It was this unique balance of nature, the wild and contemporary elegance that award winning Bollywood actress and CJS Brand Ambassador Jacqueline Fernandez, herself an animal lover, launched in Colombo, spotlighting the danger of immense population decline these Olympian animals face if the rising human-elephant conflict continues. Having herself experienced the sights and sounds of the Pussellayaya and Weheragalagama villages, the launch of the campaign began with Jacqueline participating in the elephant walk through the elephant corridor, beginning at the electric fence surrounding the Weheragalagama village.

 

While conversing with the villagers who joined her, together with Chairman of CJS Akram Cassim and SLWCS Founder and President Ravi Corea, the walk headed over the tank bund, the Tree Hut Corridor and concluding at the Tree Hut.  Jacqueline gleaned more information about elephant issues from the villagers, while elephants grazed on the horizon, keeping a watchful eye on the walkers.

 

“I believe strongly that a brand like CJS, by joining the SLWCS, can spur immense awareness and educate not only the inhabitants of the village but also the general public of the need to conserve the elephant in the wild,” she opined.

 

“We don’t realise how difficult it is for people in remote villages to balance a sustainable livelihood, but what we also don’t realise is that through decades of development, humans have encroached on elephant habitats and made their livelihoods in these habitats, making it difficult for elephants to find new habitats because the fact is there is no new land to move into,” she said.

 

“By showcasing the wild in its extraordinary beauty, what I want is for CJS to highlight the need for elephant conservation and by partnering with the SLWCS, we can make the difference,” said Akram Cassim. Chairman of CJS explaining the plans being implemented.

 

“What CJS and SLWCS intends to do therefore is to reduce and if possible eliminate this conflict.  Solutions include funding citrus cultivation as an alternative crop, electric fences, an Ele-Alert elephant intrusion early warning system and beehive fences, which in fact, is a first for Sri Lanka.  We also intend to eventually gain funds to purchase an ‘Ele-Friendly’ bus for the village, an ideal and safe conveyance for the villagers who can transport their produce to the Hettipola town with no danger.”

 

He also explained that in tandem, CJS will engage in educating multiple stakeholders on the dire need to maintain the ecological balance of this beautiful creature, which is so symbolic of Sri Lanka’s cultural image.

 

The SLWCS, which has been working for elephant conservation for nearly two decades, mooted one of the longest operating participatory community based human-elephant conflict resolution projects in the world, Saving Elephants by Helping People, which won the prestigious UNDP Equator Initiative Prize in 2008 in addition to a host of other awards.

 

The Founder and President of SLWCS Ravi Corea explained that while elephants are synonymous with Sri Lanka and have lived alongside people as long as civilisation existed, human elephant conflict has surely escalated.  “On average 225  elephants are killed annually and in turn, about 80 people are killed by elephants every year.  It is an alarming situation that must be addressed. In Wasgamuwa where SLWCS is based, maintaining peace in the elephant corridor has become a huge challenge as the corridor is vital for elephants to access an irrigation tank located outside the Wasgamuwa National Park, but it is a corridor that is also used by two villages located within the forest reserve.

 

“It is not uncommon to see people and elephants traveling through this corridor, but because the villagers are fearful of an elephant attack, they may harass or provoke the elephants which naturally make them aggressive and hostile.”

 

Strongly believing that by collaborating with a high profile brand like CJS and its celebrity brand ambassador Jacqueline, Ravi states that imperative awareness can be created about the issues and also the solutions that can be applied to ensure that the conflict is eventually eliminated or at least minimised.

 

Being the first time in Sri Lanka that an international celebrity with a local corporate sponsor has lent support for an environmental cause, it is deemed that this collaboration would be a pioneering and seminal effort.  “The objective of the walk we did through the elephant corridor with Jacqueline and CJS is to launch that public education and awareness building programme to garner support of the public for elephant conservation and also to combat the plastic menace, discarded at garbage dumps which the elephants ingest and die tortuously due to the complications arising.  We want to create the first plastic free region in Sri Lanka in Wasgamuwa and encourage community ownership for a plastic and recyclable collection and processing effort, converting raw waste into compost.”

 

Akram’s vision, through this collection, is to make the cause Unforgettable, underpinning the concept that, “We owe it to ourselves and the future generations to enjoy A Future in the Wild.  We lose almost 5% of our estimated 5,000 wild elephants annually due to this conflict and if we don’t do our part, in 25 years time, elephants will be seen only in protected areas, photographs and in captivity but not in their natural habitat, in the glory of the wild.  I do believe that CJS and Jacqueline can be a tremendous influence in becoming a voice for the cause and creating a space that would initiate public opinions in support of elephant conservation,” said Akram.