Global Solutions to Human-Wildlife Conflict

Wilderness areas are shrinking, human-wildlife conflict is increasing.

KAUSAR UNTUK KOMPAS

A wild Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is in a trap in Lhok Bengkuang Village, Tapaktuan District, South Aceh Regency, Aceh, July 2022. Animal conflict has an impact on animal survival and human safety.

Problems related to human-wildlife conflict are not only a problem in Indonesia, but are also a global problem.

The daily Kompas (Kompas.id) Friday edition (24/5/2024) reported that Saleh (32) died after being attacked by a herd of elephants while he was gardening in Sada Ate Village, District Leuser, Southeast Aceh Regency, Aceh, Wednesday (22/5). We are of course sorry about Saleh's death, which is also a source of sorrow for the family he left behind.

ICHWAN SUSANTO

A screenshot from a hidden camera video captured by the survey team of the Production Forest Management Unit (KPH-P) in Region X, Padang Sidempuan, North Sumatra, together with community partners and Conservation International (CI), shows the presence of Sumatran tigers in the region. The camera was installed during the January-March 2020 period with a survey area of around 30,000 hectares.

Also read: Southeast Aceh Regency Resident Killed by Wild Elephant Attack

Saleh's death adds to the number of humans killed due to conflicts with elephants. Kompas notes that from 2011 to 2024, at least 10 residents died because they were attacked by elephants. The number increases even more if you add humans who died due to conflicts with other wild animals, such as tigers and bears. At least seven people were killed by tigers in Kompas's records for the 2011-2024 period. At least two people died from bear attacks in the same reporting period. All the victims who died were located on the island of Sumatra.

Human deaths due to conflicts with wild animals are a shared concern. However, we are also concerned because the deaths of wild animals are no less significant, even causing a threat to their extinction. Therefore, finding a solution to address this conflict is a collective agenda, including at the global level.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Officers from the South Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Center and the Animal Forest Network Association install a GPS collar on a wild Sumatran elephant in Air Sugihan District, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra, May 2022. This technology is used as a mitigation effort conflict between residents and elephants.

Also read: Tigers evacuated in West Lampung are still being observed

The Convention on Biological Diversity in Canada, December 19, 2022, has included in Target 4 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the "need to manage human-wildlife interactions effectively to minimize human-wildlife conflicts for coexistence." For the first time, human-wildlife conflicts are explicitly referred to in the global biodiversity target, reflecting an increase in political attention.

Towards the implementation of this target, the World Bank funded a global survey involving 70 countries which was released on November 9 2023. One of the results, 73 percent of countries agreed that human-wildlife conflicts were increasing. The main driving factors of human-wildlife conflict, such as habitat changes, shifts in wildlife and human populations, and natural disasters, occur globally.

In our homeland, we hope that the government, entrepreneurs who use forests near the habitats of wild animals, and communities living near wildlife can together manage such conflicts. There is no other way but for humans and wild animals to try to live side by side.