Analysis of Geospatial Factors Influencing Human-Elephant Conflict Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques: A Case Study in Anuradhapura District

Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) can be considered as a major social and economic challenge in Sri Lanka, which causes significant damages to both the human lives and elephants. The study investigates the major environmental factors that has been identified to be affecting the HEC in Anuradhapura district in terms of their spatial patterns with the aid of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques. It was identified that the variations in Land use/Land cover (LULC) classes over time, Population, expansion of agricultural lands, transportation network, temperature deviations, and the proximity to existing water bodies as key influencing factors for the HEC and were analysed accordingly with the use of geospatial programming. Datasets derived from satellite sensors and spatial modelling of those data were used for the identification of the high risk zones and the contribution of the assess factor to the HEC incidents. Results of the analysis revealed that the HEC incidents already occurred in this area is strongly associated with the expansion of agricultural areas that are near to the forest reserves, close proximity areas to water bodies, and fragmented habitats. Land Surface Temperature increment and development of infrastructure aids further to intensify the migration of elephants into human habitats. The research emphasizes the role of spatial technology in terms of detailed spatial mitigation planning for decision making process and how the RS and GIS based spatial modelling can support these long term conservation strategies.