People’s perceptions of elephant conservation and the human-elephant conflict in Aceh Jaya, Sumatra, Indonesia

Abdullah, Agustina; Sayuti, Arman; Hasanuddin, Hasanuddin; Affan, Muzailin; Wilson, Gaius

doi:10.1007/s10344-019-1307-1

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…To answer the abovementioned question, we first explored the influence of socio-economic, knowledge, and crop foraging experience as potential explanatory variables on five dimensions of attitude to elephants. We expand previous studies that focused on single attitude, for example, elephant conservation (Abdullah et al, 2019;He, Wu, Zhou, & Dong, 2011) to five attitudinal dimensions ("usefulness," "smartness," "pleasantness," "safety," and "importance"; Driscoll, 1995) on elephants traits and their interaction with humans. We then aim to scale up attitudinal study on human-elephant interaction by evaluating attitude-behavioral willingness relationship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Crop foraging is the most common type of negative humanelephant interaction on Sumatra, while human injuries and property damage are less common (Azmi & Gunaryadi, 2011). Substantial crop loss to elephant foraging occurs and can reduce people's tolerance of elephants and support for their conservation (Abdullah, Sayuti, Hasanuddin, Affan, & Wilson, 2019;Gunaryadi, Sugiyo, & Hedges, 2017;Saif, Kansky, Palash, Kidd, & Knight, 2019). Retaliation, such as poisoning the elephants and relocation (involve capturing and moving problem elephants to conservation centers to establish captive elephant metapopulations and provide education to the public) are often reported in areas with high prevalence of crop foraging (Hedges et al, 2005;KSDAE, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While numerous studies have explored Sumatran elephant crop foraging patterns (Berliani, Alikodra, Masy'Ud, & Kusrini, 2018;Qomariah, Rahmi, Said, & Wijaya, 2019;Sitompul, Tyson, Caroll, & Brien, 2010) and possible strategies to reduce damage (Gunaryadi et al, 2017;Hedges & Gunaryadi, 2010;Sugiyo, Ardiantiono, Santo, Marthy, & Amama, 2016), the human dimension of people-elephant interaction on Sumatra remains largely neglected (Abdullah et al, 2019). The human-elephant relationship is complex: it is driven not only by direct elephant damage (e.g., crop loss) but is also driven by intangible costs (Barua, Bhagwat, & Jadhav, 2013;Saif et al, 2019) and involves social, economic, and political factors (Dickman, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards coexistence: Can people's attitudes explain their willingness to live with Sumatran elephants in Indonesia?

Ardiantiono

Sugiyo

Johnson

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Understanding coexistence between humans and threatened wildlife is a central focus in conservation. Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra Island, Indonesia, harbors one of the largest populations of the critically endangered Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). The people who live alongside this population are affected by intensive crop foraging. Our study investigated the factors which influenced attitudes toward elephants. We then evaluated the implications of reported attitudes for future willingness to live with elephants. We surveyed 660 respondents in 22 villages around the park. People generally reported positive attitudes toward elephants (smartness 95%, usefulness 62%, importance 57%, and pleasantness 53%), apart from where human safety was concerned (safety 11%). Each dimension of attitude was explained by different factors including age, gender, knowledge of elephants, and distance to crop foraging locations. Most respondents (62%) expressed no willingness to coexist with elephants. Such willingness was lower when elephants were perceived to be more dangerous, but higher if beliefs in the benefits of elephants were greater. Efforts to improve crop foraging mitigation practice and to increase people's awareness of elephant benefits may promote support for their conservation. Through this study, we advocate the integration of social science to promote human-wildlife coexistence strategies, an approach that is currently limited in Indonesia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards coexistence: Can people's attitudes explain their willingness to live with Sumatran elephants in Indonesia?

Ardiantiono

Sugiyo

Johnson

et al. 2021

Conservat Sci and Prac

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“…Gajah merupakan satwa terancam punah (critically endangered) yang populasinya terus menurun akibat aktivitas pembalakan liar, penyusutan dan fragmentasi habitat, pembunuhan akibat konflik dengan masyarakat, dan perburuan liar (Abdullah, Sayuti, Hasanuddin, Affan, & Wilson, 2019;Yaap et al, 2016;Zafir & Magintan, 2016). Hal ini menjadi penyebab mengapa konservasi terhadap gajah selama ini telah dilakukan, tetapi kenyataan yang didapat adalah bahwa populasi gajah semakin menurun.…”

Section: A Latar Belakangunclassified

Persepsi Stakeholder Pada Pengembangan Pusat Konservasi Gajah Di KHDTK Aek Nauli

Situmorang

Silalahi

Kuswanda

2020

j.penelit.sosial.ekonomi.kehutan.

