Can elephants and commercial plantations co-exist to their mutual benefit?
Authors: Ram Nathan1, Martin Parry2, Chun Xing Wong2 and Shavez Cheema2
(1 Sabah Softwoods Berhad, 21StopBorneo Wildlife)
Introduction
The Bornean Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) is the smallest elephant in the world and, due to their obvious small appearance compared to their much larger cousin in Africa, they are often known as the pygmy elephants of Borneo. They are only found on the northeast part of the island, with most of the population distributed in the eastern coastal regions of Sabah. The estimated population is only 1,500-2,000, although a new survey will be starting soon to determine their current numbers, which will be led by The Sabah Wildlife Department. This will involve undertaking a state-wide survey of both pygmy elephants and orang utans over a 24-month’s period, ending in 2022. RM1.5 million has been allocated for this programme which is part of a new strategy aimed at saving Sabah’s pygmy elephants and orangutans (Fong, November 2019).
With such low numbers left, they are listed as endangered by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and so are a totally protected species. Another important reason for protecting these elephants is that they are a significant asset to Sabah, where they are now being viewed as an important tourism attraction. Borneo is a well-known travel destination for wildlife, and elephants are one of the main attractions for wildlife tourists from many parts of the world. Popular places to see wild elephants include the Kinabatangan River, Danum Valley, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, and Deramakot Forest Reserve. There are many travel companies based in these places, with many depending on elephant tourism for their bread and butter.
With the exception of scientists and experts working in this field, most people do not realise that these elephants are also living in plantations. Many have become residents whilst others are in transit, just using the plantations to cross from one forest reserve to another. However, just the presence of elephants in plantations has often meant that they are regarded as pests since they can cause damage to crops and plantation facilities. This has led some plantation workers to injure or even kill elephants and it is not unusual to see reports of these incidents in the state media. Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) is a complicated issue because both plantation workers and elephants have their own needs in their competition for food and space. This human conflict with elephants is one of the biggest threats not only to Bornean elephants but also to all other elephant species around the world. As reported by various newspapers identified through a simple Google search (personal communication), just in the last decade around 150 elephants have died in Borneo and most of these have been recorded on plantation land. The most gruesome recent case is that of a bull elephant in Tawau, tied at a river, shot 70 times, and its tusks hacked off (Borneo Post, 3 September 2019).
While there are many wildlife NGOs, research teams, and travel companies based in forest reserves helping to protect the elephants, very few work in plantations except in The Kinabatangan and Lahad Datu. Despite there being several new travel companies and NGOs, it is a concern that still only a very few are linked with palm oil plantations or have developed long term conservation projects for elephants. Most scientists and environmentalists have always lobbied for better enforcement, by having stricter punishments, policy changes to upgrade the protection status, and more rangers to protect elephants. All these things cost money and typically are not effective in lowering elephant death rates. It is often costly and difficult to make a profit from conservation and so many organizations apply for grants and request public donations but, ultimately, many corporate stakeholders are still not keen to become involved in a project where there is little financial incentive. This is where the #Plant4BorneoElephants initiative can make an impact, by providing economic benefits to plantations during elephant conservation work. 1StopBorneo Wildlife, the promoter of this project, is a local wildlife organization based in Borneo, creating local wildlife conservation programmes that involve rescuing wildlife and training poachers as wildlife guides. It has created a unique concept in its projects, which is “conservation tourism”, where tourism is strongly linked with conservation. #Plant4BorneoElephants illustrates this innovative approach to conservation.
The initiative: #Plant4BorneoElephants
1StopBorneo Wildlife has developed an approach whereby plantations experiencing Human-Elephant Conflict can see the benefit of having elephants on their land, instead of seeing them as pests that have to be got rid of. Paying tourists are brought in to experience wild elephant safaris, whilst plantations, by seeing the true value of the elephants and being happy to protect them, can generate additional income. In this way, elephants are no longer harmed in plantations and at the same time plantations also benefit financially. Income from this tourism activity also goes to the local community in the plantation and to other local conservation programmes. It shows that conservation tourism can promote sustainability and ensure benefits to both wildlife and humans.
This conservation tourism project, #Plant4BorneoElephants, started in 2018 as a collaboration between 1StopBorneo Wildlife and Sabah Softwood Berhad, an agro-Forest plantation company based in Tawau, Sabah that manages tree and oil palm plantations on its 60,700 hectares of land. Out of this area, 7,000 hectares (12% of the land bank area) is set aside for conservation, while 3,000 hectares are earmarked for housing and infrastructure use. There are an estimated 60-80 wild elephants roaming its plantations. The company is establishing a 13.89 km wildlife corridor, with width ranges of 400 - 800 m, in which elephants and other animals can reside. Mr. Ram Nathan, Senior Manager of the company’s Environment and Conservation Department, is directing the planting of the corridor with native trees and fruit species and under his leadership, the corridor is developing well and contributing to the welfare of the ‘plantation elephants.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Sabah has recently conducted a survey on the impact of elephants in Sabah Softwoods Berhad and Chan (2019) reported that the damage in the plantation caused by elephants in a three year period, presumably 2017-19, was between RM 3,000 – 5,000. , Elephants can indeed be a liability to many plantations, especially for the smallholders, who can lose all their crops in one day due to an elephant herd raid. It can be argued, of course, that plantation land originally belonged to wildlife, including elephants, and that humans, by seeking to exploit such natural resources, have created this conflict with elephants. But this is looking backwards, and it is time to look forward, to a win-win situation in which elephants and humans can co-exist.
