http://www.huntingreport.com/c...ion_force.cfm?id=396



Zimbabwe Finalizes Its National Elephant Action Plan
Written By John J. Jackson III, Conservation Force Chairman & President
(posted March 2016)

By John J. Jackson, III



On January 21, 2016 the Director of Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) and the Minister of Environment, Water, and Climate signed the finished Action Plan for Elephant Conservation and Management in Zimbabwe that has been in preparation for nearly two action-packed years. The plan includes four regional action plans that have been completed one by one over the past 14 months following the December 2014 national participatory workshop in Hwange National Park. That initial workshop was sponsored by Shikar Safari Club International Foundation (Shikar), Conservation Force and ZimParks.


The Plan is the most up-to-date national action plan in the world as are the four regional action plans. In effect it is five action plans (one national and four standalone regional plans). Conservation Force and its consortium of partner organizations also sponsored two other sustainable use-related planning workshops during the same period. Dallas Safari Club and Conservation Force hosted a CAMPFIRE workshop before the national workshop to ensure sufficient community representation at the national level, and Conservation Force sponsored a two-day Future of Hunting in Zimbabwe planning workshop in Harare with hunting operators and Zimbabwe authorities (June 22-23, 2015). In addition, two other workshops/plans contributed to the Northwest Matabeleland regional plan: an anti-poaching strategy workshop for Hwange National Park held in the park in June 2015, together with the management plan for the Park itself.



Zimbabwe's ambitious elephant action planning calls for formation of five committees (four regional and one national). A national Elephant Coordinator has also been appointed with terms of reference to administer the Plan nationwide. Conservation Force has pledged to assist with the initial funding of that coordinator.

Effect of Suspension


We hope and expect that the FWS will make a positive "enhancement" finding so that elephant trophies will again be importable into the USA. Yours truly hand-delivered a signed copy of the Plan to the FWS Chief of the Division of Management Authority (DMA) and the Chief of Permits, both in person, on Thursday, February 4, 2016.

Though import permits are not required for Zimbabwe elephant hunting trophies, the DMA has self-imposed regulations that require it to make a positive "enhancement" finding as a regulatory condition of import just like for ESA endangered-listed species. It should be noted that the FWS has recently proposed requiring import permits for all elephants, even those on Appendix II of CITES (i.e., Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana, 80 Fed. Reg. 45154, July 29, 2015). Conservation Force has vigorously opposed this in formal comments. The reason for the CITES downlisting of elephants to Appendix II was to facilitate trophy trade. The proposed FWS permit requirement for Appendix II-listed elephant trophies conflicts with the purposeful Appendix II treatment of hunting trophies by the CITES Parties. The same FWS proposal includes a provision to limit elephant trophies to two per year.

The so-called FWS suspension of imports or "ban" in 2014 arose when the DMA determined it could no longer make a positive enhancement finding for Zimbabwe. It issued a notice of suspension and welcomed more information without prior warning or written inquiry. That surprise suspension, unnecessary name-calling in the publication and breach of diplomacy was an affront and subsequently has served as an obstacle in addressing the issues raised by the DMA. While the DMA did not have adequate positive information in its administrative file, there was a great deal of misinformation from animal rightist Johnny Rodrigues (the same writer that misrepresented so many "Cecil" facts). Early on, the need for a new plan was identified as a primary issue because Zimbabwe's then-in-effect national elephant plan was 17 years old, adopted 1997. That issue has now been addressed by the combined national and regional plans.

Another primary concern arose from a lack of information from the IUCN/SSC's African Elephant Specialist Group and misinterpretation of that group's Elephant Database by the FWS' staff. The African Elephant Specialist Group had neglected to add a number of recent population estimates from Zimbabwe to its database. Additionally, the FWS had misinterpreted the database as indicating a dramatic reduction in the number of elephants in Zimbabwe. The 2014 National Elephant Aerial Survey provided an up-to-date, science-based aerial estimate of nearly 83,000 elephants that has now put those mistakes to rest. The recent survey did confirm declines in two smaller regions, which Zimbabwe officials had been tracking and were well aware of. The first two participatory action planning workshops were intentionally organized in those two regions with elephant population declines. That immediately set into motion a host of aggressive anti-poaching actions that are controlling the poachers today. Conservation Force is even funding a reward program for arrest and conviction of poachers in the Sebungwe Region.

