The African Elephant Conservation Fund Grant to Enhance Sustainable African Elephant Conservation

The African Elephant Conservation Fund is soliciting project proposals for the conservation of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) throughout its range. In 1988 Congress passed the African Elephant Conservation Act in response to the alarming decline. The Act provides for the establishment of an African Elephant Conservation Fund to provide financial assistance to support projects that will enhance sustainable conservation programs to ensure effective, long-term conservation of African elephants.

The African Elephant Conservation Fund supports projects that promote conservation through:
• Applied research on elephant populations and their habitat, including surveys and monitoring;
• Development and execution of elephant conservation management plans;
• Compliance with applicable treaties and laws that prohibit or regulate the taking or trade of elephants or regulate the use and management of elephant habitat;
• Conservation education and community outreach;
• Enhanced protection of at-risk elephant populations;
• Efforts to decrease human-elephant conflict;
• Habitat conservation and management;
• Protected area/reserve management in important elephant range;
• Strengthening local capacity to implement conservation programs;
• Transfrontier elephant conservation; and
• Wildlife inspection, law enforcement, and forensics skills.

Proposed project work should occur within the range of the African elephant, or, if work is to be conducted outside of the range, the proposal should show a clear relevance to African elephant conservation. Applied research projects should address specific management needs and actions, and threats from emerging issues such as disease and climate change that affect the species and their habitats.