KUALA LUMPUR – The government is mulling setting aside an allocation to compensate those who suffer losses of crops and property damage from elephant attacks.
Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Setiawangsa-PH) said his ministry has been discussing the matter with the Wildlife and National Parks Department to protect victims of elephant attacks.
“For now, there is funding for cases involving death and injury resulting from elephant attacks. However, we are now discussing compensation for farmers whose crops or properties are damaged by wildlife such as elephants.
“Maybe (not) a full compensation, but at least a token for crops or properties that are damaged,” he said during his winding-up speech on the 2023 Budget.
He was answering Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul himself who questioned the fate of farmers who suffered losses as a result of elephants’ intrusion.
Earlier, Nik Nazmi explained that the government is committed to implementing the Ecological Central Forest Spine master plan introduced last year.
He said the plan includes connecting four major forest complexes in Peninsular Malaysia as a way to solve the fragmentation of natural wildlife habitats as a result of development and human activities.
The forest complexes comprise the Titiwangsa-Bintang-Nakawan range, Greater Taman Negara, Southeastern Pahang Wetlands (Chini-Bera lakes), and Endau-Rompin Sedili forest area.
He said the CSF master plan aims to establish wildlife corridors that would link these forest complexes, allowing wildlife like tigers and elephants to move without being disturbed by human activities.
Meanwhile, Wong Shu Qi (Kluang-PH) in her supplementary question pointed out that elephant intrusion is now not only a problem in rural areas, but also in large cities, and the problem is rampant in her constituency.
Manndzri Nasib (Tenggara-BN) said elephants are now not only destroying crops but can be found entering residential areas and “rubbing their bodies against the walls of people’s homes”.
He also asked if the government has the allocation to build fences to avoid elephants from entering areas that are heavily populated.
On this, Nik Nazmi said that building electrical fences is one of the government’s approaches to reducing human-elephant conflict.
“However, it still depends on management on our level; the elephant is among the smartest animals…they know, for example, that they can get through open doors.
“That is why the challenges we face when dealing with elephants differ from other animals,” he said.
He also reminded the MPs that the fundamental issue at hand is that the elephants’ habitat has been disturbed by development. – The Vibes, March 9, 2023
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