The Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), chaired a meeting at the Defence Ministry to review ongoing measures to address the rising human-elephant conflict.
The discussion focused on tackling the damage caused by wild elephants to farmlands and the livelihoods of rural communities across the country. Key topics included relocating elephants that have encroached on villages to designated protected reserves, installing advanced elephant fencing with real-time monitoring systems, and launching community awareness programmes to promote sustainable human-elephant coexistence, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The meeting also highlighted the need to formulate a comprehensive and sustainable action plan to address the issue.
Representatives from the tri-services, Police, Civil Security Department, senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, and Public Administration, as well as the Mahaweli Authority, Central Environment Authority, Department of Wildlife Conservation, and other relevant agencies, along with conservation experts and scholars, participated in the discussion, the Ministry added.
