INTERVENTION SUMMARY
The Ruvuma Elephant Project (REP) in southern Tanzania was a comprehensive anti-poaching initiative designed to curb elephant poaching for ivory. The project focused on community-managed lands situated between the Selous Game Reserve and Niassa National Reserve. Key components of REP included community engagement, joint patrols, intelligence-led operations, aerial surveillance, and human-elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation. Over 200 village game scouts and government rangers were trained and actively deployed to patrol high-risk areas, with patrols frequently adjusted based on intelligence and surveillance data. An informant network was established, incentivized through rewards for actionable information, which also served to enhance community participation. Monthly aerial surveys were conducted to map elephant distribution, identify poaching hotspots, and track carcass locations. REP worked closely with local communities to build trust, provide educational resources, and support alternative livelihoods. This integrated approach combined law enforcement, community partnerships, and real-time data collection, representing a significant shift from traditional, single-agency protected area patrols.
INTERVENTION DETAILS
What was the problem?
Between 2009 and 2011, Tanzania's Selous-Niassa ecosystem experienced some of Africa's highest elephant poaching rates. Elephant populations in the Ruvuma Elephant area faced risk of poaching for ivory. Poachers came from outside, and they were aided by locals. Poor law enforcement, weak governance structures, and political and military conflicts facilitated poaching and illicit trade. An aerial census in late 2013 estimated the elephant population at 13,084, down significantly from 70,406 in 2006 and 38,975 in 2009.
What was the Intervention and How was it Implemented?
Joint Field Patrols and Operations: This intervention started with training game scouts and rangers in basic anti-poaching skills and case preparation. About 200 game scouts from local villages were selected for the training. In the next stage, they implemented joint field patrols on an ongoing basis, typically consisting of village game scouts accompanied by wildlife officials or rangers. Patrols focused on areas with high elephant density and poaching incidents. The operations involved aerial surveillance to locate illegal activity, identify poaching hotspot areas, and understand elephant distribution. (Increase the Risks - extend guardianship)
Intelligence-led Operations and Informer Rewards: These operations targeted key actors in poaching supply chain both within and outside the protected area. This included focusing on corrupt financiers in towns and cities and undertaking informer-led actions in villages where poachers lived. Substantially more arrests and seizures were made outside the actual protected areas in and around villages and community areas than within them. (Increase the Risks - extend guardianship)
Performance-based Ranger Incentives: This intervention aimed to motivate enforcement teams by providing incentives and rewards for good performance and results to those undertaking patrols and special operations, and to finance an informer network. (Reduce Provocations - reduce frustration and stress)
Human Elephant Conflict Mitigation Program: This program included erecting chili pepper fences and beehive fences for protecting communities crops against elephants to reduce elephant mortality resulting from Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC). (Reduce Provocations - avoid disputes)
Was the Intervention Effective, Ineffective, or Promising?
The Ruvuma Elephant Project intervention was effective in reducing elephant poaching and stabilizing local elephant populations in the Selous-Niassa ecosystem. A substantial annual decrease in the number of elephant carcasses was observed between December 2011 and November 2013. A total of 216 elephant carcasses (excluding suspected natural deaths) were observed in the first year of operation, which decreased significantly to 68 in the second year. Patrols and other law enforcement interventions implemented resulted in the seizure of 1,582 snares; 25,586 illegal timbers (pieces); 175 elephant tusks; 805 firearms; 1, 531 rounds of ammunition; six vehicles; 15 motorcycles; and the arrest of 563 people.
How do We Know?
The Ruvuma Elephant Project (REP) succeeded by combining community involvement, multi-agency collaboration, intelligence-led operations, adaptive patrol strategies, and robust law enforcement to tackle elephant poaching at its roots. It involved local communities through incentives, alternative livelihoods, and employment as scouts and informants, reducing their reliance on poaching while strengthening conservation partnerships. Targeted operations disrupted poaching networks, while aerial surveillance and patrols effectively prioritized enforcement. Improved case preparation and harsher sentencing deterred repeat offenders, and measures like chili pepper and beehive fences mitigated human-elephant conflicts. The intervention focused on both the situational factors of the poaching problem, and the underlying drivers of the problem, including socio-economic factors in local communities.
Were Conservation Outcomes Measured?
Yes, the number of live elephants observed over the same 24-month period (from 2011 and 2012) did not indicate a decline.
Source: Lotter, W., & Clark, K. (2014). Community involvement and joint operations aid effective anti-poaching in Tanzania. Parks, 20(1), 19-28.