It has been another busy granting round at the Elephant Crisis Fund! Eleven new grants have been awarded, and we are thrilled to welcome our newest partner, Wildlife Conservation Action!
Wildlife Conservation Action, founded in 2019 in Zimbabwe, works to empower local communities to mitigate human-wildlife conflict (HEC), particularly in communal areas bordering national parks. ECF funding is supporting a community-led approach to HEC mitigation in the Sebungwe region, including establishing an Elephant Coexistence Hub in Nyaminyami and training farmers in chili-based deterrent methods.
Another six recently awarded grants are focused on HEC and connectivity in other key elephant landscapes.
We are supporting Conservation Justice in Haut-Ogooué in Gabon to establish a mobile coexistence team, to raise awareness, and to help communities in high risk areas reduce conflict and access compensation for crop destruction.
The Southern Tanzania Elephant Project is strengthening protection, management, and monitoring of the Nyerere-Udzungwa Wildlife Corridor in Tanzania through community scout patrols, conflict monitoring, education programs, and stakeholder engagement.
Conserve Global in Mozambique is aiming to secure human-elephant coexistence in the Mwai Community Concession Area through conflict mapping, land-use planning, community meetings, and the installation of targeted electric fences supported by local scouts.
Noé in Chad is moving into phase two of providing an appropriate response to human-elephant conflict around Zah-Soo National Park by strengthening village surveillance networks, launching rapid response teams, and piloting practical coexistence tools, such as watchtowers and chilli fences.
Ecoexist Trust and Elephant Connection are securing elephant corridors and connectivity in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) through continued collaring in Sioma Ngwezi National Park to maintain critical movement data and support regional conservation planning.
In Zambia, Conservation South Luangwa is enhancing HEC mitigation and community awareness in South Luangwa Valley through its chili patroller program, community film screenings, and staff training to strengthen field strategies.
We are supporting Wildlife Conservation Society with core funding for Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Congo, and Yankari Game Reserve in Nigeria, following US federal funding losses earlier this year. In Nouabalé-Ndoki, a key forest elephant site, ECF funding will help keep rangers patrolling the core area and peripheries. In Yankari, which holds Nigeria’s largest remaining savannah elephant population, this new funding will support both law enforcement and continuation and expansion of WCS’s coexistence program.
In Gabon, another landscape-focused grant is helping Panthera protect forest elephants in the richly biodiverse Plateaux Batéké, with funding for regular patrolling and data collection.
Our last grant in this series is funding an important long-term partner that is working to address the illegal wildlife trade through investigations and collaboration with law enforcement authorities in Africa and Asia.
Made possible by our generous donors, during this granting round we’ve awarded over US$865,000 to incredible partners protecting elephants and their habitats across Africa.
Please consider supporting this important work – donate here.