In celebration of this year’s World Wildlife Day, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) Secretariat would like to update the public on the progress of the KAZA Elephant Survey, a vital conservation initiative aimed at estimating the population size of elephants and other large herbivores in the KAZA landscape.
The data collection phase was successfully completed at the end of October last year, covering an extensive area of 312,000km² or 60% of the landscape during two months of flying. Subsequently, the project moved into the preliminary data analysis phase, which took place in November and December 2022. To assist with the accurate and comprehensive analysis of the vast amount of data collected during the survey, KAZA Partner States seconded six ecologists to work at the project operations room, located at the regional office of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Kasane, Botswana. The team of ecologists conducted the preliminary data analysis under the oversight of the KAZA Elephant Survey coordination team.
Currently, the coordination team is in the final stages of analysis and preparing the technical report, which is expected to be completed in March/April 2023. After review by the KAZA Partner States, the report will undergo an independent review by three experts. The report will be prepared in accordance with requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) aerial survey reporting standards. The KAZA Secretariat expects to release the final report to the public in May/June 2023.
We extend our sincere gratitude to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the implementation partner for the survey, and the KAZA Elephant Survey donors and international cooperation partners: the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW, the Dutch Postcode Lottery through the Dreamfund Project, USAID’s Combating Wildlife Crime in Namibia and the Kavango-Zambezi Area Project, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
For more information on the KAZA Elephant Survey, please contact info@kavangozambezi.org
