Äồng Nai forest supported in elephant protection
The Forest Protection Department in the southern province of Äồng Nai on Friday received equipment, including 10 cameras and 60 camera traps, to better manage and protect elephants in the province.
This is a part of the project "Protecting Asian elephants in Äồng Nai through solutions to reduce and prevent human-elephant conflict in a sustainable way" implemented by the province’s Department of Forest Protection, the Việt Nam Administration of Forestry and Humane Society International (HSI).
On Friday, the agencies also signed an agreement to cooperate in research on the ecology and behaviour of elephants with a branch of the University of Forestry in Äồng Nai to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the programme on elephant monitoring.
The elephant and habitat monitoring programme aims to understand elephants and their habitats - one of the fundamental solutions for elephant conservation and reducing human-elephant conflict.
Data on the characteristics and behaviour of elephants and human-elephant conflicts will be recorded and updated regularly. This will be analysed to find out the social structure of the herd, the level of human-elephant conflict, and impact projections to tailor possible solutions.
Trần Quang Bảo, Deputy Director of the Việt Nam Administration of Forestry, said that the elephant population in Việt Nam had declined dramatically over the past four decades.
However, after much effort, the elephant population in Äồng Nai showed positive signs.
Recently, the Government allowed to extend the implementation of the Master Plan on Conservation of Vietnamese Elephants to 2025, which created favourable conditions for the province to continue conservation.
“The cooperation based on each side's strengths to monitor elephant herds to come up with management solutions has clearly demonstrated the commitment of all parties in efforts to conserve and sustainably develop elephant populations in Việt Nam,” he said.
Lê Việt DÅ©ng, Deputy Director of the Äồng Nai province’s Department of Forest Protection, said that the donated equipment would be useful tools for identifying and building an information database for each elephant. Read More…
