A lot of is still unknown about elephants’ dietary preferences and deterrence crops. To expand our knowledge and create replicable methodologies, we studied elephants’ preferences towards 18 different types of crops, the majority of which are of high combined economic value (food, essential oil, medicinal and bee fodder value) and suitable for growing in Southern African climates. The cafeteria-style experiments allowed us to evaluate several plants that have never been tested in terms of their palatability to elephants. Our results showed that herbs such as borage and rosemary with medicinal and aromatic properties, respectively, were strongly avoided together with bird’s eye chilli (a well-known elephant deterrent crop). We found that lemon grass and sunflowers, presented as whole fresh plants to the elephants, were edible to the elephants. This is surprising, as both plant types have been described as unpalatable to both Asian and African elephants alike.

According to our overall scoring system, four food types proved best suited for the proposed corridor region (Bird’s Eye Chilli, Cape Gold, Cape Snowbush and Rosemary). Of these, only Bird’s Eye Chilli had been tested before. The other three plant types have been used in producing essential oil and hold great promise for income-generation.

In May 2023, the Elephants Alive (EA) team embarked on an Human-Elephant Conflict barrier implementation mission to the Namaacha Valley in Southern Mozambique. EA and Mozambique Wildlife Allience (MWA), as well as delegates from Save The Elephants (Kenya) and PAMS Foundation (Tanzania), came together in an inspirational cooperation exercise to implement a 4-way mitigation soft barrier to protect three crop fields. The fields had been identified through field research and GPS tracking data, as high-risk for elephant crop-raiding. One side of the fence was built by hanging beehives. As the hives start to become occupied with wild swarms, we will keep training local farmers on how to keep hives and colonies healthy, by assessing the frame structures and checking if the bees have enough pollen to produce honey. This knowledge will allow the farmers to increase both their crop production, protect crops from hungry elephants and supplement their income from honey sales. The second side of the fence was made up of metal strip fencing, the noise and sight of which has been proven to deter elephants from breaking into farmers’ fields. We set up the third side of the fence with chilli rags. The fourth side of the soft barrier fence was comprised of flashing lights, a technique successfully used in Botswana.

In order to address urgent HEC incidences, a Rapid Response Unit (RRU) has been established. The need for the RRU was justified due to the increasing pressure from district authorities, who do not have the capacity to mitigate HEC incidences. Consequently, higher levels of government are put under pressure to protect people and livelihoods, often resorting to lethal management of elephants. To avoid these lethal interventions, the role of the RRU is to (1) respond to HEC situations with near-immediate effect, (2) educate community members on how to behave around elephants and deploy HEC toolboxes more effectively, (3) systematically collect data on crop raiding incidences, mitigation methods deployed and elephant responses in order for us to develop an effective early warning system, and (4) disrupt elephant crop-raiding strategies through surprise intervention planning to ultimately contribute towards behavioural modification. The RRU is supported by the GPS collaring data when (1) identifying key human elephant conflict hotspots and (2) building crop raiding probability maps for the strategic deployment of long-term mitigation methods.

Starting from the knowledge that over 50% of elephant movements are outside of Protected Areas (PAs) and over 75% of elephant populations are transboundary, we used a satellite tracking approach to identify which wildlife corridors are most used by elephants.

While our initial plan was to establish a corridor between Gonarezhou (high elephant density) in Zimbabwe with Banhine and/or Zinave National Parks (low elephant density) in Mozambique, insufficient tracking data and reports linking the PAs in these countries (Zimbabwe to Mozambique) to define a conclusive corridor has made us shift our geographical location to Namaacha Valley in southern Mozambique. Here several elephants that we had collared outside of PAs in the hope to find more corridor moving individuals between PAs across southern Mozambique, have defined a vital corridor covering the southern extreme of the KNP, south towards Tembe National Park in South Africa and east towards the Futi corridor and MSR on the coast of Mozambique.

The collaring of elephants and analysis of the tracking data have shown us that existing PAs are too small for elephants. Using elephants as the landscape planners for connectivity across national boundaries, enabled us to identify human-elephant conflict hotspots where efforts are most likely to have the largest impact.

In order to manage parks sustainably, access to traditional resources is frequently restricted or changed. Such impacts must be reduced since local residents and resource users must directly or indirectly benefit from the MPA and be fully included in the solution. To steer local stakeholders away from the ongoing overexploitation of their mangrove and fishery resources, the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative revenue creation was created. Apiculture was chosen to demonstrate that income can be generated from mangroves and other plants without destroying them and losing their ecological benefits. This activity has strengthened the two fishing associations and illustrated that they can cooperate to execute activities outside of their "normal" operations, the members stand to gain from it.

An important component of conserving the marine protected area is public education, communication, and increasing awareness about the value and vulnerability of the marine ecosystem. Capacity building activities were desperately needed and the project provided this opportunity to stakeholders including university students, local government officials, and FoProBiM employees. Everyone was glad to go outside and have real field experiences, which made the classes, both in the classroom and, in particular, the field, extremely well accepted. This was the first "large scale" activity that FoProBiM offered to many sectors, allowing them to meet each other, learn together and create new beneficial contacts. FoProBiM has conducted smaller, more directed activities similar to this in the past. As management operations for the 3-Bays continue to grow, this additional capacity will be crucial for all stakeholder groups.

This project encouraged the participation of youth and community volunteers to gain support and increase local knowledge of the importance of protecting local ecosystems. Increased community involvement will work to build capacity while empowering and strengthening local conservation efforts. The group of volunteers we currently work with is a mix of residents and visitors, men and women, young and old and from a wide range of backgrounds.

Efforts are made to keep policymakers involved and inform them of the importance of mangroves in general and restoration in particular to gain their support. 

A stakeholders workshop was conducted to share assessment results, address questions from the 2nd workshop, and discuss an action plan for mitigating identified negative impacts. Actions, activities, and timelines were discussed for each impact.

Based on the collected data, TT successfully engaged donors in funding projects aligned with reducing the negative impacts.

To mitigate the Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) negative impact, TT has constructed a 33km Elephant exclusion Fence and 8 additional 10% fences,  reducing HWC by over 80%.

To address the lack of water, TT provided 110 dam liners, each with a capacity of 56,000 L, resulting in the harvesting of over 6 million litres of surface run-off water.

In support of schools, TT is offering scholarships to 9 students and has constructed and equipped a Science and computer laboratory in a local secondary school.

To overcome information barriers, TT established a BULK SMS platform and grievances log to facilitate communication on key issues, ongoing projects, and address grievances between TT and communities.

TT is currently developing a SAPA review scheduled for July 2023 to assess the impact and change in perceptions resulting from the implemented interventions in communities.