Abstracto

Community Consultation Processes in Human-Animal Conflict Management in Sri Lanka

Dunstan J Fernando

The prime objective of “Protected Areas” is to avoid or reduce human-animal conflict while conserving village lives, wild animals and forest resources. This is a huge task or challenge face by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC). It is heavier than the challenges face by Forest Department or the Irrigation Department. Making boundaries for elephants and other animals is not practical. “Human-Animals or Human-Elephants Co-existence” concept was brought to the sector to address this issue. This cannot be done only by Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and community involvement and their actions/reactions are critical to address the issue in the long-run.