Implementing the African Elephant Action Plan

EPI member states are committed to developing and implementing National Elephant Action Plans (NEAPs). These NEAPs provide each country with comprehensive guidance for elephant conservation, consistent at a national level with the 2010 (revised in 2023) African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP), which was adopted by all 37 African elephant range states in consultation with the CITES Secretariat and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Kenya NEAP workshop in 2022 with EPI Foundation's Dr. Winnie Kiiru seated in the centre

The EPI Foundation has worked closely with EPI member states to develop NEAPs. These NEAPs cover such diverse areas as the management of human-elephant conflict, the involvement of local communities in conservation, land-use planning, and combating poaching and the illegal ivory trade. (In 2013, the Standing Committee of CITES requested that countries identified as being of concern for their role in the illegal ivory trade, whether as source, transit, or demand countries, develop National Ivory Action Plans, or NIAPs, and actions stipulated in these have been incorporated into NEAPs.)

Over the years, the EPI Foundation has developed several criteria for NEAPs. The most recently revised guidelines (2021) stress the importance of spatial planning to minimise the human-elephant interface, thereby reducing human-elephant conflict (HEC) and maintaining connectivity between wildlife habitats despite accelerating climate change. The 2021 guidelines also include strategies on how to finance NEAP implementation and integrate these plans with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 All NEAPs must:

1. Be prepared with the full participation of the relevant country authorities.

2. Align with the objectives of the African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP). Have a duration of at least 10 years.

3. Contain a detailed medium-term implementation plan, along with a monitoring and evaluation plan that includes targets and indicators.

4. Identify the long-term actions necessary to achieve the NEAP’s goals.

5. Be “SMART” (i.e., specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound).

6. Include a clear process for monitoring implementation through the appointment of a NEAP Coordinator and a National Elephant Action Plan Coordination Committee (NEAPCC), as outlined in our 2021 manual, ‘Monitoring & Evaluation Framework for NEAPs’.

Between 2015 and 2024, 11 African countries were developed and finalised NEAPs with the support of the EPI Foundation.

Since 2015, 11 African countries have developed and finalised NEAPs with the support of the EPI Foundation. This has been done through a consultative process involving workshops, community meetings, and reviews of existing strategies and plans. These plans provide countries with a blueprint for the effective and efficient conservation of their elephant populations. They have helped countries source external funds for elephant conservation but also to allocate more of their resources towards this objective.