A SOLUTION TO HUMAN ELEPHANT CONFLICT (HEC) IN HOSUR FOREST DIVISION (TN).

KENNETH ANDERSON NATURE SOCIETY Mohan & Chandrasekhar Chartered Accountants No.9/2, Attibele Road, Above Kutty's Frozen Foods, HCF Post, Mathigiri, Hosur - 635 110. Contact persons: Laxmeesha Acharya (President) – 9916690036; Sanjeev Kumar S R (Vice President) – 9362321000; George Tom (Secretary) – 9449009310; Dr Chandan Haldar (Treasurer) – 8553716640 Email: sanjeev@kans.org.in

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Table of Contents

1. Kenneth Anderson Nature Society .................................................................................................. 3

2. Hosur Forest Division ...................................................................................................................... 3

3. Human elephant conflict (HEC) ....................................................................................................... 3

4. Causes and Solutions ...................................................................................................................... 4

5. Wire rope barrier ............................................................................................................................ 4

6. Habitat restoration ......................................................................................................................... 4

7. Project cost per unit. ....................................................................................................................... 5

8. Expected Deliverables ..................................................................................................................... 5

a. Human elephant conflict control and elimination. ..................................................................... 5

b. Habitat restoration benefits ....................................................................................................... 5

c. Social and economic benefits to farmers.................................................................................... 5

d. Other associated benefits. .......................................................................................................... 6

9. Sponsorship options........................................................................................................................ 6

a. Integrated Human-elephant Conflict Alleviation Package: ......................................................... 6

b. Wire-rope Fencing Package: ....................................................................................................... 6

c. Wire-rope Fencing partial contribution Package: ....................................................................... 6

10. Donor Benefits ................................................................................................................................ 6

List of Annexures ..................................................................................................................................... 7

a. Endorsement of District Forest Officer, Hosur. .......................................................................... 8

b. HEC statistics from Hosur Forest Division ................................................................................... 9

c. Maps and illustrations of HEC in Hosur Forest Division/ .......................................................... 10

d. Images of Elephants in Agriculture lands and human habitations ........................................... 12

e. Elephant deaths in human habitations ..................................................................................... 13

f. Images of Steel Wire rope fence. .............................................................................................. 14

g. Camera trap images of elephants at the Steel wire rope fence. .............................................. 15

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Executive Summary.

Human - Elephant Conflict (HEC) is the single most important conservation and livelihood issue in many

parts of India. Scores of human lives are lost every year and thousands of farmers suffer damage to crops

by elephants causing unquantified socio-economic consequences.

Degradation of forests due to over exploitation and widespread infestation of exotic weeds, has forced

elephants to turn to agricultural crops for food, habituating them to crop raiding. Conventional methods

of keeping elephants out of farms have failed.

KANS and the Hosur Forest Division have successfully developed an effective Elephant proof barrier using

precast concrete posts and high strength steel wire ropes based on the successful Armstrong fence of

South Africa.

We propose to establish the wire rope barrier along the Northern Boundary of the Cauvery North Wildlife

Sanctuary in Hosur Forest Division (150 KM) and carryout habitat restoration through removal of exotic

species to ensure that elephants and other wildlife meet their requirements within the forests.

Thousands of farmers in over 330 villages within Krishnagiri District will benefit directly from this project.

Habitat restoration will also benefit ecological services such as soil erosion control and soil moisture

conservation.

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1. Kenneth Anderson Nature Society Kenneth Anderson Nature Society was formed in 2008 with the prime objective of

conservation of forest and wildlife in the Melagiris of Krishnagiri district. KANS is registered

under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act 1975. KANS has worked closely over the years

with the Hosur Forest Division on various conservation issues.

KANS was awarded the Royal Bank of Scotland Earth Guardian award for 2014 for its

active advocacy in the creation of Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary. KANS has served on the

following Government bodies:

• Executive Committee of the Tamil Nadu State Compensatory Afforestation

Management and Planning Authority,

• Governing Council of Society for Wildlife Interface and Forestry Training (a Society

formed by the Govt of Tamil Nadu),

• District Captive Elephant Welfare Committee.

• KANS member Sanjeev Kumar S R is also the Honorary Wildlife Warden for Krishnagiri

and Dharmapuri Districts in Tamil Nadu.

2. Hosur Forest Division Hosur Forest Division of Krishnagiri District encompasses an area of over 1200 sq km

and is an important Asian Elephant habitat. Barely an hour’s drive from Bangalore, it is

contiguous to Bannerghatta National Park, Malur Forest Division, Dharmapuri Forest Division

and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka). It also enjoys connectivity to the bio-diversity

hotspot of Western Ghats. The Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Hosur Forest

Division.

