In the last 12 years the Forest Elephant population worldwide has been reduced from 200,000 to 100,000 due to excessive poaching. These elephants are targets for poaching due to their ivory tusks which are illegally traded internationally. According to the WWF, most of the demand for these tusks are located in Asia.
The African Forest Elephant is not only majestic in its rightful habitat, but they are useful to the environment and help plants thrive. These elephants can disperse seeds over 5km and many species of trees would die out without them. Their extinction would induce a great loss of other species further along the food chain. The decrease in this species of elephants is followed by a subsequent decrease in the overall biodiversity of tree populations in the same ecosystems because some tree species depend on these elephants to spread.
Poaching is especially prevalent in less developed countries like Cameroon, Mozambique and Angola. Here corruption, poverty and lack of government intervention force people to turn to careers in poaching simply to survive.
In addition, the illegal trade in wildlife products is largely controlled by international criminal organizations. Some of the profit extracted from the illegal trading is used to fund local militias to counter increasing policing efforts. Often hit and run warfare tactics are used on troopers tasked with stopping the poaching. This makes dismantling poaching operations exceedingly difficult.
“The solution is not in catching the poachers,” Rudi Van Aarde, conservation ecologist at University of Pretoria said. “The solution lies in disentangling the criminal networks that are responsible for taking the Ivory out of Africa and into the rest of the world.”
These criminal networks responsible for the poaching are also responsible for inflaming regional conflicts that keep the nations they terrorize poor and dependent on poaching. Without outside help from foreign and domestic organizations the people trapped within this cycle will have no way out.
Poaching however is not the only issue that African Forest Elephants face. According to the WWF the space available to elephants in Africa has more than halved since 1979. This has caused a massive downfall of African Forest Elephants, as the number decreases 86 percent by 2020. As African Forest Elephants need large amounts of space and time to forage for food–upwards of 20 hours a day – it’s crucial that these elephants are able to maintain their space to thrive and regenerate.
However, creating a foundation for keeping these animals safe, and potentially transforming this task into a job, would be much more beneficial. This is because it will help to break the cycle many people in these developing countries are trapped in.
Ever heard of a Panda nanny? China’s Giant Panda Protection facilitates the expansion of Giant Pandas while also providing people with a job, paying up to 32,000 dollars a year. This is one of many efforts in recent years to break this cycle that people find themselves in even outside of Africa.
Efforts to minimize poaching and protect African forest elephants have increased in recent years. Non-governmental organizations such as the BMZ, World Wildlife Fund and the Global Conservation Force, the WWF and international organizations are working with local governments to strengthen anti-poaching laws, improve law enforcement abilities, and provide other sources of income for poaching-dependent populations. Education and awareness programs are also important in diminishing the market for ivory.
This issue goes beyond foreign markets for ivory in far away countries. According to ABC 10, poachers steal an estimated 100 million dollars worth of wild animals and fish each year just in California. Poaching is a worldwide issue that has roots in many poor and wealthy nations. Donating to organizations that work to stop poaching is a great way to be part of the solution. Help spread the word via online or in real life; many different websites allow for the further education of poaching and its harmful effects. Some examples are the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Conservation Force, sites by the Unity Environmental University, and Stop Poaching Now.
