This $2,093,420.28 Project Grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service through the African Elephant Conservation Fund (CFDA 15.620) to the non-profit organization Southern Tanzania Elephant. The four-year project aims to strengthen long-term security for elephants and their habitats in the Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem of Tanzania. Key activities include:
Strengthening patrol capacity and enhancing professionalism of 155 rangers and village game scouts through training; facilitating aerial support and conservation technology for early threat detection and strategic deployment of protection resources; and enhancing protected area and community capacity for mitigating human-elephant conflict. The project also seeks to diversify community livelihoods and improve household resilience through access to safe and low-interest credit via village savings and loans associations and beekeeping. Expected outcomes include reduced elephant poaching, growth of the elephant population, enhanced ranger and scout capacity, reduced human-elephant conflict, and increased community tolerance and resilience.