Habitat Destruction // Current

Breaking news: House energy bill passes 236-189

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Polar bears 'could become extinct' because of melting ice

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Thousands of Australia's koalas killed by land-clearing: WWF

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McCain Running Mate Palin Faces State Investigation (Update1)

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MALI: Saving elephants, saving communities |

Implementers of an international project to help endangered elephants in Mali want to prove that by doing so, they can also help local communities adapt to climate change in the Sahel.

The Malian government lists elephants in Gourma in the country's far desert north as highly endangered. A drought in the 1970’s killed most of the country's elephants leading the population to dwindle from several thousand down to 350.

Often seen near Lake Banzena, about 400 kilometres south of Gao, these elephants have the largest migration route of any known elephant group according to the World Bank-funded Gourma Biodiversity Conservation Project (PCVBGE), with an estimated home range of 30,000 square kilometres.
But conservationists say that climate change is leading to increased tensions as elephants and the local population vie for access to water.

Friend or foe?

"The drought in the Sahel in the 1970's created a shortage of watering holes," says Namory Traore, a director at Mali’s National Centre for Nature Conservation.
As climate change affects more people in this desert country, Lake Banzena has become one of the last remaining water sources for both animals and people. The nearby Lake Gossi, about 150 kilometres south of Gao, has begun to dry out, and there are fears that the region can no longer support even this smaller elephant population.

Many inhabitants of Gourma have turned to agriculture as desertification is making pastoral life increasingly difficult. Now, thirsty elephants are beginning to raid their newly-cultivated fields.

"Sometimes the elephants even break into our reserves and chase people to get the fruits, because they don't have enough water," says Alou Tambura, a herder in Haire, about 150 kilometres from Lake Banzena.

The World Bank-funded biodiversity project is designed to protect both animals and humans in drought-prone regions. Its main focus is to facilitate elephants' passage through inhabited areas.

For more on this stroy: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80079Implementers of an international project to help endangered elephants in Mali want to prove that by doing so, they can also help... more