Thought for the Week

SAFETY is a basic right of every living creature. The World Land Trust believes this.

It is working to provide a safe corridor for elephants in India which are on the verge of extinction.

As more land is taken over for development and agriculture, less is available for wildlife and they become trapped in ever-shrinking scraps of wilderness.

This is particularly an issue for Indian elephants, who need to travel great distances to find enough food to sustain their great size.

When elephants attempt to use ancient migration routes, they come into conflict with humans, especially when they raid crops from fields and storage huts.

When people try to chase them away, it can escalate into dangerous confrontations. Hence the concept of a safe corridor. People farming in the path of elephant migration routes are usually eager to swap for land elsewhere, as they live in daily fear of their crops being wrecked and the chance of personal injury.

These projects are a win-win for local people and wildlife. Communities can live and farm in safety and animals can use the corridor once the land is protected without risk.

We have all been concerned recently about the desperate situation in Mosul.

They can stay and be bombed or they can take their children and try to escape amid the gunfire. What would you do? There is no safe route out of the city. Save the Children is pleading with governments, including the United Kingdom’s, to find a way to ensure a safe route for children.

There must be a way to get the children to safety. Surely we must implement a safe corridor somewhere for these people?

Safety is a basic human right.