eBusiness Weekly
Thanks to vigorous conservation and anti-poaching efforts, poaching of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is declining in the Lower Zambezi Mana Pools Transfrontier Conservation Area (LOZA MAP TFCA), says the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Zimbabwe.
AWF, in partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), is implementing various conservation projects, such as cross-border anti-poaching patrols.
A Transfrontier Conservation Area is a component of a large ecological region that straddles the boundaries of two or more protected areas as well as multiple resource use areas.
According to the global conservation organisation, the African elephant population continues to stabilise in spite of the persistent challenges of poaching, illegal trade and conservation and development challenges across the species’ range in the LOZA MAP TFCA.
Various efforts from development partners, including AWF and Zimparks, have contributed tremendously to elephant conservation in the landscape.
The landscape is richly endowed with the African elephant, among other iconic wildlife species, including the lion. The transfrontier conservation area measures approximately 17,745 square kilometers, housing the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia, Mana Pools National Park, and surrounding Safari Areas in Zimbabwe, including game management areas, safari areas, communal land, private land, and conservancies.
“What we know from looking back at the last 20 years is that sustained conservation efforts by development partners and stakeholders in partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and local authorities can and does work,” said Olivia Mufute, AWF Zimbabwe’s country director, on Monday.
As a result of the decline of the elephant population over several decades due to poaching and habitat loss, the species was listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species.
The African elephant populations of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa are included in Appendix 11 of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but for which trade must be controlled to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
According to Zimparks, elephant poaching has decreased in recent years with Mana Pools, Chewore and Sapi Safari Areas recording zero elephant poaching for the past four years. But, Hurungwe Safari Area has recorded three carcasses linked to poaching since 2020.
Zimparks Mana Pools Senior Area Manager, Edmore Ngosi, confirmed that there had been a decline in elephant poaching in the landscape’s protected areas as a result of interventions by law enforcement authorities.
Today, the elephant population’s decline in the landscape has been reduced through effective monitoring and increased security.
Conservation stakeholders in Zimbabwe and Zambia have called for more cross-border collaboration between the two countries along smuggling routes for wildlife and their products to better protect the species. – New Ziana
