Tracking forest loss and fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) range in Nepal

Abstract

Forest cover is the primary determinant of elephant distribution, thus, understanding forest loss and fragmentation is crucial for elephant conservation. We assessed deforestation and patterns of forest fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Chure Terai Madhesh Lanscape (CTML) which covers the entire elephant range in Nepal. Forest cover maps and fragmentation matrices were generated using multi-source data (Topographic maps and Landsat satellite images of 1930, 1975, 2000, and 2020) and spatiotemporal change was quantified. At present, 19,069 km2 forest cover in CTML is available as the elephant habitat in Nepal. Overall, 21.5% of elephant habitat was lost between 1930 and 2020, with a larger (12.3%) forest cover loss between 1930 and 1975. Area of the large forests (Core 3) has decreased by 43.08% whereas smaller patches (Core 2, Core 1, edge and patch forests) has increased multifold between 1930 and 2020. The continued habitat loss and fragmentation probably fragmented elephant populations during the last century and made them insular with long-term ramifications for elephant conservation and human-elephant conflict. Given the substantial loss in forest cover and high levels of fragmentation, improving the resilience of elephant populations in Nepal would urgently require habitat and corridor restoration to enable the movement of elephants.

Patterns and predictors of human-sloth bear conflict in Nepal: Implications for coexistence in unprotected forest landscapes

“…The inclining trend of conflict is found to be even more pronounced for sympatric species like elephants in the region [30]. This, as well, must be associated to the widespread human disturbances undergoing throughout Nepal's Churia range, including in the Trijuga forest region [31,45]. The seasonal or monthly differences in conflict incidents involving sloth bears were also not supported statistically by our study.…”

“…Because human activities were also significant in this part of the forest [29], the considerable overlap in sloth bear and human use of the forest should have contributed to a high number of human-bear encounters. There are growing body of literatures on humanwildlife management, including bears, that have identified increased human disturbances in natural habitat to be associated with the increased frequency of wildlife-related human casualties [13,[43][44][45]. One important approach to reducing human-sloth bear conflicts in human-dominated unprotected areas, such as the Trijuga forest, could therefore be to identify and limit human activity in regions that bears are more likely to make use of.…”

“…However, in areas of rather fragmented and degraded forests in central [41], eastern [21], and western [18] India, sloth bear attacks have been frequently documented often close or within human usage areas. Despite ongoing human disturbances, the overall forest cover has remained more-or-less consistent over the decades in the Trijuga forest [45], which could have helped to meet sloth bear habitat needs to a certain extent, limiting their presence in areas of human use. Studies have shown that sloth bear occurrence is positively associated with forest cover [46,47].…”

Strategies of protected area use by Asian elephants in relation to motivational state and social affiliations

“…Rathnayake et al 25 document that 98% of conflict incidents with elephant in Sri Lanka take place within 1 km of a recent land-use conversion. While setting aside PAs may be perceived to stem these issues, studies elsewhere in South Asia suggest suitable habitat is being lost even inside protected areas 69 , 70 . Within this context, our findings underscore that elephants of both sexes regularly seen inside a highly-visited and economically valuable National Park are likely also reliant resources outside it.…”

Connecting tiger (Panthera tigris) populations in Nepal: Identification of corridors among tiger‐bearing protected areas

“…Similar approaches and knowledge syntheses have been used recently in India to identify agreement among stakeholders to prioritize connectivity conservation efforts (Schoen et al, 2022). Despite the rapid conversion of forest habitats in the lowland in recent decades (Ram et al, 2021;Reddy et al, 2018) Ali Chauvenet: Conceptualization-Equal, Formal analysis-Equal,…”