Strengthening protection of Tai National Park through the reduction of human-wildlife conflicts

The project area covers 10 villages in the sub-prefecture of Doba on the south-eastern edge of Taï National Park (PNT). The largest protected primary tropical forest, PNT covers an area of 536,016 hectares in south-western Côte d’Ivoire, in a quadrilateral formed by the towns of Guiglo, Buyo, San Pedro and Tabou. The PNT is home to a particularly impressive biodiversity, with around 1,300 species of vascular plants recorded, of which around 12% are endemic (Adou et al. 1994).

In recent years, the peripheral zone of the PNT has become the ‘new cocoa belt’ and an area of intensive oil palm and rubber tree production, thanks to waves of internal and foreign migration. This situation has contributed to exacerbating pressure on the PNT’s resources through extensive agriculture, poaching, illegal gold mining and rapid urbanisation, resulting in the increasing ecological isolation of the protected area. In fact, the agricultural front within the immediate boundaries of the PNT is estimated at more than 400 km. This high population density on the edge of the park has led to the emergence of human-wildlife conflicts (HWC). In fact, several complaints about damage to crops caused by elephants from the PNT have been recorded in recent years. Frequent cases involve the actions of forest elephants (Loxodonta Africana cyclotis, VU) in plantations located in the immediate vicinity of forests, in camps, and even in villages along their usual migration routes.

These actions lead to HICs, which are the cause of numerous deaths of humans and protected animals, injuries, economic losses and also the loss of elephant habitat. A balance between the sustainable conservation of animals, specifically forest elephants, and the maintenance of food security for local populations requires effective prevention and awareness-raising among local communities about HICs.

The aim of the project is therefore to strengthen the protection of Tai National Park by reducing human-wildlife conflicts involving elephants.