Elephants Also Like Coffee: Trends and Drivers of Human–Elephant Conflicts in Coffee Agroforestry Landscapes of Kodagu, Western Ghats, India

Autor: Bal, P., Nath, C., Nanaya, K., Kushalappa, C., Garcia, C.
Přispěvatelé: Institut Français de Pondichéry (IFP), Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères (MEAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Biology [University of St Andrews], University of St Andrews [Scotland], Ponnampet College of Forestry, University of Horticultural and Agricultural Sciences, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research [CGIAR] (CGIAR), Biens et services des écosystèmes forestiers tropicaux : l'enjeu du changement global (UPR BSEF), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Département Environnements et Sociétés (Cirad-ES)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Environmental Management
Environmental Management, Springer Verlag (Germany), 2011, 47 (5), pp.789-801. ⟨10.1007/s00267-011-9636-1⟩
ISSN: 0364-152X
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-011-9636-1⟩
Popis: Kodagu district produces 2% of the world's coffee, in complex, multistoried agroforestry systems. The forests of the district harbour a large population of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). The combined effects of high elephant density and major landscape changes due to the expansion of coffee cultivation are the cause of human-elephant conflicts (HEC). Mitigation strategies, including electric fences and compensation schemes implemented by the Forest Department have met with limited success. Building on previous studies in the area, we assessed current spatial and temporal trends of conflict, analysed local stakeholders' perceptions and identified factors driving elephants into the estates. Our study, initiated in May 2007, shows that the intensity of HEC has increased over the last 10 years, exhibiting new seasonal patterns. Conflict maps and the lack of correlation between physical features of the coffee plantations and elephant visits suggest elephants move along corridors between the eastern and western forests of the district, opportunistically foraging when crossing the plantations. Dung analyses indicate elephants have selectively included ripe coffee berries in their diet. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of wild elephants feeding on coffee berries. If this new behaviour spreads through the population, it will compound an already severe conflict situation. The behavioural plasticity, the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, the difficulty in defining the problem and the limits of technical solutions already proposed suggest that HEC in Kodagu has the ingredients of a ''wicked'' problem whose resolution will require more shared understanding and problem solving work amongst the stakeholders.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: