems. Some of the efforts and initiatives taken up by this organization include using tobacco and chili based deterrents that demarcate the boundaries up to which the elephants can graze, planning the construction of farms and using improved equipments to keep elephants away from agricultural land, imparting education and specialized workshops to the inhabitants so that these people are able to take up effective measures of agriculture and farming. The organization is also making sure that the elephants are not harmed and is helping to restore the biodiversity and habitats of elephants so that they can make the movement of wildlife including elephants to these regions easier and more convenient.

There has been a conflict going on for almost 10 years in the Kuiburi National Park of Thailand which was resolved by the joint effort of World Widelife Fund. This was done by keeping in mind the forest management policies that was undertaken by the State machinery in Thailand in conjunction with WWF. The conflict was very intense in the Kuiburi national park regarding the protection of wildlife. The conflict area was Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. The situation was out of control as there was an influx of elephants entering the lands of the local residents and destroying the crops. Subsequently, to protect and prevent the crops from getting destroyed, the wild animals were killed by the local residents by poisoning. The issue was widely covered in the media and had become international news attracting the attention of many news agencies and non governmental bodies. The posing of animals was considered an absolute case of animal violence and many NGOs took up the case to resolve the condition. The World Wildlife Fund stepped up to resolve the situation and to achieve its goals employed many techniques so that a better environment for animals could be achieved. Many participatory approaches was undertaken by the WWF and to achieve the goal many administrative decisions were undertaken. The local Wild Elephant Management Committee was contacted and their role has been immense in solving the conflict. The WWF worked towards ensuring that proper land management was done and also the elephant management committee stepped up to achieve long term goals of conserving energy.

The Kuiburi National Park Conflict: A Case Study

The work took a considerable amount of time and a result was achieved after good exchange of dialogues and intensive researching. Strengthening Management for a Key Population of Elephants at Kuiburi National Park in the Tenasserim Range was the name of the project that was undertaken by WWF with the aim of resolving the conflict situation in Thailand. An agreement was reached between the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Kuiburi National Park and WWF Greater Mekong’s Forest Resources Management Unit. The finances for this project came from a lot of sources namely WWF US and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Many sub committees came under this project to look at better techniques to resolve the conflict. The true results of the project came to be seen after a year of its implementation. The new and current situation is that there is a better understanding between the stakeholders and also a good cooperation has been reached between them.  After conducting interviews in the adjacent area it has come to be known to the media that the farmers and the local residents are happy because the stakeholders participate more and also they intend to resolve the conflicts that occur. The WWF has set a good framework for future and long term goals and has taught how cooperation can be reached between governmental and nongovernmental organizations. For active preservation of the forestry there needs to be active participation by the NGOS.

The main scope of the paper is to maintain peace in between the human and the wild life. further, this paper will talk about various processes by which the relation and conflict between the human and wild life can be resolved.  In this paper, a brief resolving matter on the human elephant conflict has been prescribed.  It has been reported by World Wildlife Fund that a conflict has been taken place in Kuiburi National Park of Thailand. Many innovative strategies should be taken to resolve all the related issue to this effect. The allegation has been made when elephants were entered in the territory of agricultural land and human beings killed wild elephant by applying poison to them. This became a serious issue and WWF had forced to discuss about the matter to many administrative authorities.This briefing report has been addressed to the chief executive, governing body, board of directors of the development committee so that they can take all the appropriate actions to mitigate the dispute.   

Mitigating the Conflict: The WWF's Project

This issue is very sensitive one and it is required to take all the actions for the settlement of the issue. Further, certain policies are to be taken so that no parties could get harm for the same. A negotiation process can be taken with the villagers so that they could not kill the elephants and can fence their land. Further, the management bodies should have to strengthen the management bodies so that the elephants of the Kuiburi National Park can be protected. A contract in between the national park authority and WWF should be retained and well communication process should be kept. It has been observed that the government bodies are not talking between them and this is the main problem. They are required to talk to them and should inform them about all the matters relating to the human and wildlife. The matter can be resolved through participation and cooperation. Participation are required from the local farmers and villagers so that they can work for the benefit of wild life. Further, proper benefit of wild life should be taught to them so that they can understand the importance of wild animals and their mentality towards killing animals could be mitigated. Further, the wildlife protection authority should have to take active role in this regard. They are required to analyze the reason for the elephants entering in the agricultural land. They have to serve all the proper and fundamental resources to the elephants.  

