Trat – The Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment has met with civic networks in Trat province to discuss the issue of encroachment by elephants, and is preparing to propose resolutions to the Cabinet.
Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment Gen Surasak Kanchanarat first met with networks of citizens and marine conservation volunteers in Trat province to discuss the issue of encroachment in its mangrove forests. Opinions of the groups were collected to aid the formulation of national strategies and reform efforts to address such encroachment in Chantaburi and Trat provinces.
The networks told the minister that human encroachment on the forests is not a major issue in Trat but that elephants are a major problem, as they sometimes are in Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Rayong and Chantaburi. The ministry is to step up efforts to enrich the natural habitats of the area’s elephants to draw them back into appropriate zones. It is also putting up a perimeter fence in the meantime to protect citizens from wayward pachyderms.
The ministry is to request funds from the Cabinet to enact plans to address the issue of elephant encroachment.
