African elephant programme: Key achievements

Swiss school children demonstrate to save the African elephant at a CITES conference, Lausanne, Switzerland.
© WWF-Canon / Michele DEPRAZ

Highlights of WWF's achievements over the last three years include:

• Training of more than 276 African professionals in elephant conservation and management, along with more than 33 villagers and countless community workshop participants, in 17 range states.
  
  
• Development of capacity within 4 Central African range states to census elephants.
  
  
• Establishment of management systems in Quirimbas, the newest national park in Mozambique, including the training of 23 park guards.
  
  
• Putting in to action the Elephant Trade Information System in Tanzania.
  
  
• Assessment of the ivory markets in West Africa and identification of illegal ivory trade routes from Central to West Africa.
  
  
• Sharing lessons and building partnerships between wildlife managers across borders through technical exchange visits involving 10 range states.
  
  
• MIKE methodologies were established in 7 protected area sites (6 in Central Africa, 1 in East Africa).
  
  
• HEC mitigation techniques developed and tested in 4 communities.
  
  
• HEC mitigation protected farmers' crops in 36 villages in four countries (Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia).
  
  
• Around Quirimbas NP in Mozambique, HEC mitigation efforts have reduced elephant crop damage by 68% (250 fields destroyed this year compared with 781 last year!).
  
  
• 55 anti-poaching staff from 5 protected areas were trained in modern field methods.
  
  
• A capacity building workshop in Ethiopia (bringing together over 40 key people from the wildlife management department, police, customs, Ministry of Trade and Industry and conservation NGOs) charted a way forward on how to control illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn in the domestic market.