The Elephant Habitat Environment Is Getting Narrower As A Result Of Agricultural Development And Lands, The South Sumatra OKU Regency Government Must Act

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

OKU - The Indonesian Earth Trace Environment Institute (JBI) encourages the South Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency Government in South Sumatra Province to save elephant habitat, which is increasingly narrowing due to the construction of agricultural settlements and land. The founder of JBI OKU Hendra Setyawan said that the construction of settlements and agricultural land has narrowed the elephant's habitat in the South OKU region, including the forest area of Mount Raya. The narrowing of elephant habitat makes these large mammals sometimes enter residential areas and agricultural land to find feed. "As we all know, the presence of wild elephants in South OKU is often considered disturbing the peace of the population because their habitat is disrupted, used as agricultural land by local residents," he said in Baturaja, Antara, Tuesday, January 24. He said the local government must make efforts to restore elephant habitat in order to preserve elephant populations and prevent wildlife conflicts with humans. In South OKU Regency, according to him, there are about 100 wild elephants scattered in the areas of Mekakau, Gunung Raya, Saka, and Mount Pesagi. "If you look at the total population of these elephants, ideally it will take around 100 hectares of forest land specifically for their habitat," he said. "The area of land needed for conservation is not much compared to the area of the forest in South OKU, which reaches 63 thousand hectares," he said. According to him, the local government can use part of forest land for wildlife parks to support efforts to conserve wildlife such as elephants. The wildlife park, he said, could then be developed into an endangered wildlife conservation center, education and research centers, and natural tourist attractions. "This wildlife nature tourism will also be able to support the Ranau Lake tourist attraction in South OKU Regency," he said.