Cabinet approves new National Action Plan to address human-elephant conflict

Colombo, June 16 (Daily Mirror) - The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to draft a new National Action Plan for Human-Elephant Conflict Management, as Sri Lanka continues to face a worsening crisis involving wild elephants and rural communities.

The proposal, presented by the Minister of Environment, comes amid a significant escalation of the conflict driven by population growth, expanding development activities, and widespread deforestation.

Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayathissa said that these human-driven factors have led to the destruction of natural elephant habitats and the blocking of traditional migratory routes. As a result, the conflict has now spread across 19 of Sri Lanka’s 25 administrative districts, affecting 134 of the country’s 341 Divisional Secretariat divisions.

According to data from the 2024 wild elephant census, Sri Lanka’s elephant population is estimated at around 7,450. The ongoing human-elephant conflict continues to result in significant annual losses, including human and elephant deaths, as well as more than a thousand reported cases of property damage each year.

Although a National Action Plan to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict was introduced in 2020, the minister said that the situation has changed considerably in recent years, making the existing framework inadequate to address current challenges.

In view of this, the government has decided to move ahead with a revised and comprehensive national strategy aimed at more effectively managing the growing conflict.