By: Natalia Trita Agnika

virtualrun.id/elephantastic-run

Chicco Jerikho looks amazed at the scenery in front of him. His first visit to Peusangan, Aceh in mid-August 2017 was treated to a green expanse of forest visible from the hills where he stood. That's where the Sumatran Elephant, the charismatic animal he loves so much, lives.

The sight brought back memories of her childhood when her mother read her stories about elephants. From then on, she fell in love with elephants. Her love for the long-beaked animal even brought her to Aceh to celebrate World Elephant Day and see the largest elephant population in Sumatra. But the expanse of forest in front of him held a fact that concerned him.

"Wild elephant herds often enter the village because their homes have been turned into settlements or oil palm plantations," said residents of Pintu Rime and Karang Ampar villages who Chicco met at the time. It seems that these events trigger human-elephant conflicts. In their increasingly cramped homes, the elephants can no longer find food. They looked for new sources of food. And that's where the conflict began. Victims fell, not only on the human side, but also on the elephant side.

Sadness and concern stirred within Chicco. Feeling that he could not remain silent seeing this reality, he sought answers about what solutions could be done to save Sumatran elephants in Aceh and prevent human-elephant conflicts. Through discussions with WWF-Indonesia, Balai Syura Ureung Inong Aceh (BSUIA), and the Krueng Peusangan Watershed Forum (FDKP) while he was there, he came to the conclusion that humans must coexist harmoniously with nature and living together is the solution.

To reduce the negative impact of human-elephants, the communities in Pintu Rime and Karang Ampar with assistance from WWF plan to plant elephant food plants and barrier trees between residential areas and forests. The elephant food plants and barrier trees will serve as a "fence" so that elephant herds will not enter people's settlements and plantations. Conversely, residents will also be educated not to frequent the elephant habitat forest so that the animals can live in peace. Trees planted around the forest can provide economic benefits for people living around the forest.

In order to make this happen, Chicco intends to do everything in his power to support it. He wants to raise public awareness of the plight of Sumatran elephants and raise funds through an international running event, the London Marathon on April 22. Through running, he also invites the public to donate to a program of planting food plants and barrier trees that can benefit the community around the Sumatran Elephant's range.

The public can join the run on April 21-23, 2018 through the event Virtual Elephantastic Run. Registration can be done at virtualrun.id with a registration fee of Rp100,000, all of which will be donated to the Sumatran Elephant conservation program. Runners can run or walk a minimum of 5 kilometers anywhere and anytime on April 21-23, 2018. Registration is open until April 23, 2018.

We can protect those fantastic animals through Virtual Elephantastic Run.

virtualrun.id/elephantastic-run