Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG)

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

Prelims and Mains focus: About AsESG, SSC and Asian elephant.

News: The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 10th Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) Meeting was held recently at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.

More than 130 elephant conservationists, partner organisations and experts gathered at the meeting.
Issues discussed included national action plans for elephant conservation by Asian elephant range states, best practices in managing human-elephant conflict, mechanisms to involve group members in monitoring the illegal killing of elephants, issues related to captive elephant welfare and sharing and learning from the African experience.

About AsESG:

The IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) is a global network of specialists (both scientists and non-scientists) concerned with the study, monitoring, management, and conservation of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus).

Aim: To promote the long-term conservation of Asia’s elephants and, where possible, the recovery of their populations to viable levels

AsESG is an integral part of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Functions:

It shall provide the best available scientifically grounded evidence to the abundance, distribution, and demographic status of Asian elephant populations in all 13 range states.

Gajah is the bi-annual journal of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG).

Source: The Hindu