‘Persons with political links,a huge issue for DWC’

By Ifham Nizam

Persons with political connections are the biggest problem for the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) in its efforts at controlling illegal activities in elephant corridors, environmental scientist Hemantha Withanage said.

Speaking at a ‘Stakeholder Consultation on Presenting Draft Proposals to Mitigate the Human- Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka’ at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Research and Training Institute recently, Withanage said that they have received 24 project proposals, apart from inputs from more than 5,000 individuals, on issues related to the human-elephant conflict.

Withanage added: ‘Neither multinationals nor local institutions have come forward to commence crop insurance schemes in Sri Lanka, despite the Asian Development Bank strongly recommending such measures.

‘The sole aim of the proposals should be to protect the elephants while making sure no injustice was caused to farmers.

‘Studies indicate that the government pays more than Rs. 100 million as compensation annually for victim families.

‘The DWC currently administers a compensation scheme for death, injury and property damage caused by elephants, providing Rs. 100,000 in the case of deaths.’

Meanwhile, a DWC official said: ‘Although there was an initiative to implement compensation and insurance for crop losses, these initiatives have not proved highly successful thus far.

‘Between 2011 and 2018, USD 0.76 million was paid as compensation for human deaths and USD 1.7 million for property damage.

‘According to records, USD 0.05 million was paid for injuries in 2017 and 2018. Further, it has been estimated that a typical farmer in elephant-affected areas of Sri Lanka loses over USD 200 annually due to crop damage.’

Elaborating further on these issues Withanage said: ‘Average crop damage due to the human-elephant conflict was calculated as Rs. 230,000 per person during the past five years.

‘Average damage to properties was estimated at Rs. 145000 per person. This is a significant loss to be borne by an individual.

‘Introducing the farmers’ insurance schemes would be of paramount importance while also promoting sustainable agriculture.’