The issue related to the wildlife is an important issue and therefore, it is required to make all the steps seriously. WWF is required to take certain liabilities and lead the action plans so that all the policies could be implemented in a proper and effective manner. Sustainability should be maintained at all perspectives and WWF should have to take appropriate action to this effect. If proper actions are not taken, then the wildlife will be at risk and it has been observed that elephants are become rare in many parts of Thailand.

The different issues that are faced by the elephants in the Kui Buri national park are due to the intervention of the local communities in the wildlife belt of the region. The issues are created due to the conflicts between different hostile parties and the elephants of the region suffered loss of their habitat. The identification of the different factors that affects the functioning of the mitigation strategies are based on understanding the different levels of change in the strategies.  

• Recommended actions that might be taken by the NGO are to keep the people educated of the different factors of the change in the perception and the mentality. On the other hand, the identification of the causes of local and wildlife conflicts helps in the identification of the different strategies that helps in mitigating the conflicts of the systems of the business.  The key elements of the change in the perceptions of the people are based on the identification of the needs of the people to bring in changes in their approach towards the functioning.
• Understanding the literacy rate of the people and thereby supplementing them with the required data to deal with the issues helps in maintaining the balance in the community and the wildlife. It helps in bringing forth improvements in the logical interpretations of the issues that affects the livelihood of the animals. On the other hand, making the people aware of the human rightsand thereby bring in transitions in their functions will be helping in maintaining the equilibrium.
• Poverty reduction and economic development of the communities might help in mitigating the issues that are faced by the people while adhering to the daily needs for which they might undertake corrupt practices. On the other hand, the identification of the issues that are faced by the people has helped in the identification of the needs of the people and the manner in which their needs can be fulfilled to bring in changes in the conflicts. The identification of the needs of the local communities and the hostile parties and amending them with the same might help in mitigating the different issues that are faced by the wildlife in Kui Buri national park.
• On the other hand, promoting different alternative actions that might benefit the different aspects of the change in the wildlife and community equilibrium has helped in bringing forth changes in the situation of the conflicts that affected the natural habitat of the animals that resides in the national park. the different aspects of the change is based on the identification of the issues and the strategies that are framed by the NGO’s to bring in the understanding of the change in the systems and the functioning of the systems as per the needs of the wildlife conservation act.
• WWF and its partners have made use of the chilly and tobacco-based deterrents in order to keep elephants away from the fields. It has helped in the identification of the various aspects of the change in the harvesting systems that are adopted by the farmers. The procedure has helped in the reduction of the human and elephant conflicts, which might lead to the loss of lives from both sides. The different steps that are undertaken by the government and the NGO’s are based on the functioning of the different levels of systems while bringing in changes in the systems of the operations. The conflicts have resulted to damage and loss of livelihood. Therefore, the organizations have joined hands to culminate into strategies that might be beneficial to deal with the different issues relating to the conflicts.  
• The recommended functions that are undertaken by the management of the NGO’s are based on the understanding of the needs of the people. the identification of the needs of the people has helped them in delineating different strategies to bring in changes in the systems of the undertaking. The key elements of the change are based on the identification of the educational needs of the people and to lead a healthy lifestyle.  
• The enumeration of the human rights of the people living in the prone zones might help them in insuring their crops from the elephant raids that might affect their economy largely. It affects the functioning of the different levels of change in the systems and the functioning of the NGO’s in the systems. The key aspects of the change that is initiated by the Organizations are based on the identification of the issues that are faced by the people in the region. It also helps in enumerating the manner in which the issues can be mitigated through proper understanding of the issues and carefully brainstorming the ideas to bring in changes in the situations of the conflicts. The key dynamics of the change in the structure and the performance of the organizations are based on bringing in improvements in the conflicts that are raged by the involvement of the communities and the wildlife.
• The differences in the change in the processes are based on the functioning of the change in the systems and the functioning of the organizations in conducting reviews on the situation and creating certain barriers to bring in changes in the elephant and community conflicts in the region. The identification of the key issues that are faced by the people in the region is based on the identification of the needs of the same to bring in changes in the current situation that is faced by the people in the region. The proper functioning of the different aspects of the strategies has helped in bringing forth changes in the systems and the functioning as per the needs of the communities and the welfare of the harvesters of the region. The capability of the NGO’s and their intervention in the matters of the clashes has helped in the identification of the possible steps that might be taken by them to bring in changes in the systems of the current situations.

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