This main goal of this Master's Degree Project was to design a non-government
organization based strategy for Botswana that could improve the relationship between the
African Elephant and people living in its range. To achieve this goal, this project
critically explored 1) African Elephant conservation priorities; 2) natural history of
Afrifan Elephants; 3) Botswana's elephant and human population composition: 4)
community based natural resource management; 5) current status of human-elephant
conflict from a government, NGO and private operator perspective; 6) existing NGO and
government strategies aimed at minimizing human-elephant conflict; 7) current village
experience living with elephants and ideas aimed at conflict resolution; 8) possible
Botswana NGO design options and critical factors for strategy success. Through
application of participatory research methods, individuals representing non-government
organizations, the Government of Botswana, private sector, academia and communities
living within elephant range were actively engaged in co-creating an NGO strategy that
met their specific elephant concerns and general natural resource management priorities.
Two distinct non-governmental initiatives - the Living With Efephants Foundation and
the PROBE Fund - were a direct outcome of this project. This document describes how
these initiatives were developed and implemented. An update on how these initiatives are
currently weathering implementation is also provided, along with recommendations for
future sustainability.