Ellies under the spotlight

President Hage Geingob yesterday attended the world's biggest elephant population summit in the town of Kasane in Botswana. The much-publicised elephant conference kicked off on 3 May and culminated in a Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) heads of state meeting yesterday. State House confirmed in a statement that Geingob, who is also chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), would embark on a one-day trip to Kasane. Geingob will participate in the summit at the invitation of the Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. The summit is taking place under the theme 'Towards a common vision for the management of southern Africa's elephants'.Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta meanwhile attended the SADC environment ministers' meeting during the summit which focussed on issues of the 18th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES Cop18).Shifeta said in his statement that the involvement of local communities is crucial to ensure that they benefit sustainably from co-existing and conserving elephants.“The resolutions of the summit are very important in assisting the region to move forward as they will now speak with one voice on issues of conservation, and in particular elephant management,” he said. The summit seeks to raise awareness on the current status of the African elephants in the southern African region, exchange ideas on human-elephant conflict, illegal and legal trade, and agree on concrete interventions to address challenges.The African elephant has been subject of much discussion in international fora such as CITES. A moratorium on international trade has been in place since 2008 until 2017, but illegal trade has increased. Meanwhile ivory stocks held by countries whose populations are under Appendix II have continued to grow placing a burden on these countries to secure those resources.Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia want to sell their stockpiles and are lobbying CITES to allow them to do so.The summit is therefore important as the issue of wildlife conservation and trophy hunting has become the subject of intense debate, with most international media criticising the region over the alleged cruel killing of animals. Although elephants are endangered globally, southern African elephants are not.The call within the region is that communities must benefit and efforts are being made throughout the region to ensure that communities which bear the brunt of wildlife benefit. Southern Africa is home to the largest population of elephants on the continent, with 75% of these elephants found within the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. In 1995, Namibia had about 7 000 elephants, in 2004 the total population was estimated at about 16 000 animals, while the current figure is just over 22 000 elephants, the highest recorded number since population surveys commenced. ELLANIE SMIT

Ellies under the spotlight

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-01

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Ellies under the spotlight

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-01

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