Support for the Conservation of Biodiversity in the Ziama Classified Forest

The Ziama Biosphere Reserve is located in the south-east of Guinea, 1,000 km from Conakry. This 119,000 ha forest is home to endangered species: forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis, VU), West African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus, EN), giant pangolins (Smutsia gigantea, NT ) and pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis, EN). The threats weighing on the Reserve and its biodiversity are land clearing through the expansion of shifting cultivation, increased human-wildlife conflicts, poaching and overexploitation of wood and non-wood forest products (rattan and medicinal plants).

The NGO ACAD has been working in the Ziama area since 2011, because it implemented there with the support of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) an elephant conservation project, which has improved the conservation of Ziama elephants and their habitat, but above all to initiate the process of conflict management through support for the organization of communities affected by elephant damage.

The main objective of this project is to contribute to the reduction of human-elephant conflicts by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and by training farmers on methods of pushing back elephants around crops. Four villages with 1,000 people will directly benefit from the project.