Liwonde Fence Project, Malawi

Liwonde National Park is arguably Malawi’s most important Park. Though small, it is home to an estimated 1,000 elephants and is surrounded entirely by densely populated human communities. Due to the close proximity, human-elephant interactions are a given and this is often manifested in conflict where elephants impact negatively on human livelihoods.

IFAW has been contributing to human-elephant conflict mitigation and law enforcement training in Liwonde for seven years. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Malawi has adopted a robust interventionist strategy for Liwonde to combat the conflict through the construction and maintenance of fences in key conflict hotspots. With the goal of promoting harmonious coexistence between both people and the elephants, IFAW has been supporting this initiative, specifically the upgrading and maintenance of this sophisticated electrical fencing system, since 2000. Most recently, in 2007, IFAW bestowed a grant of US$ 60,000.

Amos Chinseu in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Chinseu is a ranger with the Liwonde National Park in Malawi.
Photo © IFAW