Finding Solutions For Human-Elephant Coexistence In Gabon

Gabon is known to be the last stronghold for Africa’s critically endangered forest elephants. And while this central African country is home to some of the most spectacular biodiversity and landscapes found anywhere on this continent, it faces a significant challenge with human-elephant conflict.

With over a decade of experience working on human-elephant conflict (HEC) in East Africa, specifically the Laikipia Plateau in northern Kenya, Space for Giants has been able to use this experience as a valuable learning ground for the organization. And the lessons have been applied across its portfolio of countries it operates, such as Gabon. 

In Gabon, most of the rural population are subsistence farmers who practice shifting agriculture. In this methodology, the farmer clears a small part of the forest, cultivates it intensively for a year or two, and then moves on to a new patch because the soil fertility has decreased (only returning to the original patch after several years).

In 2022, Space for Giants conceptualized a “mobile electric fencing design,” a bespoke solution for the Gabon context. Simple in design, affordable to scale, moveable in nature, and ultimately with the hope that it will be sufficiently effective to the status quo. We have deployed a total of 104 fences in 71 villages and helped over 750 people to continue to coexist with forest elephants and safeguard their livelihoods. By the end of 2023, we plan to build 500 fences.

In a village called Awougoumbourou, Peter Ofiri said: “We used to plant, and then every time the elephant came and spoiled our crops, wasting our energy, but now since the fence is here, it’s stopped. We’re eating well. We have plenty of food to sell so that we can use the money for daily needs and things like school fees,”

Space for Giants is working with The Ministry of Water and Forests and the ANPN - Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) to identify human-elephant conflict hotspots to roll out a national HEC strategy. The implementation has been made possible by the generous support of Assala Energy , the Elephant Crisis Fund, Elephant Cooperation , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Vaalco Energy .