Southern Africa’s expanding elephant population, now exceeding 230,000 across the region, is increasingly recognised as a landmark success in global conservation. Yet this ecological achievement is giving rise to complex challenges, particularly the escalation of human-wildlife conflict, with Zimbabwe positioned at the centre of this emerging dilemma.
Zimbabwe’s elephant population has experienced consistent growth over the past decade, rising from an estimated 84,000–90,000 in 2014 to over 100,000 in 2024, according to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. This increase—averaging around five percent annually—is attributed to coordinated national conservation policies, regional cooperation, and robust international funding.
Key partners such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the European Union, and the German government have collectively channelled millions into biodiversity preservation across Southern Africa. Under the EU’s “Natural Africa Programme”, approximately $36 million has been allocated to support conservation, bolster sustainable development, and enhance the management of national parks.
Zimbabwe remains integral to the Southern African Development Community’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), a network of cross-border protected regions including Kavango-Zambezi, Great Limpopo, and Mana Pools. These corridors are designed to protect migratory paths for elephants, rhinos, and other endangered species by enabling them to move freely across 11 national boundaries.
However, with wildlife populations flourishing, communities living adjacent to these protected zones are facing rising threats. Elephants, in search of water and forage, increasingly stray beyond reserve borders. In regions such as Hwange, Mbire, Chiredzi, and Kariba, encounters with humans have resulted in crop destruction, livestock predation, and even fatalities.
The spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s wildlife authority, Tinashe Farawo, disclosed that over 200 elephants had been translocated from the Save Valley in recent years. Yet, he acknowledged that these interventions remain limited in scope and cost-intensive. Domingos Gove, Director for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources at the SADC Secretariat, reported that dozens of people lose their lives annually due to wildlife incidents across the region.
Local leaders and conservation advocates increasingly argue that community engagement and benefit-sharing are vital if rural populations are to act as guardians of protected landscapes. Employment creation, infrastructure, and equitable resource access are seen as prerequisites for ensuring grassroots support for conservation.
Professor Andrew Nambota of the Peace Parks Foundation stressed that communities must be viewed not merely as stakeholders, but as custodians of conservation efforts. In parallel, WWF Zimbabwe’s Country Director, Itai Chibaya, highlighted that in the Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe corridor, nature-based tourism already contributes significantly to local economies. Ecotourism underpins approximately 10% of GDP in several SADC states and supports over three million jobs, particularly benefiting youth and women.
Nonetheless, Chibaya warned that threats from climate change, infrastructure expansion, and underfunded conservation projects endanger long-term biodiversity gains. Fragmented ecosystems resulting from mining and development disrupt migration corridors and weaken the resilience of protected areas.
To address these multifaceted issues, the recent SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas Summit, held in Harare under the banner “25 Years of Cooperation for Regional Integration and Sustainable Development”, called for inclusive and adaptive conservation strategies. In a key address, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced Zimbabwe’s introduction of a blockchain-based national carbon registry—an initiative intended to promote accountability and generate sustainable financing through carbon credit markets.
Experts suggest that carbon credits derived from reforestation and conservation activities could become a crucial funding mechanism, provided communities are meaningfully included in both governance and benefit-sharing models.
Yet significant policy barriers remain. Zimbabwe retains over 130 tonnes of ivory from natural deaths and anti-poaching operations, valued at approximately $600 million. However, under current CITES restrictions, the country is prohibited from trading this stockpile—limiting its ability to fund conservation through these potential proceeds.
As the summit concluded, SADC leaders reiterated the importance of developing country-specific strategies to reduce human-wildlife conflict, advocating for legislative reforms and innovative financing models to ensure long-term conservation outcomes across the region.
