People and elephants share landscapes throughout Mozambique. Here elephant conservation management focuses on protected areas but fails to address the conflict that exists between elephants and people. In this thesis I develop a landscape approach to conflict mitigation that is designed to accommodate the needs of people and of elephants in human-dominated landscapes. Mozambique faces a dilemma: politically it is required to reduce poverty while at the same time adhere to international agreements and requirements to protect biodiversity with relatively scarce financial resources. Reactive mitigation of human-elephant conflict (HEC) at the site-specific scale have proven to be costly and with low efficacy. A shift from reactive to proactive HEC mitigation approaches at the county-wide scale (e.g. a district level, the administrative planning body) may provide opportunities to reconcile such apparent contrasting requirements in Mozambique. The elephant population of Mozambique is fragmented and remnant sub-populations are limited to clusters of protected areas in a matrix of human-dominated landscapes. A meta-population perspective may accommodate this spatial structuring and allow for a conservation plan that ensures population persistence and moderate impacts with other species in the landscape. I assessed HEC throughout human-dominated landscapes of Mozambique to examine some assumptions associated with the landscape approach advocated here. I used spatially explicit human activity data, landscape features and elephant distribution at the grid cell of 25 km2 and at the district scale to test the practicality of landscape approaches to elephant conservation and mitigating HEC in the human-dominated landscapes of Mozambique. I then tested whether human activities have significant impacts on elephant numbers and distribution across Mozambique. Furthermore I tested if the costs and benefits of sharing space with elephants influenced HEC. Thereafter, I explored at the grain scale of 25 km2 if the degree of overlap between them on the use of resources can be used to predict the likelihood of HEC across the landscape. Direct and indirect human activities explained trends and rates of elephant population changes in Mozambique. Because most rural households of Mozambique rely on subsistence farming by extracting or cropping from the land, primarily for their own purposes, living close to elephant refuge areas represented a potential risk to humans. However, conflict with elephants does not centre on food security, but on lifestyle being affected by the presence of elephants, which itself was a function of human density. Rodents and insects are the primary agents responsible for food loss during food storage. HEC was not a function of elephant density – a combination of human density, percent cultivated area and human population growth rate best explained HEC incidences. Although at human densities beyond 60 people/km2, elephants disappeared, at low levels of land transformation and low human densities people and elephants co-existed, which may induce higher incidences of HEC. Proximity to roads and suitable land for agriculture were the best predictors for HEC in the rural areas of Mozambique. These results imply spatially driven causes of HEC. These findings supported assumptions that conservation landscapes embedded in different land uses that accommodate ecological needs of people and elephants as well as the likelihood of severity of HEC can ensure elephant conservation without forcing people into poverty. While reactive HEC mitigation actions at site-specific scales are attractive for local communities, proactive measures at the landscape scale may be more effective in the rural context of the distributional range of elephants in Mozambique. HEC can be mitigated proactively through an effective land-use planning that involves zonation and implementation. To address this I extrapolated the relevant findings from resources selection functions models at the 25 km2 grain scale for study locations to a country-wide scale and proposed a model of a likelihood of HEC. The country-wide HEC model yielded high predictive power and confirmed protected areas as sites of high elephant dependability. These models indicate focal areas for short to medium term reactive HEC mitigation measures and local community programs at specific site level. This dissertation suggests that human and elephant co-existence is possible in Mozambique. The apparent increase of HEC is not a function of numbers of elephants but of improper land use planning. In this thesis I argue in favour of a landscape approach to mitigate conflict between elephants and people. This approach should be considered in all national plans that aim to reduce conflict and enhance conservation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

In many parts of Africa, large herbivores find their way into private lands, competing for forage with livestock and destroying crops. In Kenya, elephants (Loxodonta africana) pose a real threat to subsistence farmers at the interface between the elephants’ range and agricultural land. Conservation and land use strategies and policies in Kenya do not take into account the needs of the rural poor and tend to prioritise wildlife protection at the expense of the people. At the same time, rapid population growth has put protected areas under intense pressure through encroachment. Human-elephant conflict is only a microcosm of the wider ecological struggle for survival between humans and wildlife. In this study, data is analysed on the human-elephant conflict in the subsistence smallholder farming areas in south-western Laikipia. The study investigated the human-elephant conflict patterns and the various measures deployed by smallholder farmers to protect their crops from elephant incursions. The results show that: 1) Crop raiding is the most common form of HEC in Laikipia, 2) Farmers in Laikipia extensively deployed traditional techniques, 3) Contrary to the widely held inefficacy of these techniques, they were effective in the short term, 4) Most HEC incidents were not detected while in progress and 5) The Kenya Wildlife Service was unable to attend to many complaints despite nearly all the incidents being reported. Based on the interpretation of the results, two models for coping with human-elephant conflict are identified: 1) To strengthen the capacities (traditional conflict mitigation techniques) and the knowledge of the local people sharing their landscape with elephants to cope with human-elephant conflict and 2) The promotion of alternative livelihoods that consider wildlife compatible practices through a comprehensive land use and conservation policy review to integrate both human and wildlife needs.

