| dc.description.abstract | With developments and population, people are facing hazards. But without identifying
such hazardous areas, actions cannot be taken to prevent such incidents. The Human
Elephant Con ict (HEC) is a main hazard that impacts rural society in Sri Lanka. HEC is
the con ict between elephants and humans and causes deaths of elephants and humans.
Increased populations of elephants and humans, habitat modi cation, rainfall, water
bodies, and land use changes are vital for HEC. This study focuses on mapping the
spatial distribution of HEC risk zones in Sooriyawewa Divisional Secretariat Division.
Furthermore, this study develops a method to validate the accuracy of risk zones. Furthermore,
the directions of the HEC hazard propagation are demonstrated over the risk
zones. Embedding Geographic Information System (GIS) with spatial interpolation is vital
to identify risk zones. Moreover, integrating GIS can greatly facilitate the classi cation
of HEC risk zones into low risk, moderate risk, and high risk. Additionally, this study
used Inverse Distance Weighted spatial interpolation to create its hazard risk validation
approach. A comparison of spots with some interstitial bu ers was made to determine
the propagation of the HEC from the center of Sooriyawewa. Therefore, it is crucial to
determine the directions of risk and take actions to reduce the risk of HEC hazards. This
will help in generating an HEC scenario map for the future and formulating an action
plan of mitigation measures to avoid damage, loss of life, and socio-economic impacts in
the study area. | en_US |
