WWF African Elephant Programme

Key target

Objectives 

• equipping and training law enforcement teams so they can conduct regular and effective anti-poaching patrols
   
• establishing new protected areas within elephant ranges and improving management effectiveness within existing protected areas
   
• developing new community-based wildlife management schemes that contribute to elephant conservation whilst providing benefits to local people
   
• determining the population status of elephants in sites across Africa.
   

To increase capacity within range states to conserve and manage elephants, WWF will support activities such as:

• helping range state governments produce and adopt sub-regional elephant conservation strategies and national elephant conservation strategies
   
• developing capacity to survey, census and monitor elephant populations and to implement the CITES system for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE)
   
• providing training in elephant conservation and management technique
   
• updating and enforcing range states’ legislation to protect elephants.
   

To increase public support for elephant conservation by reducing conflict, WWF will support activities such as:

• training wildlife managers and local communities to use modern methods and tools to mitigate human-elephant conflict
   
• analysing human-elephant conflict projects to draw lessons and refine methodologies.
   

To reduce the illegal trade in elephant products, WWF will support activities such as:

• monitoring and assessing trends in the illegal trade in elephant products (such as implementing the CITES Elephant Trade Information System)
   
• conducting surveys to provide information on domestic ivory markets.