This study examined the role volunteer tourism played in the conservation of elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A case study was conducted to determine whether volunteer tourism at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) had an effect on elephant conservation. Specifically, this study looked at how volunteer tourism and the ENP had an impact on: non-volunteer tourists, elephants, the local economy, and government policy. Mixed methods were used to attain the data in this study. Self-administered questionnaires were created to determine the impact volunteer tourism had on non-volunteer tourists. Results showed an increase in non-volunteer tourists’ awareness of elephant tourism, volunteer tourism and elephant conservation during the time they spent at the park. Self-administered questionnaires were also used to determine whether members of the local community felt they were receiving economic or social benefits from volunteer tourism and the ENP. The data showed that community participants felt they were receiving both economic and social benefits but their responses varied depending on sex, age, and how long they had lived in the region. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to determine the role the ENP had on the conservation of elephants in Thailand and government policy. Interviewees consisted of experts in the industry who were knowledgeable about elephant tourism, volunteer tourism, and the ENP. The data indicated that the ENP created awareness about elephant conservation issues with non-volunteer tourists, volunteers, the community, and government officials. However, the ENP did not have any measureable effect on government policy. The model of volunteer tourism utilized by the Elephant Nature Park has been shown to be effective in conserving the domestic elephant and in creating awareness about domestic elephant conservation issues in Thailand.

This study examined the role volunteer tourism played in the conservation of elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A case study was conducted to determine whether volunteer tourism at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) had an effect on elephant conservation. Specifically, this study looked at how volunteer tourism and the ENP had an impact on: non-volunteer tourists, elephants, the local economy, and government policy. Mixed methods were used to attain the data in this study. Self-administered questionnaires were created to determine the impact volunteer tourism had on non-volunteer tourists. Results showed an increase in non-volunteer tourists’ awareness of elephant tourism, volunteer tourism and elephant conservation during the time they spent at the park. Self-administered questionnaires were also used to determine whether members of the local community felt they were receiving economic or social benefits from volunteer tourism and the ENP. The data showed that community participants felt they were receiving both economic and social benefits but their responses varied depending on sex, age, and how long they had lived in the region. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to determine the role the ENP had on the conservation of elephants in Thailand and government policy. Interviewees consisted of experts in the industry who were knowledgeable about elephant tourism, volunteer tourism, and the ENP. The data indicated that the ENP created awareness about elephant conservation issues with non-volunteer tourists, volunteers, the community, and government officials. However, the ENP did not have any measureable effect on government policy. The model of volunteer tourism utilized by the Elephant Nature Park has been shown to be effective in conserving the domestic elephant and in creating awareness about domestic elephant conservation issues in Thailand.

