Two passionate crusaders pled the case for the gentle giants of India at the RoundGlass Samsara Summit in Bengaluru in October 2017. Vivek Menon, founder and CEO of The Wildlife Trust of India, and actor and former Miss Earth Pacific Dia Mirza, who is a brand ambassador for WTI spoke to the gathered audience about the challenges facing India’s threatened elephants.
With reducing forest areas and increasing human population, incidents of man-elephant conflict have been increasing. Elephants have been relegated to increasing smaller patches of forest; their corridors truncated by highways. As a result, the animals inadvertently intrude into human settlements, unsettling crops and homes.
The WTI has proposed a strategy that can help protect India’s elephants, which have become vulnerable to hi-speed trains, electric fences, highways, and canals. A mechanism to alert humans when elephants are close by is just one of the effective methods they have come up with. They are also working on restoring habitats that have been lost over time, thereby reviving spaces that were once home to elephants.
Another initiative to promote the cause of elephants is the Gaj Yatra. Menon spoke about this awareness campaign during the summit, that will travel to 12 ranges in the country where vital, and threatened, elephant corridors are located. The goal is to generate support to help secure ‘right of passage’ for elephants through 101 vital migratory corridors.
Both Vivek Menon and Dia Mirza spoke passionately about the esteemed project, encouraging members of the audience to participate and spread the word.
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