World Elephant Day 2024: India’s Leadership in Elephant Conservation

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupendra Yadav today inaugurated the national level program organized at a local hotel on World Elephant Day in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai and Union Minister for Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupendra Yadav also inaugurated the electronic auction system in Chhattisgarh at Aranya Bhawan in Nava Raipur today, and a state-of-the-art auditorium ‘Dandakaranya’ constructed by the Forest Department at a cost of Rs 2 crore. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai and Minister for Forest and Climate Change Shri Kedar Kashyap and MP Shri Brijmohan Agrawal, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary Shri Jitendra Kumar were present at the program as special guests.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupendra Yadav, while addressing the program, elaborated on the efforts made with India’s participation for the conservation of elephants. He said that India has played a leading role in the conservation of elephants. Union Minister Shri Yadav emphasized the need for cross-sectoral engagement to ensure the conservation of elephants and human welfare. He said that if we save elephants, forests will also prosper, as elephants are known as ‘ecosystem engineers’. The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stressed the need to reduce human-elephant conflict in the country.

Senior officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Director of Elephant Project Mr. Ramesh Pandey and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief of Forest Force of Chhattisgarh Mr. V. Srinivas Rao, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Wildlife Mr. Sudhir Agarwal, senior officials of Forest Department, wildlife experts, officials of Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, Agriculture, Electricity and Railway Department were present in the program.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Mr. Bhupendra Yadav said that India has the largest and safe number of wild elephants. According to the last census of elephants All India Coordinated Elephant Census Estimate 2017, there are 29 thousand 964 elephants in India. According to the 2023 report related to elephant corridors in India, there are 33 Elephant Reserves (ER) and 150 elephant corridors in 14 states of India. The best laws have been made in India to legally protect elephants from various threats. A strong institutional framework also exists in our country for the protection of elephants.

There is a favourable public opinion towards elephant conservation in the country, backed by strong leadership. Thus, the world is looking to India for long-term elephant conservation and to learn the art and science of reconciling human welfare and wildlife conservation.

Union Minister Shri Yadav said that every year 12th August is celebrated as World Elephant Day. The aim of this celebration is to bring the world together for the welfare of elephants, which are endangered across their range. As a global leader, India also celebrates ‘World Elephant Day’. This year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Government of Chhattisgarh are jointly hosting the ‘World Elephant Day’ celebrations in Raipur. Chhattisgarh is biologically and culturally rich and also has a significant number of elephants. Chhattisgarh has been given high priority from the point of view of reducing the conflict between humans and elephants.

Awareness campaign is being run to stop elephant-human conflict in Chhattisgarh – CM Sai

Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai said on this occasion that Chhattisgarh has a very old relationship with elephants. The top priority for us is to stop elephant-human conflict. For this, the state government is continuously conducting awareness programs. Many innovations are being done. To give information to villagers about elephant movement, Hamar Hathi Hamar Goth radio program is broadcast from Surguja, to make villagers sensitive towards their and elephants’ safety, the state government is running Gaj Yatra campaign. Villagers are getting information about elephant movement through ‘Gaj Sanket evam Sajag’ app. The Chief Minister said that the entire ecosystem is being managed to prevent elephant-human conflict. The amount of compensation being given to farmers for crop damage by elephants is less, it needs to be increased. Chhattisgarh has been successful in reducing elephant-human conflict.

Mr. Sai said that it is a matter of pride for Chhattisgarh that the national level program of World Elephant Day-2024 is being held in Chhattisgarh. The land of Chhattisgarh is rich in biodiversity. Wild animals like wild buffalo, hill myna and tiger and elephant are the pride of our forests. The forests of Chhattisgarh have always been the natural habitat of elephants. Historical evidence of elephants is also found in our state. The story of Gajendra Moksha of Bhagwat Purana is from Chhattisgarh. This beautiful story is also inscribed in the Rajiv Lochan temple. Here an elephant offering lotus flower to Lord Rajiv Lochan has been depicted. King Jajvalya Dev of Janjgir had assumed the title of Gaj Shardun.

The Chief Minister said that keeping in view the safety of elephants in Chhattisgarh, Badal Khol, Tamor Pingla have been made Elephant Reserve. Recently, our government has taken a big decision to create a Tiger Reserve by combining the areas of Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Sanctuary. It will be the third largest tiger reserve in the country and the fourth tiger reserve of Chhattisgarh. Its construction will not only increase the number of tigers but elephants will also get a safe habitat, elephant-human conflict will also decrease. Along with this, work is being done on the conservation of elephants in Surguja, Korba, Raigarh districts through the Lemru Elephant Reserve area. In our Chhattisgarh culture, tribal communities consider elephants very auspicious.

Through the ‘World Elephant Day’ program, diverse stakeholders like forest dwellers, policy makers, civil society and wildlife experts have been brought together on one platform to share their views, which will not only promote the conservation of elephants but will also solve the burning issue of human-elephant conflict. During this, a public awareness program was run across the country, in which about 10 lakh school children from about 5 thousand schools participated. Elephants are considered national heritage animals in India. Elephants are deeply ingrained in our culture. Fresh air, energy conservation, are essential for a good lifestyle, which we can get from the conservation and promotion of the environment. From elephants to small animals, animals roam freely in the barren land, which is important for the protection of the environment.

Union Minister Shri Yadav said that keeping in view the impacts on wild elephants and wildlife due to railway operations, Project Elephant of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has prepared a list of 110 railway sections of about 2455 km in 12 states prone to elephant-train collisions and elephant-dominated areas, emphasizing the need for immediate mitigation measures.
Union Minister Shri Yadav and Chief Minister Shri Sai presented Gaj Gaurav Awards to the winners for exemplary contribution in the field of elephant conservation and management. During the event, the prestigious Gaj Gaurav Awards were given to (1) Late Shri Bubul Gogoi, (posthumously) Mahout, Assam (2) Shri Deenbandhu Barman, Chief Mahout and Team, West Bengal (3) Shri Anay Kumar Samal, Para Forest Worker, Odisha and (4) Smt. Sanghamitra Mahanta, Forest Guard, Odisha for their exemplary services.

State Forest and Climate Change Minister Shri Kedar Kashyap said that the forests here are conducive for the conservation of elephants. 44 percent of the state is covered with forests, in which the environment is suitable for the conservation and conservation of elephants. Due to the favorable environment here, the number of elephants is increasing. For the conservation of forests in the state, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam is actively engaged and the department has set a target of planting 3 crore 80 lakh saplings. He said that the women benefited under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana have also been linked to this campaign. For the conservation and conservation of nature, the work of plantation is being done diligently by connecting the people of the state through the forest department.