Bangladesh to discuss keeping five elephant corridors open with India

Bangladesh will raise the issue of keeping at least five elephant corridors open in its next meeting with India to ensure the free movement of wild elephants, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said.

The minister said necessary measures would be taken in areas where elephants move through but electric fencing has been installed. Coordination among the Army, Forest Department and border forces will also be strengthened, he added.

Mintoo made the remarks at a discussion titled “Elephant Conservation: Existing Challenges and Way Forward” at the Tourism Building in Agargaon on Saturday.

The event was organised by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), IUCN Bangladesh, Creative Conservation Alliance, Avaranya and the Deep Ecology and Snake Conservation Foundation.

The minister said wild elephants are an important part of Bangladesh’s natural heritage and ecosystem, but their survival is currently facing serious threats. Elephant movement is concentrated mainly in Sherpur, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Chattogram, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar.

According to Forest Department data, Bangladesh had an estimated 268 wild elephants in 2016, while 146 elephants died between 2016 and 2025.

Mintoo said shrinking habitats and movement corridors, deforestation, food shortages, road and railway construction, climate change and electric traps were contributing to increasing human-elephant conflicts.

He said the government would focus on protecting elephant habitats and corridors, identifying conflict-prone areas and strengthening early warning and rapid response systems, alongside measures taken after conflicts occur.

Wildlife expert Muhammad Ali Reza Khan said Bangladesh currently has around 457 elephants. He said tree planting alone would not be enough for elephant conservation, stressing the need to protect habitats and corridors, restore khas and forest lands, and return suitable elephants to the wild through rewilding.

A.S.M. Zahir Uddin Akand, project director of the Forest Department’s elephant conservation project, said the project includes 350 hectares of afforestation, 50 hectares of bamboo plantations, nearly 10 kilometres of bio-fencing and 21 water bodies.

Elephant movements will be monitored using cameras, sensor-trap alarms and tree towers, while two rescue centres are planned at the Gazipur and Dulahazara Safari Parks, he said.

Former adviser and BELA Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan chaired the meeting. Sherpur-2 MP Mohammad Fahim Chowdhury and Shamima Begum, additional secretary (administration) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, attended as special guests.

Rizwana Hasan said BELA was ready to work with government agencies on elephant conservation. She called for clear policies on captive elephants, rewilding and ecotourism, and proposed establishing a Wildlife Trust Fund for long-term financing.

She also proposed compensation and incentive schemes to address food shortages affecting elephants.

The meeting proposed protecting at least four elephant corridors in border areas, conserving the Someshwari River and surrounding hills, and considering the possibility of declaring the hills of Bhabanipur an elephant sanctuary.