Asian Nature Conservation Foundation was established in 1997 as a non-profit public charitable trust, dedicated to conserving the Asian elephant, a cultural icon and keystone species of South and Southeast Asia’s tropical forests and grasslands.
ANCF has been engaged in variety of conservation-related activities, including surveys of wild and captive elephant populations, their habitats and corridors. Conservation actions aim at reducing poaching, mitigating human–elephant conflicts, and landscape-scale planning for the suvrival of the species. ANCF uses technologies and data tools such as GPS telemetry, camera trapping, remote sensing, and GIS-based analysis in its research and conservation endeavours.
ANCF believes in multi-stakeholder collaborations with academic institutions, local NGOs and government bodies, to safeguard both elephants and local communities. Scientific findings form the basis for policies, actions and strategies for ecologically sound and socially responsible conservation.
Our Focus Areas
Knowledge Generation
Conservation Action
Field Training and Community Engagement
Advocacy and Policies
Current Projects
Gaj Sanchar - Assam
Gaj Sanchar-Assam aims to promote the conservation of one of the largest elephant populations in northeastern India, namely, in the Kaziranga - Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve. ANCF is engaged in long-term GPS-tracking elephants in the landscape, monitoring and camera-trap assessment of elephant corridors, and documenting human-elephant conflict in partnership with Assam Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India, Assam Agricultural University and Cotton University. Through this project, we aim to contribute to scientific planning of the Kaziranga Karbi Anglong landscape, mitigate elephant-human conflicts and contributing to community welfare.
Gaj Sanchar - Tripura
Gaj Sanchar-Tripura aims to address elephant-human conflict and conservation of a small elephant population in the state of Tripura.
ANCF is involved in population estimation and distribution of elephants, long-term GPS tracking of elephants in the landscape and capacity building of forest staff in partnership with Tripura Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India and Assam Agricultural University. Through this project, we plan to contribute in conservation planning of a small population of elephants and conflict mitigation by promoting the welfare of local community.
Landscape Level Elephant Management - Karnataka
Indian Institue of Science in partnership with Karnataka Forest Department, ANCF and other stakeholders such as FERAL, NIAS joined hands to devise a strategic and long-term landscape-level management plan for Karnataka elephants. This plan is based on the main framework of strengthening the habitat connectivity, monitoring elephant population & health, behaviour mapping and elephant communication for gauging conflict propensity, HEC predictive models and conflict mitigation tool box.
Ecology Study - Nilgiri Langurs
The Nilgiri Langur Project aims at surveying the demography, foraging behaviour and physiological stress status of these primates that are endemic to the Western Ghats. ANCF is assessing this habitat along with the Indian Institute of Science departments of developmental biology and genetics and the Centre for Ecological Sciences. Through this project, we aim to provide strategic interventions and measures that can be taken by forest authorities to effectively manage both the shola forests and vulnerable NLs inhabiting in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve.
Our Funders and Collaborators
