Managing Human-Elephant Interactions in the Southern Central Forest Spine (SCFS) Landscape, Malaysia
6 min read
In the Southern Central Forest Spine (SCFS) landscape of Malaysia, smallholder farmers like Safiai bin Mohamad, who has been farming since 1975, face daily challenges due to the presence of wild elephants in his plantation. These elephants often visit smallholdings, causing damage to crops, particularly oil palm trees. The issue has worsened as elephant habitats have been lost to deforestation and agricultural expansion. As a result of these interactions, there is a risk of harm to both humans and elephants. Farmers may take measures to protect their crops, sometimes leading to conflicts where elephants can be injured or killed. The presence of elephants in agricultural areas and near villages—areas that were once part of their natural roaming grounds—can pose safety risks to workers and local communities.
This issue is particularly severe in regions where elephant migration paths intersect with oil palm plantations and smallholdings, including areas like Rompin, Mersing, and Kota Tinggi within the SCFS landscape. According to the Peninsular Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks, negative interactions between humans and elephants from 2015 to 2020 have led to estimated economic losses of RM 30 million (approximately USD 6.4 million), largely due to crop damage. In 2019 alone, nearly 50% of these losses were recorded, amounting to RM 14 million (about USD 2.9 million).
To address this challenge, Earthworm Foundation, in collaboration with the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Forum (MPOCGF) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), works with local communities to foster harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants.
In 2023, a significant milestone was achieved with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with MPOGCF and MPOB, solidifying the commitment to achieving harmonious coexistence supported by MPOCGF funding.
Through this initiative, Earthworm Foundation supports smallholders and surrounding plantations to live and coexist with elephants, adhering to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Guidelines for Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence.
This involves following the five principles outlined in the guidelines: do no harm, understand the issues and context, work together, integrate science and policy, and enable sustainable pathways.
Capacity-building trainings have been conducted for communities, including youth training in drone technology for night patrols and training in alternative livelihoods such as sheep and chicken farming to diversify income sources beyond oil palm. The establishment of a community-based, local Sg Ara Human Elephant Coexistence (HEC) committee and the development of Standard Operational Procedures (SOP’s) involving multiple local stakeholders.
As a result, upon the establishment of Sg Ara HEC Committee, 8,400ha of the Sg Ara area is managed under the human-elephant coexistence program. Twenty-four major stakeholders are actively involved, and 173 individuals from local communities and organisations have participated in capacity-building workshops and training sessions. This committee represents the first of its kind in Peninsular Malaysia, where smallholders and large plantation concessions collaborate to support long-term Asian elephant conservation goals. This aligns with the vision of co-creating a landscape-level, multi-stakeholder, and community-led approach to managing human-elephant interactions.
Safiai attested, “Earthworm helps us a lot to manage these elephants’ visits. It is still happening, but we are not too affected by it compared to what happened in the past.”
Recently, during the MPOCGF's Biodiversity Forum in May, Khalis Afnan Abdul Rahman, Forest and Environment Manager of Earthworm in Malaysia, shared lessons learned from the SCFS landscape program with various stakeholders. MPOCGF also expressed appreciation for Earthworm Foundation's collaborative efforts in safeguarding biodiversity and called for a wider collective action to facilitate harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants.
Khalis explained, “Our ongoing goals include building capacity and fostering collaboration among plantations, smallholder farmers, local authorities, including the Kota Tinggi District Office, and non-governmental agencies, as well as developing and adapting local solutions to manage human-elephant interactions sustainably.”
Earthworm expresses gratitude to all stakeholders, especially the smallholder community of FELCRA Sg Ara, neighbouring plantations, and all involved agencies, for their continued support and initiative in realising the vision of human-elephant coexistence.
Together with MPOCGF, we are making strides toward a future where wildlife conservation, and community safety and wellbeing go hand in hand.
