A new countrywide census of elephants is expected to be conducted next year as the last census in Sri Lanka was performed in 2011, Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera said earlier this week.

The minister stated that a long-term program to reduce human-elephant conflict will be prepared and as one of the measures, a full census of elephants will be conducted.

He mentioned this at the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation on Tuesday for the third session of the Ninth Parliament.

His remarks came as a response to a question raised by the MPs about the elephant-human conflict. Many MPs drew the attention of the minister about the human-elephant conflict in various parts of the country including Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ratnapura, and Ampara districts.

It was also revealed that a number of reasons, including the reduction of elephant habitats and the significant increase in elephant population, have led to human-elephant conflict.

The minister said that 16 main elephant corridors in the island have been blocked and due to this the arrival of elephants in the villages has increased. He pledged to remove these obstacles without delay.

Further, the minister said that the President has appointed a committee to find solutions to the human-elephant conflict, and based on the committee’s decisions, he hopes to prepare a program with long-term solutions.

He also stated that a series of separate meetings will be organized in those districts to discuss the existing problems related to the protection of wildlife and forest resources, and in consultation with public representatives and government officials, steps will be taken to provide the necessary solutions without delay.

The members also drew the committee’s attention to the damage caused to crops by animals such as monkeys and peacocks. The minister responded that tough decisions will be taken to reduce these damages.

The hardships faced by the farmers during the demarcation of the boundaries by the Department of Forest Resources Conservation were also taken up for discussion at the committee meeting. The minister instructed the officials to provide solutions in such a way that the people are not affected.

Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapaksa, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, State Ministers Siripala Gamlath, Shantha Bandara, Thenuka Vidanagamage, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Diana Gamage, Rohana Dissanayake, Chamara Sampath Dasanayake, Vijitha Berugoda, Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva, a group of Members of Parliament including Kins Nelson, Kapila Athukorala, Kumarasiri Ratnayake, and government officials had attended this meeting.