Formative work of AsETWG highlighted in Gajah

The Asian Elephant Transport Working Group has been hard at work formulating resources to better protect endangered Asian Elephants across the 13 Range States.

In 2024, the AsETWG released the “Handbook to Mitigate the Impacts of Roads and Railways on Asian Elephants”, a detailed guide focusing on specific mitigation strategies and best practices for elephant crossing structures. Building on the 2021 publication, “Protecting Asian Elephants from Linear Transport Infrastructure, the AsETWG’s Introduction to the Challenges and Solutions”, the new handbook offers elephant-specific mitigation measures to address the negative impacts of LTI, including nuanced design and site selection criteria for wildlife crossing structures to ensure safe, effective passage for elephants. With the projected expansion of LTI across Asia, even with concerted efforts to avoid high-biodiversity areas, effective mitigation measures will be critical to reduce project impacts and prevent further habitat degradation for Asian elephants. The handbook aims to foster the application of effective mitigation measures, specifically crossing structures.

The cover of Gajah 57, featuring “An Introduction to Addressing Linear Transportation Infrastructure in Asian Elephant Landscapes”

The cover of Gajah 58, featuring “Comprehensive Guidelines for Elephant Crossing Structures: Insights from the Handbook to Mitigate the Impacts of Roads and Railways on Asian Elephants”

The AsETWG aims to establish a consistent nomenclature for Asian elephant wildlife crossing structures, especially with the diversity of names used for structures (e.g., flyovers, ecoducts, wildlife bridges, etc.) design types and applications. Wildlife crossing structures are classified as underpasses providing below-LTI-grade passage or overpasses that provide above-LTI-grade passage. Each passage type has a range of applications, design variations, and preferences in use by various wildlife taxa.

For wider dissemination among academics and practitioners alike, Gajah, the journal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group has published summaries of the Primer and Handbook. These articles bring the work of the AsETWG into conversation with the wider literature on Asian Elephants.

Additionally, the AsETWG and partners is working to organize in-person workshops in range states to increase uptake of the Handbook’s principles among decision-makers and other stakeholders. Read more about the first workshops in Bhutan and Malaysia.