Gabon to devise human-wildlife conflict management plan

President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has announced a national management plan of human-wildlife conflict to protect the village communities threatened by elephants.

He disclosed this on Saturday at the conclusion of the ‘Giants Club Summit’ focusing on elephant poaching.

Ondimba said he wanted to ensure that rural populations had equal opportunities in agricultural activities and the right to a peaceful life.

The country’s villages near national parks have seen animal raids, that often target crops and result in food insecurity for those households.

Not only is the management plan about that, the country’s elephant population is under constant threat from poachers, with more than 20,000 killed in a decade, according to the National Parks Agency. The management strategy will also assist in fighting poaching which has hit countries by storm.

#Gabon has a role to play in the fight against ivory poaching. A commitment reaffirmed by PresidentABO pic.twitter.com/jn2UvIBZPW

— République Gabonaise (PresidenceGA) April 30, 2016

The world’s black-market ivory trade – which is threatening Africa’s elephant populations with extinction – is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia, where elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns are used in traditional medicine and to make jewellery and decorative objects.

Agencies