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SOUTH AFRICA: Kavango-Zambèze, an area of stability for elephants

Boris Ngounou
SOUTH AFRICA: Kavango-Zambèze, an area of stability for elephants

In the grasslands around Mount Kilimanjaro, elephants wander around a habitat that’s 120,000 square kilometers, and includes four different national parks. These animals are not only critical to maintaining the health and biodiversity of the ecosystems they inhabit, but also provide valuable economic opportunities for communities and governments as they draw tourists from around the globe. The elephants travel between parks following traditional movement routes. In recent years, those routes have become flashpoints for human-wildlife conflict. Local communities have shared this stunning landscape with wildlife for generations, but population growth and lifestyle changes, including the expansion of agriculture, development of roads and the mining industry, has impacted the delicate balance between animals and humans sharing this landscape. Thanks to funding from the Department of Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and building on decades of work, IFAW is partnering with the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to tackle poaching and illegal wildlife trade in Kenya. In 2013, we signed a five-year agreement with the local community in Amboseli, including leases with 1,600 landowners, to safeguard 16,000 acres of an elephant movement route between Amboseli and Kilimanjaro National Parks. In 2017, in addition to leasing an additional 1,000 acres as wildlife habitat, IFAW extended the agreement for another five-year term – collectively securing 26,000 acres. We also helped individuals enter into the formal financial system, learn agricultural methods, and receive an education. Through our fully funded scholarship program, we have helped 66 students pursue high school and university degrees.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) has just published the first-ever synchronised and comprehensive survey of elephants, carried out in the Kavango-Zambèze Transfrontier Area (KAZA). This region of southern Africa includes Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

According to the survey, elephant populations there are stable, and are estimated at 227,900 individuals. In detail, the study counts 5,983 pachyderms in Angola, 131,909 in Botswana, 21,090 in Namibia, 3,840 in Zambia and 65,028 in Zimbabwe. Only the elephant population in Zambia has declined.

“These results are very satisfying, and we congratulate the KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area Secretariat, the States and their partners for their joint efforts to maintain stable elephant populations despite the threats posed by climate change, habitat loss and poaching,” says Philip Kuvawoga, Ifaw’s programme manager for habitat conservation.

“This rigorous survey provides an important basis for assessing the effectiveness of our joint efforts to secure a future for the region’s elephants and the human populations that live alongside them. While this is positive news, we must continue to address the growing challenges of habitat connectivity and human-elephant coexistence, and ensure that conservation actions support those who live in contact with the wildlife of this region,” adds Philip Kuvawoga.

Read also-ZIMBABWE: seven orphaned elephant calves return to the wild

With a surface area of 520,000 km2, around five times the size of Switzerland, the KAZA transboundary conservation area is the largest network of protected areas in Africa. The region is a veritable mosaic of landscapes, made up of grasslands, forests and wetlands. They are home to a wealth of wildlife. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), almost half of Africa’s savannah elephants, a quarter of Africa’s hyenas, 15% of Africa’s lions and countless other species, including buffalo, giraffe and hippopotamus, live in these reserves.

Boris Ngounou

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