This elephant population moves through corridors across human-dominated landscapes and between protected areas that link Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland. In Mozambique, ECF partner Saving the Survivors is working with rural communities to deter elephants from crops and villages using simple โHEC toolboxesโ. Each toolbox contains high-powered flashlights, firecrackers, rope fence, reflective tape, and airhorns. … Continued
A sniffer dog unit designed to interdict the high level of illegal trafficking from Zambia into Malawi and Mozambique was established in the Lower Zambezi National Park. The ECF provided supplemental funding to a grant from USAID. The unit has now completed intense training with the dogs, and in April this year, had its first … Continued
Thuma and Dedza-Salima, adjacent Forest Reserves in the central region of Malawi, hold a small but nationally significant elephant population of around 190 elephants, representing 10% of Malawiโs elephant population. These elephants are protected by a committed NGO, the Wildlife Action Group (WAG), and the ECF has provided four grants since 2015 to support the … Continued
Often referred to as ground zero in the elephant poaching crisis in Africa, Garamba National Park and the surrounding hunting concessions harbour the Democratic Republic of the Congo's largest remaining elephant population, reduced from over 22,000 in the 1970s to around 900 today. Challenges across the vast landscape of Garamba remain multifaceted and include local … Continued
In remote and war-torn parts of Central Africa, poverty and conflict often override concerns about the environment and conservation. However, success stories like those from Chinko in the Central African Republic show that attitudes to wildlife are changing. There were believed to be as many as 50,000 elephants in and around Chinko in the 1970s … Continued
ECF funding has supported the development of finely-tuned television and cinema campaigns in China by stars like Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, David Beckham, Prince William, and Li Bingbing that encourage people to stop buying illegal wildlife parts and products. These media campaigns, implemented by ECF partner WildAid, have gained widespread publicity and are shifting public … Continued
The forests of Nouabaleฬ-Ndoki Park in the Republic of Congo are an important refuge for forest elephants. Funding from the ECF helped the Wildlife Conservation Society establish an elite rapid-response mobile ranger unit, informant and intelligence networks, and a law enforcement advisor. Fifty-seven eco-guards were trained and evaluated and between May and June of 2016, … Continued
Following an incident in October 2015, which resulted in the death of four rangers, the helicopter based in Garamba National Park was damaged by machine gun fire and grounded. The ECF provided a supplementary grant which covered emergency repairs and rental of a new helicopter so that African Parks Network could hold the line. The … Continued