Fencing Peace Between Farmers and Forest Elephants

Gabon holds the world's largest stronghold of African forest elephants, estimated at roughly 95,000 animals, and their crop raids threaten the food security of subsistence farmers across all nine provinces. In partnership with the Gabonese government and funded by the Central African Forest Initiative, Space for Giants has installed around 1,458 mobile electric fences that keep elephants out of farmland while leaving their forest habitat intact. The program has generated more than 3,000 additional fence requests from communities and has positively impacted an estimated 21,807 people, and now also pilots elephant-damage insurance to compensate villagers when conflict does occur.