How #Plant4BorneoElephant works
In Sabah Softwoods Berhad plantations, 1StopBorneo Wildlife brings in both overseas and local visitors, including students. Working with other travel agencies helps the promotion of the project around the world and attracts more foreign tourists. During their visit, all these visitors are encouraged to help with reforestation work by planting trees in the wildlife corridor under the supervision of Mr. Ram Nathan and his staff and so they can see that they are contributing to the creation of a better habitat for the plantation elephants. Visitors also undertake elephant safaris, and, since these are organized by plantation staff who can provide specific knowledge of elephant movements within the plantation, these often provide good views of elephants. Visitors are willing to pay for these activities as they understand and fully support this #Plant4BorneoElephant conservation concept. Apart from changing the mindset of the plantation workers, this initiative is also bringing crucial conservation awareness to the local community as they develop a positive image of the elephants and understand their value, after seeing how they attract tourists to the plantation. They begin to see the elephants as iconic animals to be proud of. This is the first step in instilling a better appreciation of wildlife in local people, most importantly in younger people.
The role of the Sabah State Government
This initiative has also gained support and praise from Datuk Christina Liew, the Deputy Chief Minister and State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah, as illustrated by a news article dated in November 2018: “A Sabah-based non-governmental organization (NGO) is using elephant conservation to entice animal-loving tourists to the state – which has caught the attention of the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry for their creative approach…… Liew said the NGO's undertaking has boosted Tawau's economy in terms of tourism and has also created new jobs for locals like being drivers, chefs, community guides and photographers.” (The Star, 24th November 2018, Jumbo boost for Sabah Tourism.)
The Sabah State Government understands the importance of Sabah’s pygmy elephants and has shown a willingness to become involved with their conservation. They also run a very efficient Rescue Service Department and, if there are any emergencies involving wildlife, they will usually respond rapidly. The Sabah Wildlife Department takes elephant conservation very seriously although, as for many of their activities, finance and manpower are always the constraint.
The future
Other NGOs and companies, which deal with elephants, also cooperate to develop the best solutions to problems as they arise. They are able to do this effectively under the platform of the IUCN Asian Elephants Specialist Group (AsESG), for example; many points were discussed on how to reduce human-elephant conflict in the recent AsESG meeting, held in Sabah in December 2019. Some NGOs have highlighted that when plantations protect their trees by using electric fencing to close off their plantation from elephants, it is not very effective, and the damage and financial loss may be even higher. This is often because elephants are powerful enough to destroy the fences, which is especially the case when fencing is not professionally erected. In contrast, some interviews with local people living in or close to plantations, suggest that by opening up plantations and allowing elephants to enter freely, it is possible to not only reduce damage but it may also result in the elephants that are calmer.
The elephant damage reported in Sabah Softwoods Berhad by Chan (2009) for 2017-19 was in fact for years when elephants had been allowed to enter freely by removal of barriers such as electric fencing. This did produce a reduction in damage compared with previous years when fencing had been employed where damage of up to RM 500,000 had been recorded.
However, some elephant damage is inevitable in a plantation but through the #Plant4BorneoElephants initiative, 1StopBorneo Wildlife has raised almost RM 30,000 alone for Sabah Softwoods Berhad through conservation tourism. With this, their economic loss has been negated and the plantation company still has a rough profit of RM 25,000, which might be used for other conservation work such as the wildlife corridor. A value has, therefore, been created for the elephants showing that the elephants ought to be seen as an important asset, and not a liability, for the plantation. Through #Plant4BorneoElephants, a positive economic value has been added to elephant conservation, providing one more reason to save them.
There is in fact no single way to conserve elephants within plantations. The #Plant4BorneoElephants initiative is just one new, innovative suggestion. One other way might be to collar an individual animal from each elephant herd so as to obtain ‘live location updates’ to give early warnings to plantation workers whenever elephants are approaching. India, especially the state of Karnataka, implements early-warning systems using SMS text alerts, digital signs, WhatsApp group notifications, automated voice calls or flashing LED lights at key public places where the Asian Elephant population is problematic. This is costly but conservation tourism could be involved so that tourists can be notified and be told the exact locations to observe the elephants. With regular tourist visits, local enforcement can be increased so that there will be more patrolling, and rangers involved. If done properly, this might indeed be a successful and sustainable conservation tourism approach.
#Plant4BorneoElephants is an important concept aimed at saving elephants. It must be stressed that there are more plantations than just Sabah Softwoods Berhad which are home to the Borneo Elephant, such as in Melangking, Tongod, and Telupid. Therefore, there are exciting opportunities for other organizations and travel companies to copy this initiative and to work with other plantations to develop similar projects such as elephant safaris, tree planting, wildlife surveying and patrolling. This initiative can also be recommended to plantations and farms outside of Borneo, for example for conservation of the Asian Elephant in West Malaysia, Thailand and Sumatra. Whether elephants can co-exist with plantations is up to the various stakeholders to decide. We believe, however, that the #Plant4BorneoElephants initiative described here offers compelling evidence that it is possible for humans and elephants to share the same space to their mutual benefit.
References
Stephanie Lee (2018) Jumbo Boost for Sabah Tourism, The Star, 24th November.
Julia Chan (2019) WWF Malaysia: Sabah Still global leader in conservation despite recent elephant killings, Malay Mail, November 14.
AFP (2019) Sabah pygmy elephant shot 70 times, tusk removed, New Straits Times, September 30th
Jilian Louis (2020) Addressing Malaysia’s human elephant conflict, The Asian Post, March 12
Bernama (2020) Adult female elephant found dead in Lahad Datu, Malay Mail, February 13
Fong Durie (2019) New survey to come in bid to save Sabah’s Pygmy Elephants, Borneo Post, November 6th
Borneo Post (2019) Pygmy Elephant shot 70 times, tusks removed, Borneo Post, September 30th