Introduction The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is an integral constituent of the country's natural heritage and ecological security. As a keystone species and ecological engineer, the elephant plays a vital role in maintaining forest structure, enabling seed dispersal, conserving watersheds, and sustaining the ecological processes that support biodiversity across tropical forest ecosystems. The conservation of elephants, therefore, extends beyond the protection of a single species and contributes significantly to the long-term resilience and sustainability of forest ecosystems and landscapes. Southern India, encompassing the States of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, represents one of the most significant elephant landscapes in the country. The region encompasses twelve Elephant Reserves distributed across the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, and their associated forest complexes, supporting nearly 40 per cent of India's wild elephant population. These landscapes remain ecologically interconnected through a network of forests, protected areas, elephant corridors, and multiple-use landscapes, facilitating seasonal movements and genetic exchange among elephant populations. At the same time, these landscapes support millions of people whose livelihoods depend upon agriculture, plantations, forestry, tourism, and other natural resource-based activities. Over the past few decades, rapid economic development, changing land-use patterns, expansion of agriculture and plantations, urbanization, and the proliferation of roads, railways, irrigation systems, transmission lines, tourism infrastructure, and other developmental activities have considerably altered the ecological character of these landscapes. Fragmentation of habitats, disruption of traditional elephant movement routes, degradation of corridors, and increasing human presence along forest interfaces have intensified Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC), resulting in loss of human lives, damage to crops and property, economic hardship for local communities, and mortality of elephants. These emerging challenges demand a coordinated, scientific, and landscape-level response that transcends administrative and State boundaries. Wildlife Institute of India and Project Elephant Division-Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) works on the long-term trend of human elephant conflict in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal. Regional Action Plan for Comprehensive Understanding & Management of Human-Elephant Conflict in South India (Technical Report 2026) The Action Plan adopts a comprehensive approach to understanding and managing HEC by integrating ecological assessments, habitat and corridor management, landscape-level planning, spatial risk assessment, community participation, institutional strengthening, technological innovation, and adaptive management. The document examines the drivers and pressures influencing elephant habitats and movement, identifies emerging conflict patterns, and proposes strategic interventions for conflict prevention, mitigation, emergency response, research, capacity development, and inter-State coordination. It further emphasizes the importance of balancing conservation objectives with sustainable development, recognizing that long-term coexistence between people and elephants can only be achieved through collaborative governance, scientifically informed land-use planning, and active participation of local communities. The RAP adopts a multi-tiered approach to conflict identification, integrating ecological monitoring, socio-economic assessments, conflict databases, and spatial risk mapping. Emphasis is placed on developing synergistic mitigation strategies that combine preventive, early-warning, and reactive measures rather than isolated interventions. Institutional capacity development includes strengthening frontline staff, rapid response teams, veterinary support systems, and incident documentation protocols. Emergency response mechanisms are designed to address acute conflict situations, crowd management, and media engagement while ensuring human safety and animal welfare. The Plan prioritizes reducing the impacts of HEC on people through timely compensation, livelihood diversification, community-based crop protection, and insurance mechanisms. Simultaneously, it addresses impacts on elephant health by improving veterinary care, monitoring stress and injury, minimizing harmful interventions, and adopting humane management practices. Economic analyses guide the selection of mitigation measures to ensure cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and site-specific appropriateness. Methods to Reduce Human - Elephant Conflict Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) refers to negative interactions between humans and elephants that result in human or elephant deaths, injuries, crop and property damage, and livelihood losses. Key Recommendations Control Invasive Plant Species : Use mechanical removal, carefully regulated herbicides and biological control agents to suppress invasive plants that displace elephants' natural food sources. Chemical and biological methods should undergo safeguards and risk assessment to protect non-target species. Conflict-Based Landscape Zoning : Divide elephant landscapes into Elephant Conservation Zones, Human-Elephant Co-existence Zones and Human-Elephant Management Zones, based on land use and conflict intensity. Restore Elephant Habitats : Improve core habitats through fodder enrichment, water augmentation and ecological restoration, reducing the need for elephants to enter farms and settlements. Protect Corridors & Plan at Landscape Level : Strengthen management of elephant corridors and movement routes through ecological assessments and coordinated landscape planning. Spatial Conflict-Risk Assessment : Map conflict hotspots and land-use patterns to enable location-specific preventive interventions rather than a uniform strategy. Community-Based Conflict Management : Strengthen local participation and institutional capacity so communities living near elephant habitats become active partners in conflict mitigation. Targeted Management in High-Conflict Areas : In human -dominated landscapes experiencing chronic conflict, consider measures such as translocation or rehabilitation of problematic elephants, alongside technological and adaptive management. Significance Habitat restoration and invasive - species control improve natural food availability, potentially reducing elephant movement into agricultural areas. Conflict zoning allows interventions to vary between core forests, forest-settlement interfaces and human -dominated landscapes. Combining ecological restoration, community participation and risk assessment can protect human lives, livelihoods and elephant populations. To read the complete report, click here.