Yirmed Demeke
Director, WSD

A project entitled “Development of Management Plan, Community-based Wildlife Conservation and Ecotourism Development in Babille Elephant Sanctuary and Adjacent Localities, Ethiopia” has been carried out by the Wildlife for Sustainable Development (WSD) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) as of March 2008. Most project activities have been carried out as per the initial plan. The project is financially supported by the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center through the Forum for Environment as fund holding institution.

 Sand bathing of bachelor bulls in Gobele Valley, Babille ES.

Major activities that the project has undertaken are:

1. Re-defining the boundaries of the Sanctuary,
2. Producing a comprehensive Sanctuary Management Plan,
3. Developing ecotourism through community participation,
4. Developing capacity of the Sanctuary, local communities, and the WSD,
5. Providing the detail accounts of elephants’ home range through GPS satellite telemetry, and
6. Reducing the rate of loss of wildlife habitats and minimizing the illegal killing of elephants.

The development of ecotourism particularly on elephants of Babille ES supported by the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite telemetry has started its service. The project deployed satellite collars on three bulls and satellite data have began received from collared elephants since August 2008.

Latest made collars manufactured by the DATA SCOUT in South Africa were used. So far, the collars have provided indispensable data. Such satellite-based elephant tracking is the first successful project in Ethiopia.