On average, 100-150 elephants die every year in Sri Lanka due to intense human-elephant conflict. IEF is supporting efforts focusing on finding ways for people and elephants to co-exist. Any conservation strategy that has the potential to succeed must include efforts to bridge the gap between people and the wildlife with which they share their land, and through the participation and cooperation of the rural people whose lives it will invariably affect. This initiative consists of three projects involving conservation, human development, and economic development.

1) Erecting a solar-powered electric fence to resolve human-elephant conflict. Many attempts to fence elephants "in" national parks have failed. This project will fence elephants "out" of human settlements and areas of cultivation through the erection of solar-powered electric fences. The villagers will participate in all aspects of the electric fence assembly such as the construction of the 500 concrete posts and a control room to house the solar panels, energizer, batteries and switches, clearing the fence line, digging fence post holes, erecting fence posts and lines. Several villagers will undergo training to maintain, repair and operate the electric fence and the equipment needed to power the fence over the long term. The electric fence will immediately stop elephants from raiding village crops and as a result no elephants will be injured, harassed, or killed by the villagers. The fence will also stop the villagers from encroaching into elephant habitat, given that no villager will consider cultivating land outside of the fence.  Read More