Bengaluru Charter to mitigate human-wildlife conflict adopted

Bengaluru charter adopted to minimize human-elephant conflict, emphasizing co-existence, SOP formulation, and compensation for crop losses.

A Bengaluru Charter to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to minimise the conflict was adopted on Monday, August 12, at the International Conference on Human-Elephant Conflict Management-2024 (ICHECM- 2024).

At a Minister Engagement Programme which was held on the sidelines of the ICHECM- 2024 and attended by the Environment Ministers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, and Jharkhand, the 13-point Bengaluru Charter was adopted.

The charter said that humans and elephants can co-exist and that conflict happens only when they suddenly come very close to each other.

It also called for formulating an SOP regarding what must not to be done by humans to minimise conflict.

“There should be an SOP regarding what are the do’s and don’t’s when an elephant has ventured outside the forest and a conflict-like situation is forthcoming. This should involve the affected population and all the departments of the State administration who are likely to be of assistance in the situation,“ states one of the points of the charter.

Besides, it also called for the need for an SOP for elephant capture so that there are no accidents involving humans and elephants.

It stressed the need for all big elephant herds to be tracked by radio-collaring the matriarch and said that information and location must be shared with neighbouring States as well as the villages that are near the location of the herd.