Gems for a giant

An exhibition and auction of specially designed jewellery seek to raise funds to protect the Asian elephant in its main home, India.

This ought to be something to trumpet about. Ten of India’s jewellery designers have created a unique “pop up” collection built around Zambian emeralds, for the conservation of the Asian elephant. The World Land Trust (WLT) and Gemfields, an ethical coloured gemstones mining company, together with Jaguar Land Rover and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA India), have collaborated with the jewellery designers to raise funds for the conservation initiatives of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). This follows the success of Emeralds for Elephants in London in summer 2010, which was a similar project designed in support of the endangered Asian elephant.

Since August the collection has been on tour around India, visiting each of the participating designers’ boutiques. On October 14, the collection will be auctioned in Mumbai, and a percentage of the profits will go to the WLT’s Indian Elephant Corridor project.

Each designer has created a jewellery set inspired by the Asian elephant. The headline piece is a Ganesha sculpture featuring a 638 carat Gemfields Zambian emerald created by artist and sculptor Arzan Khambatta.

As India’s farmlands and cities expand, the Asian elephant is experiencing large-scale habitat fragmentation and loss. India is believed to be home to 60 per cent of the world’s Asian elephant population, therefore its condition in India is critical to the survival of the species as a whole.

An extensive survey conducted by WTI across India has identified 88 vital corridors for elephant movement. The WTI, with its conservation partners, has set about securing these corridors in the states of Uttarakhand, Kerala and Meghalaya.

Securing corridors for elephants involves working closely with local communities and governments, and renders the entire process time- and resource-intensive. WTI and its conservation partner WLT aim to facilitate the creation of conflict-free corridors with this endeavour.

“We are very pleased to bring Emeralds for Elephants to India,” says Rupak Sen, Gemfields’ director marketing Asia. “The London auction for the Indian Elephant Corridor project helped to raise a significant amount last year, and this year too we are glad to receive such a positive response in India. We sincerely hope that our efforts in giving to the environment will help build larger and more viable habitats.”