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Little John, the African forest elephant being collared for research and tracking purposes. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

African forest elephant nicknamed Little John being collared for research and tracking purposes. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

How technology is achieving harmony between people and elephants in Guinea

How do you protect elephants from poachers, protect villagers from crop-raiding elephants, and ensure that people living near the forest can co-exist peacefully with the world’s largest land mammal? That’s the challenge Fauna & Flora and our partners face in Guinea’s Ziama Massif, a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve.

Forest haven under threat

Ziama harbours Guinea’s last remaining population of the critically endangered African forest elephant – as well as other threatened species such as pygmy hippopotamus and western chimpanzee.

Unsustainable farming practices have led to habitat loss and degradation, particularly in the buffer zones around Ziama. As a result, West Africa’s remaining forest elephants are forced to move through a mosaic of land-use types, including forest fragments and agricultural landscapes, in order to reach forests further afield.

Fauna & Flora has been working closely with local communities to protect this crucial haven since 2009, when we began supporting the government wildlife authority, Centre Forestier de N’Zérékoré (CFZ).

 

Free-range elephants

Ziama’s elephants regularly roam well beyond the borders of their native Guinea. But their meanderings take them far from the relative safety of the deep forest and bring them into close contact with people as far away as neighbouring Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. They are frequently seen in the vicinity of villages, attracted by crops – particularly mangoes and pineapples – grown in the area.

These encounters, while fascinating for those unfamiliar with elephants, are also fraught with danger. And they’re no fun for the hapless farmers whose annual harvest could be consumed within minutes if the hungry travellers selected their smallholding as a refuelling stop.

Fauna & Flora has been working with local communities on measures to deter elephants from crop-raiding. These include creating agricultural buffer zones around villages, growing foods unpalatable to elephants and using bees as a natural repellent. Yes, elephants really are afraid of bees.

Gboda community, Guinea. © Djiba Sovogui / Fauna & Flora

Gboda community, Guinea. © Djiba Sovogui / Fauna & Flora

Gboda community, Guinea, located on the edge of Ziama Massif Biosphere Reserve.

Illustration of African forest elephants crop-raiding in a Liberian village. © Fauna & Flora

Illustration of African forest elephants crop-raiding in a Liberian village. © Fauna & Flora

Within the Ziama Massif, farmers can grow their crops only in certain areas. They often overlap with elephant 'corridors'.

A male African forest elephant with a satellite collar attached for tracking and research purposes. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

© Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

One of the male African forest elephants with a satellite collar attached for tracking and research purposes. Satellite collars give farmers an early warning system, reducing the risk of crop raiding and conflict with communities.

Elephant protector

Our efforts to resolve conflict and improve relations between people and elephants are led by Koighae Toupou. Originally from a family of hunters, Toupou has been central to mobilising community support for the conservation of elephants and their habitat. Toupou has dedicated much of his life to ensuring that Ziama’s elephants have a future.

Meet Toupou

South African veterinarian Pete Morkel checking Big John, an African forest elephant, as he is fitted with a satellite tracking collar. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora A male African forest elephant with a satellite collar attached for tracking and research purposes. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

South African veterinarian Pete Morkel monitoring a sedated African forest elephant, Big John, as he is fitted with a satellite tracking collar...and a revived Big John with his collar in place.

Tracking elephant movements

Fauna & Flora and our partner CFZ have been keeping a close watch on Ziama’s remaining elephants for many years – both for their own protection and for the safety of communities.

In 2022, two of the elephants – brothers nicknamed Big John and Little John – were successfully fitted with satellite collars to help monitor their movements. It’s the first time that elephants in the region have been collared, and it took a collaborative cross-border effort to execute the plan, which saw Fauna & Flora working with rangers on both sides of the Guinea/Liberia border.

As they wander at will, the brothers’ comings and goings are mapped on a daily basis. It is hoped that the initiative will reduce the risk of crop-raiding, prevent conflict with communities and help ensure that people and elephants can coexist peacefully.

The tracking data from the collars is helping to paint a picture of the elephants’ habitat preferences and home ranges, and has already helped to confirm that bee-keeping can be an effective deterrent; for example, one of the elephants appears to be avoiding areas where beehives are located close to human settlements. The collars also provide an early-warning system when elephants are heading towards villagers, giving time to intervene before conflict even arises. There are plans to collar more elephants in future.

Screenshot of animation showing tracked African forest elephants ranging across boarders between Guinea, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. © Fauna & Flora

Screenshot of animation showing tracked African forest elephants ranging across borders between Guinea, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. © Fauna & Flora

The elephants' collars connect with satellites, sending data about their location. They have large home ranges: Big John has roamed through Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.

Illustration of elephant deterred by bees around a Liberian village. © Fauna & Flora

Illustration of elephant deterred by bees around a Liberian village. © Fauna & Flora

Bee-keeping is providing a two-fold solution for farmers. While providing an additional source of income, the bees actively deter the elephants from the farmers' crops.

Winning hearts and minds

The fate of these elephants and other wildlife on both sides of the border between Guinea and Liberia will depend on the attitudes of the communities who live closest to them. In turn, the support of those communities will be contingent on creating a network of protected areas and forest corridors that allow for free movement of wild animals without posing a threat to people and their livelihoods.

The community-led blueprint being developed here by Fauna & Flora and our partners is equally applicable in the wider region, which faces many of the same conservation and sustainable development challenges as Guinea.

A beekeeping project in Guinea that is a measure to mitigate elephant-human conflict, which started in 2021 as a pilot. © Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

© Ruben Bañuelos Bons / Fauna & Flora

Fauna & Flora launched this bee-keeping project as a pilot in 2021 as a way to deter elephants and mitigate human-wildlife conflict while supporting local livelihoods in the villages most affected by crop-raiding elephants.

    Ranger icon

    Anti-poaching patrols

    Protecting Ziama’s threatened wildlife

    local community icon

    Communities front and centre

    Giving villagers a voice in forest management

    bee-keeping icon

    Nature-friendly farming

    Promoting sustainable livelihood options

    human species conflict

    Conflict reduction

    Creative deterrents to crop-raiding elephants

    livelihoods icon

    Improved yields

    Reducing the need for forest destruction

    gender equality icon

    Gender equality

    Ensuring equal share in decision-making and livelihood benefits

Today, the community is truly committed to protecting elephants, and it's thanks to the support (it has received) that the community is able to flourish.

Jean Synpogui

Farmer, N'Zébéla, Guinea

Today, the community is truly committed to protecting elephants, and it's thanks to the support (it has received) that the community is able to flourish.

Jean Synpogui

Farmer, N'Zébéla, Guinea

Elephant crossing a road. © Avijan Saha/ BIA / Minden / Nature Picture Library

Bringing forest elephants back from the brink

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Elephant crossing a road. © Avijan Saha/ BIA / Minden / Nature Picture Library