India has the largest population of Asian Elephants. Due to the expansion of human habitation, elephants have faced a major habitat loss. Elephants often venture into human settlements in search of food, water or shelter. Frequent contact between humans and elephants leads to increased conflict over resources. Human-elephant conflict has adverse impact in forms of property damage, or even loss of lives.
To reduce this conflict, several mitigation strategies are being used. These range from physical barriers to acoustic or light-based deterrents. One of these strategies is the use of non-lethal power fences as a psychological barrier for elephants. Non-lethal power fences are installed around human settlements and agricultural areas in high-conflict regions. If a fence is not set up properly, it may be ineffective in keeping elephants out, or may even become lethal to elephants and humans. Since properly installed fences have proved to be extremely effective in keeping elephants away, there is a need to educate local communities, NGOs and the Forest Department on how to install technically sound electric fences.
This project concentrated on effectively implementing non-lethal electric fences through participatory design methods. The locals, NGOs involved with HEC mitigation and Forest Department, have decades of knowledge about the nature of the conflict as well the implementation of fences as a deterrent. This project concentrated on harnessing the local sensibilities and converting this knowledge into material that would be useful to all communities in India facing similar conflict.
Human-Elephant Conflict, Participatory Design, Product Design, Solar-powered fences, Wildlife conservation