3. Human elephant conflict (HEC)

The data above is a national level summary of HEC from a reply tabled in the Lok

Sabha published in The Hindu. Thousands of farmers in over 330 villages across Krishnagiri

district are affected by HEC. On an average around 8 to 10 people are killed by elephants

every year. Though elephant crop raiding is a daily occurrence for many farmers, only around

1000 crop damage compensation claims are registered annually. The compensation paid out

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Location of Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary

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by the Government is invariably delayed and barely adequate to cover the losses. This results

in farmers taking matters into their own hands in dealing with elephants with tragic

consequences.

4. Causes and Solutions Degradation of forests due to human exploitation and proliferation of exotic invasive

inedible weeds such as Lantana, Parthenium and Eupatorium is the primary cause of HEC. Due

to lack of food inside the forests, elephants turn towards agricultural crops and become

habitual crop raiders. In fact, elephants travel many kilometres to feed on crops during the

agricultural season.

The solution to this problem is twofold. It involves preventing elephants from venturing

outside forests into agricultural fields by means of an effective barrier system on the forest

boundary and restoring the forest habitat by removing the exotic invasive weeds and

propagating native plant species that can feed elephants and other wildlife.

5. Wire rope barrier All conventional elephant barriers such as Solar fences, chilli fences, beehive fences

etc., are psychological barriers and depend on negative conditioning of elephant behaviour.

However, elephants highly intelligent and have learnt to deal with these psychological

barriers. The only solution is an insurmountable physical barrier.

KANS has worked with the Hosur Forest Division to develop a Wire rope barrier based

on the successful Armstrong fence of Addo National Park in South Africa. A prototype of the

fence was tested using Kumki (trained) elephants at Mudumalai Tiger reserve. The concept

was improved upon and implemented over a length of 12 kilometres in Jawalagiri Range of

Hosur Forest Division. This field trial has helped us further refine the design resulting in a

100% elephant proof barrier.

The fence uses precast reinforced concrete posts and 5 strands of high strength steel

wire ropes stretched horizontally across the posts. Free standing wooden poles are fixed at 2

to 3 metre intervals between the concrete posts to provide additional support to the wire

ropes.

6. Habitat restoration For every kilometre of elephant proof barrier, we propose to clear the invasive alien

weeds such as Lantana camara, Eupatorium odoratum (Chromolaena odorata), Parthenium

hysterophorus from 5 hectares of forest land and restore the habitat by propagating

indigenous grasses and tree species utilized by wildlife. This will eventually ensure conducive

conditions not just for elephants but all other wild animals.

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7. Project cost per unit.

Cost of wire rope fence per kilometre (inclusive of GST)

S NO Description Rate (Rs.) Unit Cost

1 Cost of path formation along forest boundary 118000 Km 118000

2 Cost of intermediate post (46 nos per km ) 16520 No 759920

3 Cost of corner/straining post (5 nos per km) 23600 No 118000

4 Cost of grouting concrete for corner/straining posts 118000 Km 118000

5 Cost of 14mm galvanized wire rope, five strands (5200 mts) 188.8 Mt 981760

6 Cost of hardware fittings per km ( 25 Anchor Assembly & 20 Turn Buckles)

3540 No 159300

7 Cost of hardware fittings per km ( Bull dog clamps approx 200 nos per km)

75 No 15000

8 Cost of fixing Eucalyptus posts at 3 metre intervals 200 No 60000

9 Cost of Installation Labour (100-man days for 1 Km) 600 Man day 60000

10 Cost of installation equipment like hiring charges for crane, JCB, Earth movers etc., Including cost for transportation of materials.

LS 150000

11 Administrative and documentation costs Ls 50000

Total 2589980

Cost of habitat restoration per 5 hectares

S NO Description Unit rate Units Cost

1 Cost of Lantana removal for 5 hectares 20000 Ha. 100000

2 Cost of Native grass seeds, 4 kg per hectare 500 Kg 10000

3 Cost of raising and planting of mixed native tree species 30000 Ha. 150000

4 Cost of invasive species de-weeding 2 years, 2 times per year 15000 Ha. 75000

5 Cost of minimal cattle proof fence for 1 year 150000 Km 150000

6 Administrative and documentation costs LS 25000

Total 510000

8. Expected Deliverables

a. Human elephant conflict control and elimination. Establishing the elephant proof barrier provides clearly demarcated spaces for human

use and wildlife use. This strategy is along the lines of demarcated elephant conservation

zones and elephant removal zones directed by the High Court of Karnataka in the case of

Hassan elephants, as advised by the Committee of Experts.

b. Habitat restoration benefits Removal of Lantana will promote native trees and grasses useful to elephants, other

wildlife in addition to a host of ecosystem benefits erosion control, water conservation etc.

c. Social and economic benefits to farmers Thousands of farmers can pursue their cultivation activities without worrying about

losses to elephants and sleep peacefully at night. People can go to work, and children can go

to school without fearing for their lives. In other words, normal life can resume. Agricultural

activities will resume on thousands of acres of lands that have been abandoned due to human

elephant conflict.

