Interplay Among African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta Africana L.), Vegetations, and Humans in Kafta Sheraro National Park, Western Tigray: Implications for the Park Sustainability
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2024-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study took place in Kafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP), a dry woodland and riparian forest habitat for elephants. Changes in the cover of this vegetation within and around the park are the basic driving forces of habitat change and human-elephant conflict (HEC). In the past ten years, HEC has been increasing due to the widespread conversion of woodland and riparian forests into cropland. The communities adjacent to the KSNP are profoundly dependent on natural resources, which affect the wildlife habitat; consequently, park management intervention is challenging. This study aims to investigate the interaction among elephants, vegetation, and humans, which in turn helps to determine the implications for park sustainability. Landsat sensors of the TM, ETM+, and OLI images (1988 to 2018) and ground truth points were applied to assess the land use/land cover (LULC) change and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) features. The vegetation data were collected from 161 plots, each with a size of 400 m2 for trees and shrubs, while subplot sizes of 100 m2 for saplings and 25 m2 for seedlings were established in the main plot. A diameter ≥2.5 cm and height ≥2 m were measured for trees and shrubs. The elephant food choice and its utilization effects on plant species were identified via direct field walk records on 112 plots. The drivers of LULC change, HEC, and the community‟s attitude of conservation were surveyed using randomly selected 395 households with questionnaire interviews focused on five basic questions/areas of interest, seven focus group discussions each averaging 12 to 38 respondents, and 32 key informant interviews. The LULC change results (1988 to 2018) showed that woodland and riparian vegetation decreased by 29.38% (367.85 km2) and 47.11% (39.46 km2), respectively, whereas shrub-bushland, grassland, bare land, and cultivated land increased by 35.28% (132.27 km2), 43.47% (161.31 km2), 27.52% (8.02 km2), and 118.36 km2, respectively. According to the results of the NDVI, high to moderate vegetation decreased by 21.47% (464.6 km2), while sparse and nonvegetation expanded by 19.8% (428.1 km2) and 1.7% (36.5 km2), respectively. However, there was a continuous decline in woodland cover. The park harbors 70 woody plant species, with 65.7% trees, 25.7% shrubs, and 8.6% trees shrubs. The total basal area and density were 79.3 ± 4.6 m2 ha-1 and 466 ±12.8 stems ha-1. The dominant families were Fabaceae (16 species: 22.9%) and Combretaceae (8 species: 11.4%). Acacia mellifera, Combretum hartmannianum, Terminalia brownii, Balanites aegyptiaca, Dicrostachy scinerea, Acacia senegal, Acacia oerfota, Boswellia papyrifera, Ziziphus spina-christi, and Anogeissus leiocarpus were the most dominant and frequent species. The regeneration status of woody plant species in the park was categorized as “none” (73.45%), “poorly” (7.81%), and “fairly” (18.75%) regenerated”. Expansion of settlement and cropland, human-induced fires, fuelwood collection, and gold mining were the major proximate drivers that significantly Page iii of 198
affected park resources. Forty-seven wild plant species and 12 cultivated crop species were utilized by elephants; among the wild plant species, 2.7% of seedlings and saplings and 97.3% of the mature stem plants were used. Acacia mellifera (23.9%), Balanites aegyptiaca (10.3%), Acacia oerfota (7.7%), Dicrostachys scinerea (7.2%), Acacia senegal (7.2%), and Hyphaene thebaica (5.7%) contributed the most to the elephant feed. The elephants selected strongly more than 41% of common wild woody species, while Combretum hartmannianum and Boswellia papyrifera, which are the most frequent in the park, were not utilized. Leaves/branches accounted for 85% of elephant consumption during the wet season, while 57.4% of the bark contributed to the diet in the late dry season. During the rainy season, the coverage of seasonal crops increased, leading to higher consumption in the period when Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) reached its peak. Due to the expansion of cultivation by 118.36 km2, elephant crop damage has continued to become a serious problem, and 72.2% of respondents confirmed that elephant damage to crops has increased in recent years. Crop damage was significantly (p< 0.001) affected by the distance between the settlement and the park and was relatively high as cropland was found inside and at the border of the park. The respondents, 81.99% and 44.95%, used gun sounds/banging noise materials and lighting fires/flashlights as the most common protection methods for elephant crop damage. The communities had both positive and negative attitudes toward the conservation of KSNP and elephants. The negative attitude was related to competition for park resources, conflicts between residents and park managers, and elephant crop damage. The awareness and attitude of the communities toward KSNP and elephant conservation significantly varied with age, education level, distance between settlement and park border, and crop damage trends (p<0.001). However, there is a good initiation for the conservation of the KSNP; the woodland habitat was affected by human-induced LULC change because the livelihood of local communities depends on crop and livestock production. The expansion of farming reduced the wildlife habitat, and crop fields were the key areas where HEC occurred, which is a challenge for the survival of elephants. Elephant crop damage negatively impacted community attitudes toward elephant conservation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop strategies for sustainable land resource management and wildlife conservation by encouraging community participation to protect the KSNP woodland habitat and adjacent natural resources. This approach will help to restore woodland habitat at the same time to minimize human-elephant conflict (HEC).
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Keywords
Land Use/Land Cover Change, Woody Species Regeneration, Human-Elephant Conflict, Communities Attitude, Wildlife Conservation, Elephant Diet