B-CONNECTED Phase 1

Project B-CONNECTED is meant to contribute to elephant and forest conservation while improving human-elephant interactions and co-existence through science-based policy and management. 

The Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) is one of the four sub-species of Asian elephants and can be found only in Sabah, Malaysia. Recent estimates assessed the total population of Bornean elephants as being around 2040 individuals (range: 1184 to 3652), making this the most endangered elephant species in Asia (currently listed as Endangered, IUCN Red List). The continuous changes in landscape, the constant pressure by oil palm plantations and the subsequent creation of plantations, roads and villages, contribute to decrease the Asian elephant habitat, cutting elephant pathways, isolating elephant populations and exacerbating the situation regarding human-elephant conflicts (HECs). A recent study further shows that achieving a balance between economic development and biodiversity protection will require a whole-landscape approach to land-use planning that has the potential for Borneo economy to save over US$43 billion. In this context, the WWF Malaysia and the Sabah Wildlife Department in 2015 highlighted the need for conservationists, managers and stakeholders to have decision-making tools and guidelines for forest elephants in Borneo.

Project B-CONNECTED responds to a dual global conservation need: the absolute necessity of

 valorizing the huge amount of field data collected by conservation projects and yet often not analyzed to their full potential and

 improving local capacity building by passing on knowledge and analytical know how. In Sabah (Borneo), this is especially needed to optimize landscape connectivity threatened by anthropogenic pressure in order to, on one hand, prevent costly human-wildlife conflicts and on the other hand, protect habitat and biodiversity.

Borneo COnnectivity Network

iN Elephant Changing habiTat

from movEment Data

Over the past eight years, the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) has been satellite-tracking more than 30 elephants and translocating problematic animals found in oil palm plantations into more elephant-friendly areas to help reduce HECs in collaboration with local stakeholders, students and organizations. Using 3

available and new data on elephant movements, HECs occurrence and local stakeholder perceptions, this project focuses on answering the “where/when/why do elephants move?” questions by:

 mapping corridors and dispersal constraints;

 developing and validating a connectivity framework to predict movements in a changing landscape;

 identifying HEC hotspots and their potential causes;

 building capacity of young scientists and conservationists in Sabah;

 developing a toolkit, guidelines and recommendations for managers and stakeholders for better decision-making in securing corridors, managing elephant forest habitat and improving translocation site selection.