Conservationists Meet On African Elephants

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Thursday, 24 August 2006 (Page 4)

More than 25 delegates from 18 African countries are meeting in Accra to review the challenges confronting the management and conservation of the biggest game on earth – African Elephants.

The three-day symposium was organized by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission in Ghana with funds from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Tuesday, the Executive Director of Wildlife Division, Ofori Frimpong ,said human and wildlife conflicts have the potential to escalate due to the increasing clearing of lands around wildlife protected areas.

He said, the growing human population near the protected areas with virtually no buffer zones between the agriculture dominated landscape and the wildlife reserves themselves posses great challenges that need collective ideas and inputs from stakeholder to manage".

Mr.Frimpong indicated that most of the elephant ranges and their habitats are under severe threat from illegal and sustainable resource exploitations and utilization.

Cross border migration of elephants from Ghana to Burkina Faso and vice versa through the Red Volta corridor with its associated illegal hunting for elephant ivory is another major challenge in elephant conservation.

In Ghana, Elephants can be found in the Kakum National Park in the Central Region, Bia National Park and Ankasa Rain Forest in the Western region, the Kyabobo National Park and some parts of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

He suggested the strengthening of collaboration to find local solutions to specific country problems.

"Our quest to speed up the pace of sustainable development as an agricultural-based economy will definitely place on us some of the challenges afore mentioned."

He called on the delegates to share information and knowledge to continually reassess their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities as organizations involved in conservation.

The Head of Elephant Programmes of the Wildlife Division, Moses Kofi Sam said the expansion of roads, towns and farming had caused rapid loss not only of natural vegetation conservation but the elephants too.

He said that there are about 2000 elephants scattered within the 12 ranges in Ghana, one third of which are found in forest and the rest in the savanna areas, adding that the Wildlife Division had collaborated with NGOs to update the status of some of the elephant population in the various ranges.

Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Andrew Adjei-Yeboah, who opened the meeting said the government is committed to the conservation of biodiversity for the ultimate benefit of the present and future generations.

He said traditional authorities in Ghana for decades now, have shown great commitment to the conservation of wildlife noting that "this has been seen in the institution and enforcement of customary rules and regulations that protected wildlife and their habitats"

He said government is concerned about the plight of elephants on the continent and their dwindling populations and it would therefore support measures at the international level to improve their status.

Another area of concern, Mr Adjei-Yeboah said is the poaching of elephants which is fuelled by illegal trade in ivory, adding that "Ghana will continue to collaborate with all agencies dealing with these conservation challenges".