Reaching out to the people, to improve conservation and welfare prospects of the elephant - India’s National Heritage Animal, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has launched the nationwide Haathi Mere Saathi campaign. 

Addressing at the Elephant-8 Ministerial Meeting today in New Delhi, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (I/C), Shri Jairam Ramesh said that Elephants are so ingrained in Indian culture and traditions, that sometimes, we tend to take the elephant for granted. He said, this public initiative is aimed at increasing awareness among people and developing not just friendship but also companionship between people and elephants. The Minister unveiled the Campaign mascot, logo and website (www.haathimeresaathi.org) on the occasion. 

Shri Ramesh said, unlike the tiger, which faces threat of extinction, the elephant faces threats of attrition. The elephant numbers have not increased or decreased drastically, but there is increasing pressure on the elephant habitats and it is a serious concern that we will try and address by involving people in elephant conservation and welfare through this campaign, he added. 

The Minister said that one of the recommendations of the Elephant Task Force last year was for India to take a lead in global elephant conservation. This has now become a reality at this E-8 Meet. “The delegates present here represent two-third of the world’s wild elephant population. Later in 2013 we will bring in all the 50 elephant range countries together to deliberate and actively cooperate for elephant conservation and welfare,” the Minister added. 

Representing regions with all three species of elephants, the participants included policy makers, conservationists, scientists, historians, art and culture experts among others from India, Botswana, Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. Discussions covered a wide range of issues categorised under three basic themes Science and Conservation, Management and Conservation, and Cultural and Ethical perspectives of conservation.

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