GETTING ALONG WITH THE NEIGHBORS: HUMAN-ELEPHANT RELATIONSHIPS IN LAO PDR AND THE POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

摘要

Elephant habitats in Lao PDR are being increasingly fragmented by large scale infrastructure developments, particularly hydropower projects and road building, and probably to some extent by large scale forestry operations. At the same time, incremental increases in the rural population are resulting in the conversion of elephant habitats to paddy fields and shifting cultivation plots, and increased use of the remaining elephant habitats for non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection. The effects of infrastructure development are largely unknown and undocumented (except for direct habitat loss) and require further assessment. The effects of habitat conversion to agricultural land are also largely undocumented, but conversion, along with increased human use of the remaining elephant habitats, are probably major factors in what appear to be increasing incidents of human-elephant conflicts.