Team Name: Bhutan Ecological Forecasting Team.
Project Video Title: Elephants in the Land
of the Thunder Dragon: Habitat Suitability
Modeling along the Southern Bhutan Border.
>> Tashi Choden: Elephants are the flagship
species essential for the functioning of forest
ecosystems. But over the last three generations,
the population of the Asian elephants has
declined by at least 50%. Bhutan host a rich
biodiversity of animal and plant species due
to its diverse landscapes. However, recent
clearings of forests, creating close proximity
of human settlements to forested areas has
led to an increased number of elephant incursions
into farms and urban settlements, especially
in Gelephu area.
[pause]
>> Palchen Wangchuk: In order to plan and
support wildlife corridors for the conservation
of the Asian elephants, the NASA DEVELOP Program
partnered with the Bhutan Foundation and
the Bhutan Tiger Center to delineate elephant
habitat in Bhutan and identify movement corridors
that can be protected to determine solutions
to human-elephant conflicts in the Gelephu
area.
[pause]
>> Palchen Wangchuk: Using NASA Earth Observation
data: specifically using Landsat 8, Landsat
5, and Terra; the land use and land cover
classification maps were produced. Variable
datasets and occurrence datasets were collected
to identify the points of Asian Elephant occurrence
along the southern Bhutan border.
[pause]
>> Kuenley Pem Dem: After prepping most of
the data in ArcGIS Pro, they were imported
into SAHM, a Software for Assisted Habitat
Modeling. Using SAHM, the Elephant Habitat
Suitability Model for the year 2019 was analyzed
which could help identify potential wildlife
corridors. The results obtained provide tools
to lead discussion with urban planners and
conservationists in Bhutan to make Gelephu
into an elephant-friendly town. The habitat
suitability maps and land cover classifications
serve as a reference for future research involving
habitat suitability modeling, especially pertaining
to Asian Elephants in Southern Bhutan.
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