The project was implemented in the central and eastern Terai region of Nepal to reduce human-elephant conflict (HEC) and promote peaceful coexistence between local communities and wild Asian elephants. The program was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because the eastern landscape of Nepal has become one of the most conflict-prone areas for elephants and humans. Due to habitat fragmentation, forest destruction, settlement expansion, and infrastructure development, elephants frequently entered villages and agricultural lands, causing human deaths, crop damage, property destruction, and retaliatory killing of elephants. The project aimed to strengthen field response systems, improve community awareness, and increase local participation in elephant conservation. Dedicated Elephant Response Teams (ERTs) were established in Parsa National Park and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve to safely monitor and chase elephants away from settlements. These teams were supported with vehicles, GPS devices, binoculars, sirens, and communication equipment. During the project period, the ERTs responded to more than 147 human-elephant conflict incidents and carried out elephant monitoring and response activities for over 125 nights in districts such as Jhapa, Sunsari, Morang, Parsa, Bara, Chitwan, and Udayapur.

Vehicle support to RRT for night patrolling

The project also formed 30 community-based Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) across different districts of eastern Nepal. These volunteer youth groups were trained to monitor elephant movement, alert local communities, support government authorities, and help manage crowds during conflict situations. Awareness and education activities were another major component of the project. A total of 53 Human-Elephant Coexistence (HECx) trainers were trained, who later organized 152 village-level awareness sessions and directly reached more than 4,700 people. Educational materials such as posters, booklets, hoarding boards, radio jingles, and social media messages were developed in local languages to increase public understanding of elephant behavior and safety measures. Indirectly, the awareness campaign benefited more than 325,000 people across eastern Nepal. Surveys conducted before and after the project showed that awareness and training programs improved people’s understanding of elephant conservation and safe behavior during elephant encounters.

Rapid Response Team (RRT) Bahundangi Jhapa

Another important achievement of the project was the development of a human-wildlife conflict database in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). According to the collected data, elephants caused more than 2,000 conflict cases and 23 human deaths in Nepal during the fiscal year 2022/23. The project organized review workshops, stakeholder meetings, and cross-border coordination with Indian authorities to strengthen elephant conservation efforts. Government agencies, local communities, conservation organizations, local governments, and international partners worked together throughout the project. Overall, the project successfully improved conflict response mechanisms, strengthened community participation, increased awareness, and promoted long-term coexistence between humans and elephants in the eastern landscape of Nepal.