About the African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG)

Background

The African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) is a group of technical experts focusing on the conservation and management of African elephants. The broad aim of the AfESG is to promote the long-term conservation of Africa's elephants and, where possible, the recovery of their population to viable levels. The full terms of reference of the Group can be found here (PDF - 10 KB).

Led by a volunteer Chair (currently Dr. Holly Dublin), the group consists of some 45 volunteer members drawn from all parts of the continent. All members are actively involved in some aspect of elephant conservation and/or management. Membership is reviewed and reappointed approximately every three years.

The group meets approximately every one to two years to review status and trends of elephant populations and to discuss progress in specific areas related to conservation of the species.

Since it was first convened in the mid 1970's, the AfESG has considerably grown in size and complexity. There are at present three AfESG offices, the AfESG secretariat in Nairobi (Kenya), the AfESG West Africa Programme Office (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) and the Central Africa Programme Office (Yaounde, Cameroon). Full-time staff has been provided to facilitate the work of the group and to better serve the members' needs.

Aims

The challenge of the group is to find workable solutions to country and regional problems in an open-minded atmosphere devoid of deliberate controversies. To meet this challenge, the AfESG has provided technical expertise and advice by helping to facilitate the development of national and sub-regional conservation strategies.

The group has also helped in the development of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) system for monitoring the illegal killing of elephants (MIKE).

In addition, the AfESG has assisted in the organisation, facilitation and technical preparation of the Range States Dialogue process together with the CITES secretariat. This process has been instrumental in moving towards regional consensus on controversial elephant issues.

Future

The AfESG will continue to provide sound, interdisciplinary scientific information to aid in decision making and action. The group will strive to maintain its focus on conservation action on the ground and the on capacity building to manage the species and the challenges it faces.

Photo : Cynthia Moss, Pachyderm cover photo (Issue 28, January - June 2000)

The AfESG is grateful to the European Commission, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, WWF International and the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and others for their generous funding of AfESG's its core activities and specialised conservation action. The AfESG is also grateful to the companies that have donated software and other resources.

Parts of this website have been produced with financial assistance of the European Community. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Community.