Garamba

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 poaching gangs, encroaching armed nomads, militants and remote ivory trafficking markets. Managed by African Parks in partnership with Institut pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) since 2005, an extensive law-enforcement strategy was implemented in Garamba in 2016 which has led to a dramatic decline in poaching in recent years. Since 2015, the ECF has supported aerial surveillance and anti-poaching deployments by the park’s ultra-light motorised aircraft and helicopter, provided satellite collars to help monitor the elephant population’s movements, and has supported the implementation of improved intelligence systems in the area. With ECF support, African Parks has developed a regional approach to address cross-border threats, including incorporating intelligence from local communities, and amplifying aerial surveillance and tracking technologies. As a result, information on elephant movements and the development of a human intelligence network and intelligence database are revealing hotspots within the poaching geography, allowing for more effective deployment of the ranger force across this vast area. The ECF has provided a total of six grants for African Parks’ work in Garamba.