Asian elephant meet adopts declaration

Kathmandu / April 30: The 3rd Asian Elephant Range States meeting of government representatives from 13 Asian countries concluded with a declaration of their common goal to conserve the Asian Elephant within its range states.

The meeting which started on April 27 concluded on Friday after announcing “Declaration for Asian Elephant Conservation”.

All the range states agreed on recognising the Asian Elephant, a seriously endangered species and one of the most iconic animals.

Asian elephants face a challenging future with the loss of their habitat, fragmented populations, and high levels of human-elephant conflict, illegal killing, as well as other factors that have resulted in population declines in some of the Range States, and

that they should have a common vision to promote Asian elephant conservation.

The meeting also agreed to enhance cooperation between the 13 range states both bilaterally and multilaterally, promoting transboundary

conservation of the Asian Elephant, and sharing and learning to enhance national conservation measures.

They also agreed to promote coexistence by minimising the negative impacts of humans on Asian Elephants and their habitats, address the root causes of human-elephant conflict and develop long-term solutions to minimise such conflict, engage with local communities to gain their participation in biodiversity conservation and land-use planning and provide sustainable and alternative livelihoods through financial support, technical guidance and support.

They also decided to ensure effective law enforcement across the species’ range to prevent illegal killing of Asian Elephants and the illegal trade in live Asian Elephants, ivory and its derivatives, and other elephant body parts. The meeting also declared a priority commitment by 2025.