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Aek Nauli Special Purpose Forest (KHDTK) that is located around Lake Toba is currently being developed to conserve Sumatran elephants through ecotourism. This study aimed to examine stakeholders' perception on the development of elephant ecotourism, analyze the correlation of respondents' socioeconomic characteristic toward perception, and recommend the development of Elephant Conservation Center at KHDTK Aek Nauli. The study was conducted by using quantitative deductive approach through survey data collection method. Data were analyzed using frequency analysis and Spearman's rank correlation. Overall, the results showed that stakeholders gave a high perception on the development of the Elephant Centre (2.44 out of a maximum score of 3.00) with the highest perception as follows: tourism, education, economics, and conservation aspects respectively. The entrepreneurs group gave the highest perception since the elephant conservation center potentially to attract tourist to visit Lake Toba, on the other hand, communities and visitors gave the lower perceptions because the area is still new and community involvement is still limited. Spearman rank analysis between respondents' socioeconomic characteristic and level of perception showed that education and income levels influenced the perception with a moderate coefficient. However, for the level of age, the coefficient was very low. This research is important to increase the synergy and participation of stakeholders to the project.

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“…Since subsistence homesteads depend mainly on crops they grow for their daily nutrients (Mapiye et al, 2020), a reduction in food supply could even result in starvation in subsistence homesteads (Vanhaute, 2011). In addition, crop raiding by wildlife is at the center of shaping opinions and perceptions of conservationists and farmers abutting protected areas because the frequency and intensity of such raiding will create either positive or negative opinions and perceptions about wildlife and conservation in general (Abdullah et al, 2019;Siljander et al, 2020). The risk of attacks on people also significantly influences perceptions and attitudes toward crop raiding (Anand et al, 2018;Hill, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining the Effect of Crop-Raiding on Food Security of Subsistence Farmers of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Raphela¹,

Pillay²

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Across the globe, crop-raiding has been known to have a significant impact on subsistence farmers livelihoods in developing countries. However, the relationship between crop-raiding and food security of small-scale farmers is not well-studied. We investigated the effects of crop-raiding on homestead food security of a subsistence farming community on the edge of the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. We analyzed the relative calories lost to important food security crops (maize, common bean, spinach, and beetroot) damage by crop raiders. In addition, we conducted questionnaire surveys of resident farmers and conservationists of the Hluhluwe Game Reserve to explain the effect of crop-raiding on food security. We firstly assessed how crop loss influenced relative calorie loss as an indicator of food security by comparing relative calorie loss with two predictors of food security: homestead size and contribution of crops to the farmers' food basket. Larger homesteads were more prone to food insecurity as compared to smaller households as they experienced higher calorie loss, especially in terms of maize (Zea mays), the most important food security crop in South Africa. This was because maize contributed the highest (91–100%) to the homestead food basket of these farmers. Secondly, we assessed farmers and conservationists' perceptions and opinions on crop-raiding issues. Farmers reported maize as the crop most damaged by crop-raiding animals. Conservationists reported crop-raiding with other major problems in and around the Reserve; this showed that conservationists acknowledge the issue of crop-raiding as a problem for subsistence farming communities abutting protected areas. Both farmers and conservationists reported insects as the most damaging crop raider. Our study suggests that larger homesteads, particularly where maize contributes substantially to homestead food baskets, are more prone to food insecurity in the rural subsistence farming community that we studied. In concordance with many studies, insects were reported as the culprits by both farmers and conservationists. Small, ubiquitous animals, such as insects are reported to cause much crop damage where they occur. The findings of our study suggest that the food security of the studied farmers is threatened by crop-raiding.

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People’s perceptions of elephant conservation and the human-elephant conflict in Aceh Jaya, Sumatra, Indonesia

Cited by 29 publications

References 27 publications

Towards coexistence: Can people's attitudes explain their willingness to live with Sumatran elephants in Indonesia?

Towards coexistence: Can people's attitudes explain their willingness to live with Sumatran elephants in Indonesia?

Persepsi Stakeholder Pada Pengembangan Pusat Konservasi Gajah Di KHDTK Aek Nauli

Explaining the Effect of Crop-Raiding on Food Security of Subsistence Farmers of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

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