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d. Other associated benefits. Trains going South from Bangalore can resume normal speeds without fear of killing

elephants on the railway track. Instances of elephants venturing into nearby areas such as

Electronic City and Hosur Town, SIPCOT industrial area will be controlled. Development plans

that have halted due to elephant conflict can resume for the wellbeing of society at large.

9. Sponsorship options

a. Integrated Human-elephant Conflict Alleviation Package: One unit of this package constitutes 1 kilometre of wire rope fence together with habitat

restoration of 5 hectares at strategic location identified by the Wildlife Warden of Hosur

forest division. Sponsorship cost: INR 31 Lakh per unit.

b. Wire-rope Fencing Package: One unit of this package constitutes 1 kilometre of wire rope fencing.

Sponsorship cost: INR 26 Lakh per unit.

c. Wire-rope Fencing partial contribution Package: The sponsor may make ad hoc contributions which will be pooled together in a separate

account and utilized towards installation of the fence in multiples of 1 kilometre or habitat

restoration of 5 hectares as per the direction of the Wildlife Warden.

Sponsors can choose one or multiple units of option 1 and 2 or make ad hoc contribution as

per option 3. Prospective donors are encouraged to make a field visit to inspect the work

already carried out over 12 kilometre in Hosur Forest Division. Donors can also get first-hand

experience of human elephant conflict and conditions in the field. KANS will be happy to make

a detailed presentation of the proposal at the convenience of the corporate.

10. Donor Benefits a. This project qualifies under activities 4 (Ensuring environmental sustainability) and 10

(Rural development projects) of Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013.

b. Donors can derive income tax benefits since KANS is registered under Section 80G of

the Income Tax Act.

c. Plaques commemorating the donor’s contribution will be put up at prominent

strategic locations.

d. PR events shall be organized to provide wide visibility to the donors through press

releases and media events.

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List of Annexures

a. Endorsement of District Forest Officer, Hosur. .......................................................................... 8

b. HEC statistics from Hosur Forest Division ................................................................................... 9

c. Maps and illustrations of HEC in Hosur Forest Division ............................................................ 10

d. Images of Elephants in Agriculture lands and human habitations ........................................... 12

e. Elephant deaths in human habitations ..................................................................................... 13

f. Images of Steel Wire rope fence. .............................................................................................. 14

g. Camera trap images of elephants at the Steel wire rope fence. .............................................. 15

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a. Endorsement of District Forest Officer, Hosur.

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b. HEC statistics from Hosur Forest Division

Human Casualties due to Elephant Trampling

Sl. No. Year Number human

deaths Compensation paid (Rs.)

1 2010-11 3 3,00,000

2 2011-12 10 22,75,000

3 2012-13 7 21,00,000

4 2013-14 6 15,00,000

5 2014-15 10 30,00,000

6 2015-16 7 15,50,000

7 2016-17 6 21,00,000

8 2017-18 6 24,00,000

9 2018-19 9 12,50,000

Total 64 1,64,75,000

Details of Crop Damage claims paid in Hosur Forest Division Sl.

No. Year No. of Claims Compensation (Rs.)

1 2010-11 1696 62,38,200

2 2011-12 1505 42,25,550

3 2012-13 861 38,40,255

4 2013-14 441 24,92,450

5 2014-15 958 67,57,557

6 2015-16 1010 49,09,025

7 2016-17 999 57,61,750

8 2017-18 531 37,46,136

9 2018-19 791 59,40,240

Total 8792 4,39,11,163

Unsettled claims for 2018-19 is Rs. 70,02,350 under 979 applications.

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c. Maps and illustrations of HEC in Hosur Forest Division/

Hosur Forest Division and Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary

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d. Images of Elephants in Agriculture lands and human habitations

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e. Elephant deaths in human habitations

Elephants cross the National Highway at Shoolagiri Road accident on NH 7 (NH44) (3 incidents)

Elephants frequently fall into wells Seven elephants killed in train accidents

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 7 Heat map of Human elephant conflict up to 2015

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 6 Map of conflict affected villages in Krishnagiri district

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 10 Elephants in human habitation

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f. Images of Steel Wire rope fence.

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g. Camera trap images of elephants at the Steel wire rope fence.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 18 KANS registration certificate under Registrar of Societies, Tamil Nadu