SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION FOR HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA

Issue: Deforestation and forest degradation are serious environment issues in Sri Lanka .In the beginning of the 20th Century Sri Lanka had 49% forest cover but it has been reduced to 26% at the beginning of 21st Century. The forest degradation is not merely a reduction of the forest area but the quality or the condition of the forest decrease and biological wealth of the forest diminish due to less number of trees, plants and animals. The habitat of the elephants and other animals is shrinking and elephants have become more aggressive and end up in villages in searching for food. This has threatened the crops and the villagers. What we do : Reiyukai Lanka Association (RLA) which is a nonprofit organization. Implement various activities in four main areas such as Creating peaceful societies all over the country, carry out Environment Conservation Research Studies, providing Relief Assistance to victims of natural disasters and Community Development work to uplift the living conditions of the marginalized communities, have the potential for implement a project to plant trees that elephant dislike. PROSPECTS:- The main goals and objective of the proposed project is to achieve a long term cost effective nature based solution to the human –elephant conflict while uplifting the livelihood of the villagers by protecting their crops and providing new income generating opportunities from the newly planted trees and also the developing the skills of the future generation.