In 1930, an estimated 10 million elephants roamed the African continent. Today, there are just 415,000. Human-wildlife conflict is quickly emerging as a top threat to elephants’ survival. Many people in rural Kenya rely on subsistence farming to feed their families. But as climate change intensifies droughts and decimates the amount of natural forage available for neighboring elephants, more and more elephants are venturing onto local community members’ farms to eat (and inadvertently trample over) their crops. This, combined with human development encroaching into former elephant habitats, has put elephants and local community members into direct conflict. Wildlife authorities in Kenya shoot between 50 and 120 problem elephants each year, and at least 200 people have been killed by elephants in Kenya over the last 7 years. Community members will often resort to throwing rocks, fireworks, or homemade spears at elephants to deter them from eating their crops.
The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in Kenya was founded with a mission to make conservation work for local communities. The Kasigau Corridor provides a key migration route between Tsavo East and West National Parks for over 10,000 elephants and invests heavily into mitigating human-wildlife conflict. A team of rangers performs over 500 aerial patrols and over 1000 foot patrols per year to monitor the status of wildlife populations and prevent conflicts.
The project also uses carbon revenue to create artificial watering holes, provide feed to elephants during times of extreme drought, and is using novel methods to mitigate HEC such as chili-pepper and beehive fences around community members’ crops.
When elephants are injured from human-wildlife conflict, Wildlife Works partners closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Sheldrick Wildlife Fund to rescue and treat injured wildlife. Healing Giants, a short film by Wildlife Works, tells the story of one such elephant rescue. The film follows conservation pilot Keith Herring at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project, who first identified an elephant injured from human-wildlife conflict.
Key themes covered in this film:
Human-Wildlife Conflict: The film highlights the growing tension between local communities and elephants due to climate change and habitat loss, leading to crop destruction and injuries on both sides.
Innovative Elephant Conservation: The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project employs various strategies to mitigate conflicts, including aerial patrols, artificial watering holes, and novel deterrents like chili-pepper fences.
Community-Based Approach: The project emphasizes making conservation work for local communities, using carbon revenue to fund both wildlife protection efforts and community development initiatives.
Since 1997, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project has partnered with over 100,000 community members to protect endangered species. Learn more about what we do here.
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