Cette thèse examine les principaux déterminants des stratégies de subsistance des ménages ruraux. Elle cherche à comprendre comment ces stratégies impactent la déforestation à petite échelle et la conservation de la biodiversité suivant une approche paysagère. A partir d’une base de données unique obtenue grâce à une enquête en face-à-face auprès d’un échantillon représentatif de 1035 ménages dans le paysage transfrontalier de conservation du Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (Tridom-TCL)-Bassin du Congo, cette thèse vise à répondre à trois questions et s’organise en trois chapitres. Le premier chapitre analyse "comment les ménages autochtones et locaux formulent leurs préférences parmi les stratégies et moyens d’existence” à l’aide d’un model Probit autorégressif spatial. Le deuxième chapitre examine "comment et à quelle amplitude ces stratégies impactent la déforestation à petite échelle" à l’aide d’un modèle de décalage spatial. Compte tenu de la nature des interactions entre les ménages et de la faune, de leurs principales activités, le troisième chapitre examine "les préférences des ménages pour la conservation des éléphants de forêt” à l’aide des modèles à variable qualitatives limitées.Les actifs financiers (transfert d’argent et emprunts), la distance au marché, les dommages résultant des conflits homme-éléphant et l’ethnicité, plus précisément, l’autochtonie comptent parmi les facteurs déterminants des choix de stratégies de subsistance des ménages ruraux dans le Tridom-TCL. Nous montrons en outre que l’intensité de déforestation des ménages varie significativement en fonction de ces stratégies de subsistance. Par conséquent, les engagements en faveur de la réduction de la déforestation peuvent être favorisés par une bonne prise en compte des facteurs qui gouvernent les choix des modes de subsistance opérés par les ménages. Ils peuvent également être favorisés par la prise en compte les interactions entre ménages ainsi que leur localisation dans le paysage. En effet, nous trouvons qu’il existe des effets d’imitation, dans la décision de déforestation, entre les ménages d’un même voisinage, avec des effets spatiaux indirects susceptibles d’amplifier la déforestation à petite échelle.Les solutions transversales, aux trois questions abordées dans cette thèse, en faveur d’un paysage durable devraient viser l’optimisation des compromis entre les stratégies de subsistance des ménages, les forêts et/ou les habitats naturels de la faune. Les décideurs devraient, par exemple, procéder à l’intégration des corridors de mobilité de grands mammifères dont les éléphants de forêt, dans des zones à forte concentration de la faune et loin des espaces communautaires afin de réduire le risque de conflits hommes-faune. / This thesis investigates the key drivers of rural households’ choices of livelihoods, and how these choices impact forest clearing and biodiversity conservation under a landscape approach. Using a novel and unique database obtained from a face-to-face survey with a representative sample of 1035 households in the Dja-Odzala-Minkébé trinational transboundary conservation landscape (Tridom-TCL)- Congo basin , this PhD thesis address three main questions investigated in three chapters. Using a spatial probit model, the first chapter investigates “how do local and indigenous households formulate their preferences among livelihoods strategies?” Using a spatial lag model, the second chapter investigates “how and how much do these livelihoods strategies, given wildlife constrains such as human-wildlife conflicts, impact smallscale deforestation?” Using corner solution models, the third chapter investigates "how the nature of the interactions among households and wildlife, the households’ main activities as well as their land holdings impact their willingness to pay to prevent endangered forest elephant extinction?”Among other, we find that livelihoods strategies are determined by autochthonous status, financial assets (money transfer and access to loan), distance to market and larger crop losses resulting from human-wildlife conflicts. Further, we show that livelihoods strategies are important for deforestation. Therefore, the commitments to reducing small-scale deforestation may be favored by a good consideration of factors that drive households’ livelihoods strategies. We find out that spatial issues seem to be important. Proximity among households yields spatial shift effects and spatial spillover effects that are likely to amplify small-scale deforestation. We also argue that, cross-cutting solutions towards a sustainable landscape considering these three crucial issues involve optimizing trade-off between households’ livelihoods strategies, forest and the natural habitats of fauna. Therefore, the issues of community land security, of where natural habitat is needed and of how it should be managed are at the core of the problem. For example, decision-makers should proceed with the integration of large mammals mobility corridors far away from the community settlements in order to enhance zero-conflict-oriented elephant habitats; corridors should be consistently placed relatively to high elephant-concentration zones without crossing into zones with denser human populations.