The 2014 National Elephant Aerial Survey: Four Regions of Zimbabwe


Zimbabwe shares the largest elephant population in the world with Botswana and holds the second largest elephant population. The 2014 National Elephant Aerial Survey provided an estimate of 82,000 elephants in Zimbabwe, but it excluded a probable thousand more in a number of small populations that were not surveyed, such as Malilangwe and Bubye Valley Conservancies, Tuli Safari Area, etc. Those populations brought the total closer to 83,000.

In the 2014 survey, the Sebungwe Region reflected a decline, but that must be viewed in perspective. All the regional population densities except Sebungwe continue to exceed desired density limits established in the 1980s. Sebungwe is the only region with a plan to increase the population to a minimum viability threshold.



The elephant populations in the three districts of Sebungwe grew from 2,000 elephants in the 1920s up to a high of about 15,000 in 2006. Now it is down to 3,500. Viewed in perspective, the human population increased from 45,000 in 1950 to 700,000 in 2013, which is more than twice the threshold human density at which elephants disappear from settled areas. In that regional plan a tentative target of 5,000 elephants has been set in Sebungwe's 7,000 square kilometers of available habitat. That plan has been vigorously pursued since first drafted in June 2015. It must be noted that this is the smallest of the four regional populations (3,500 of the 83,000), while the countrywide population total has gone from 4,000 elephants in 1900 to nearly 83,000 today.

The second region with elephant decline is in the Mid-Zambezi Valley. That population reached a high of 19,000 elephants in 2001. It has since declined to 11,300 in 2014. Again this is above long intended "density limits" and is of concern because it remains excessive, not depleted.

The third regional plan covers the South East Lowveld, which includes Gonarezhou National Park, Savé Valley Conservancy and more. The population is on the increase with a Gonarezhou National Park population of 11,000 elephants growing about 5% per annum over the last 20 years. Overall there are about 13,000 elephants in this range/area - the most elephants in more than a century. This is also where a number of 100-pound elephants have been taken in recent years. Nevertheless, after a full participatory workshop a new regional plan is in place.



The fourth regional plan is that in the Northwest Matabeleland Region, which includes Hwange National Park, the Matetsi complex, et al. The estimated elephant population is 53,991 (approximately 54,000). This is the densest elephant population of the four regions at 2.16 elephants per square kilometer and 3.02 elephant per square kilometer in Hwange National Park itself.

To quote the National Plan, "By any standards Zimbabwe has a proud history of successful elephant conservation." Indeed, it does have every reason to be proud. In the Forward to the Plan, the Honorable Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri (MP) states:

"The government is aware of the pressure in the current conservation environment that perceives an approaching extinction of elephants in Africa and opposes sustainable use of the species. The Government perceives this pressure to be a factor that limits the resources available to conserve elephants and their habitats, and the range of plant and animal species that occur in these wildlife areas. Sustainable use of natural resources has been and remains a central pillar of successful conservation in this country. The Government has every intention of maintaining its policy in this regard."

Zimbabwe's incredible success demonstrates the resolve of Zimbabwe and all the participants. By all accounts, the communities dependent upon elephant safari hunting income have suffered a loss of one-half of their revenue and are facing far worse in 2016. To quote the Plan, recent work in Addo Elephant National Park Plan in South Africa shows that high elephant densities do not increase eco-tourism opportunities and their associated ecological costs are not a requirement for eco-tourism financial sustainability (citing the 2014 article by Maciejewski, K. and Kerley, G.I.H., "Elevated elephant density does not improve tourism opportunities, suggesting convergence in social and ecological objectives," Ecological Applications, 24, 920-926). In our interpretation, Zimbabwe's elephants have diminishing general tourism value as they increase, but growing cost. As a conservation friend of Zimbabwe, its dear people and wildlife, Conservation Force has partnered with Zimbabwe from the inception of the suspension crisis. We have also represented Zimbabwe's interest in Federal District Court when animal activists tried to stop its perfectly lawful trade in live elephants that the antis misrepresented to be "baby elephant" but later described as "sub-adults." That one sale generated $1 million for elephant conservation, but it is not nearly enough. The estimated cost of the new national plan is $11 million. It takes grit and habitat today to save wildlife, and Zimbabwe has it. We are so very proud to be a part of this effort with these wonderful people and their conservation success.

There's no doubt the expertise and capability is there; they shouldn't have let it get out of hand in the first place, but this is very encouraging.