Kaza-Wide Aerial Survey of Elephants Launched (Windhoek)
Donald Matthys, Namibia Economist
November 18, 2021
The partner states of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area
(KAZA TFCA), Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe last week
launched the first-ever coordinated aerial survey of elephants in Windhoek.
Speaking at the launch, Executive Director in the Ministry of Environment,
Forestry and Tourism, Theofilus Nghitila said the survey is a fundamental
component of the KAZA Strategic Planning Framework for the Conservation and
Management of Elephants.
“The survey will be coordinated by the KAZA Secretariat in close
collaboration with designated teams in each of the Partner States and will
be based on the recently revised Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Monitoring the Illegal Killing
of Elephants aerial survey standards,” Nghitila added.
The survey will run from July 2022 to August 2022, with an expected cost of
nearly US$3 million. Results from the survey will contribute significantly
towards the decisions on the sustainable management of KAZA’s elephant
population.
The KAZA elephant population is the largest contiguous transboundary
elephant population in the world, inhabiting KAZA’s diverse landscape which
is home to an estimated population of two million people and has a
geographic scope of approximately 520 000km².
https://economist.com.na/66216/environment/kaza-wide-aerial-survey-of-elephants-launched/