Elephant Conservation Success Stories From The Republic of the Congo

FYI-- The Republic of the Congo is a Former French Colony in Central Africa.

Not a Day passes without one hearing of the terribly tragic Mass Slaughter of Forest Elephant Herds specially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as in Gabon.

In Gabon's Minkebe National Park 25,000 Forest Elephants were slaughtered by Poachers in a 10 year period.However, not all the news coming out of Central Africa is so bleak.There is some good news too on the ground.

One bright spot has been the successful protection of Elephants in three national parks in the Republic of Congo. In each park — Nouabale - Ndoki, Odzala, and Conkouati — Elephant numbers have remained steady for almost a decade as poaching has been prevented and Elephants from surrounding logging concessions have sought refuge in these places of safety.

This is a testament to public-private collaboration and hard work. Each park is managed as a partnership between the Congo Government; local communities; donors such as the U.S. government, European Commission and private individuals; and an international NGO — the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Ndoki and Conkouati, and the African Parks Network in Odzala.

Elephant numbers in the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park have held steady at around 2,400 animals since 2006. Odzala-Kokoua has maintained a population of about 8,000 since 2005. 

In Conkouati-Douli, elephant numbers have expanded by as much as 50 percent since 2010. There, protection by vigilant ecoguards has enabled elephants to access forest resources in areas of the park they were too afraid to venture into a decade ago.

The future of Elephants in Africa depends first of all on bringing the immediate poaching crisis to an end through successful partnerships such as those described above. Elephants’ long-term future depends as well on continuing to partner with local communities across Africa to minimize conflict between elephants and farmers, ensuring that wildlife benefits local people through ecotourism, and protecting elephant habitat — including corridors and dispersal areas.

Credits : Elephant Conservation Success Stories to Celebrate and Replicate

               By Dr Cristian Samper 

               Huffington Post  July 29, 2014