Marginal farmers carry the burden of damage caused by Asian elephants Elephas maximus in Bardiya National Park, Nepal

Abstract

In areas where farmland borders protected areas, wildlife may be attracted to crops and cause substantial financial damage for farmers. Elephants, in particular, can destroy a year's harvest in a single night, and can also cause damage to buildings and other farm structures. Few studies have examined whether damage caused by wild elephants increases social inequalities in farmer communities. We interviewed settlement leaders and subsistence rice farmers living in the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park, Nepal, to examine (1) the variation and spatial distribution of wealth within the farmer community, (2) the severity and spatio-temporal distribution of damage inflicted by Asian elephants Elephas maximus, and (3) the willingness to insure against such damage. We investigated whether particular societal strata are disproportionally affected by negative interactions with elephants. We found that farmers near the boundary between agricultural and wilderness areas were significantly poorer and had smaller landholdings than those further into the cultivated lands. Concomitantly, damage to crops and houses was more frequent nearer the wilderness–agriculture boundary than further away from it. Hence, in the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park, farmers near the wilderness–cultivation boundary, with small landholdings, had a relatively higher cost of elephant damage, yet were less willing to pay for an insurance scheme. We infer that in areas where both social inequality and damage caused by wildlife are spatially structured, conservation success may cause economic hardship for the local community, particularly for the poorer class. We discuss causes of the current lack of communal mitigation measures against the damage caused by elephants in the Park, and potential solutions.

What drives local communities' attitudes toward the protected area? Insights from Bardia National Park, Nepal

“…The Bardia National Park (BNP) is the largest national park in the plains (Terai), characterized by high human population density (GoN, 2022). The population of mega‐species, including tigers and one‐horned rhinoceros, has increased (DNPWC & DFSC, 2018; Heinen et al, 2019), resulting in increased human‐wildlife conflict incidences (Heinen et al, 2019; Prins et al, 2022; Shahi et al, 2021). Although there are few studies undertaken in BNP focusing on attitudes (Allendorf et al, 2007; Baral & Heinen, 2007), conservation benefits (Thapa Karki, 2013), and resource dependency on the park (Thapa & Hubacek, 2011), little is known what socio‐demographic factors explain their attitudes toward the PA.…”

Determinants of Human-Elephant Conflict in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Southern India

“…Further studies in Bardia National park, Nepal also have shown that the farmers in the boundary had small landholding and had a relatively higher cost of damage (Prins et al 2021). This results in a situation where community/cooperative-based protection measures do not work effectively because of varying interests and cooperation among farmers thus undermining or eliminating more effective or e cient crop protection methods that need a cooperative approach from the villagers.…”

“…Additionally, some farmers with very small holdings may nd it more remunerative to work as laborers than to cultivate small and unproductive patches of land. The disparity in the economic status of farmers on the periphery adds another dimension to the crop protection scenario (Prins et al 2021). Poor or marginal farmers are likely to abandon their elds thus creating gaps in the peripheral protection.…”

“…When elephants and humans interact there is con ict from crop-raiding by elephants, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, elephants killed by poaching or retaliatory killing due to crop damage. Studies on the con ict between elephants and humans in Asia (Sukumar and Gadgil, 1988;Santiapillai and Widodo 1993;Balasubramanian et al, 1995;de Silva 1998;Williams and Johnsingh, 2004;Gubbi 2012;Prins et al 2021) and Africa (Thouless 1994;Barnes et al, 1995;Tchamba 1996;Hoare 2012) have identi ed crop-raiding as the main form of con ict. Elephants annually damage crops worth from a few thousand dollars to million dollars (Sukumar, 1989).…”

Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

“…For example, elephants in locations with high human disturbance levels move in larger groups, move faster, show increased nocturnal activity (Graham et al, 2009; Songhurst et al, 2016) and approach villages for forage (Cook et al, 2015). Damage caused by elephants is of particular conservation interest because where it occurs it is often both frequent and severe (Osborn & Parker, 2003; Prins et al, 2022). In the villages of south-west Gabon, for example, encroachment into villages and crop damage by elephants have remained the major drivers of negative human–wildlife interactions over the last decade and are amongst the main causes of the impoverishment of local people (Fairet, 2012; Hill, 2017; Terada et al, 2021).…”