The ECNs’ basic objective is to facilitate an “Early Warning System” comprising local villagers who will monitor elephant movement in their vicinity and shall send out alarms to the villagers, alerting them on elephant presence. Aaranyak initially floated this idea on ECN in the villages where it is working to promote human-elephant coexistence. As the villagers were keen to form such groups and based on their interest and engagement seven ECN groups were formed so far in the districts of Goalpara, Baksa and Udalguri in Assam wherein around 130 people are involved.
Teams from Aaranyak conducted formal workshops and informal discussion to build capacity of the ECN members. They are taught about elephant ecology and behaviour, effective mitigation measures that will help them manage conflict in their areas and facilitate coexistence. The respective ECN members are connected through WhatsApp group, wherein they share information about elephant presence. Besides, ECN members help in distribution of mitigation tools, such as rechargeable spotlights to the affected villagers, monitoring and recording HEC incidents in the villages.
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