In March 2022, we held a 4-day workshop for 23 estates for 40 participants covering topics such as human-elephant conflict mitigation measures, data collection, camera traps, drones, elephant movement, area zoning, protocols and high conservation value approach. This workshop was open to members of the coalition and other plantations in Johor.
As part of this project, the secretariat members have been carrying out numerous engagements with agriculture stakeholders on the ground to share about the management of human-elephant conflict and the benefits of joining the coalition. For World Elephant Day in August 2022, the secretariat is planning engagement activities with smallholders and agriculture communities to create awareness of the efforts carried out by the coalition in Johor.
As part of this project, we have been carrying out workshops on calculating Social Return of Investment, which integrates the value of social and environment alongside economics and estimates the Ringgit Malaysia return value of the project. A conservative calculation of the value of the project (published as scientific paper) shows the Social Return of investment of at least RM18.86 within five years for every RM1 invested in the project. The project is currently helping coalition members to quantify their individual SROI for this project.
Management & Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME) carried out some analysis on the movement of GPS collared elephants in Johor, in particular, the crossing of elephants on the Gemas-Johor Bahru electrified double-tracking for trains that is currently under development. We identified locations on the track, where GPS collared elephants are crossing, and this information was shared with PERHILITAN, a neighboring plantation and the project developer. This allows planning for mitigation measures, such as the use of fences, to reduce the occurrence of trains colliding with elephants crossing on the railway tracks.