Zimbabwe’s elephant conservation strategy has come under renewed scrutiny as the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) convened a high-level workshop in Hwange to review and update the Zimbabwe Elephant Management Plan (2021–2025). The workshop served as a vital checkpoint for assessing the progress and shortcomings of the plan, identifying new threats, and crafting a long-term vision for managing the country’s growing elephant population.
First introduced in 1992, the elephant management plan was envisioned as a cornerstone policy to conserve the country’s iconic elephant herds while contributing to biodiversity and the broader socio-economic goals of the nation. However, the reality on the ground paints a more complex picture. Increasing human-elephant conflicts, worsening community vulnerability, and an acute lack of funding are challenging the very fabric of Zimbabwe’s conservation framework.
The Hwange workshop brought together stakeholders from conservation, community, scientific, and traditional leadership backgrounds. For the first time in the history of elephant-related meetings, five chiefs from Hwange District participated and voiced a stark warning, the communities living near elephant habitats continue to suffer without meaningful benefit. The chiefs lamented the disproportionate burden carried by local people who must coexist with elephants, citing rising incidents of crop destruction, resource competition, property damage, and in some tragic cases, human injury. Their call for tangible benefits and relief funds for injured persons struck a chord in a conversation long dominated by global trade debates and ecological assessments.
While the country boasts the second-largest elephant population in Africa, the challenges of managing this ecological success are becoming more apparent. Localised overabundance of elephants, especially in and around Hwange National Park, is fuelling tensions as rural livelihoods increasingly come under threat. At the heart of the problem lies a glaring financial gap. The current annual budget allocated to Hwange National Park stands at less than US$500,000, a figure dwarfed by the estimated US$21 million required to match the standard of management found in well-funded protected areas across Southern Africa.
Efforts to sustainably manage elephant populations are further complicated by global restrictions on trade in ivory and other wildlife products. While elephant poaching has declined in recent years, thanks in part to improved partnerships between government, NGOs, and international bodies, the lack of economic returns from regulated trade has left Zimbabwe with few alternatives to fund conservation at scale. Stakeholders agree that without a diversified and innovative funding model, conservation gains may be at risk of unravelling.
The workshop reaffirmed the urgent need for a unified, inclusive approach to elephant conservation, one that reflects not only ecological priorities but also the voices and welfare of the communities at the frontline of conservation. ZimParks officials reiterated that the success of any wildlife management strategy hinges on broad stakeholder collaboration and active public participation.
As Zimbabwe transitions from the current plan to a more ambitious ten-year strategy, ZimParks is inviting input from all stakeholders, including community members, researchers, conservationists, and policy experts. This next phase will seek to balance ecological sustainability with economic viability, and community resilience with biodiversity protection.
Contributions to the revised Elephant Management Plan are open until 18 July 2025 and can be directed to ZimParks Spokesperson Tinashe Farawo at tfarawo@zimparks.org.zw or via +263772433901.
The path ahead will demand courage, innovation, and compromise, but above all, it will require a shared understanding that conservation is not only about protecting wildlife, it is about safeguardi
ng the future of the people who live alongside it.
