Innholdsfortegnelse for April-June 2019 i Travel Africa

As the headlights dimmed and the engine cut, the stillness of the night surrounded us; my eyes taking a while to adjust to the darkness. Then I saw them: one, two, three – wait, no – nine, ten, twenty, maybe thirty, beautiful, twinkling fireflies darting across the sky. Soon they were all around us, the night lit up by hundreds of fireflies dancing to their own tune, in their own light show, directed by nature alone. It was my last night in the Republic of Congo and I was in the heart of Odzala National Park. This quiet, surreal moment gave me time to reflect on my amazing adventure in the park. With every day full of new experiences, I was finding it difficult to pick a highlight. Was it…

This is a city that rewards reflection, with a natural environment conducive to creativity. It is no surprise that good engaged ideas tend to incubate in Cape Town and execute in Johannesburg. Jo’burg is a place that makes things happen, Cape Town is where they are dreamed up. It helps that Table Mountain is a massive energy source, as well as fresh water source. (Talking of spring water, an absolute must-do is to visit the Newlands public spring water access point, and collect drinking water for your stay. The water is tested by South African Breweries, who use the water for their beer. And filtered as it is through the mountain’s rock structures, the minerality is rich. This is better than any bottled water). Here then, are some tips for drawing…

There are big sections of Cape Town where, as Grant Jurius puts it: “The Street is the gallery”. Cape Town is probably the capital of street art in South Africa, and we have a rich scope of stories of and about the city appearing in public spaces. Woodstock, Salt River, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha are rich in murals, with exquisite works by local and international artists. And the Dwars River Valley towns of Pniel, Kylemore, Johannesdal and Lanquedoc – one of the more recent street art clusters – are emerging. Many different tours have popped up around the works, with artists guiding and unpacking explorations into the murals and what they mean for the city. There’s a strong link between gentrification and street art; the art is sometimes the unwitting…

There’s no shortage of museums in Cape Town. We might not have London’s age – at not even 500 years old we are still a very young city – but we have many, many spaces dedicated to unpacking the stories of our past. Generally speaking, these spaces tend to focus on Cape Town as a colonial city, with very little space and time dedicated to the Cape Town that was known to indigenous people as !Camissa (‘the place of sweet waters’), the place before colonial powers arrived and setup shop. This situation speaks to the great disconnects in our timeline – it’s very easy to find out about the kind of chair that Jan van Riebeeck sat in back in 1699, and you can probably see it in an exhibition.…

The Mother in the Mountain For a very different perspective, head to the kramat at Signal Hill – for the stillness of the Kramat and the view of the mother in the mountain. A kramat is a Muslim shrine, a burial site for holy men. There are some 20 kramats around Cape Town, offering quiet spaces for contemplation. The Signal Hill kramat, where Sheikh Mohamed Hassen Ghaibie Shah is buried, is one of the only spaces in Cape Town that is open 24 hours a day, unprotected by security guards, burglar bars or anything that prevents access. And that makes it a particularly special space, a refuge or sorts from high fences and armed response units. Take off your shoes before entering and enjoy the stillness. Walk a little across…

Shaped like gaint butterfly spreading its wings across southern Africa, the kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) is one of the continent’s most biodiverse and enticing tourism regions. At its heart lies the irresistible Victoria Falls – a magnet to adrenaline junkies. But take a short hop north, east, south or west and you could ‡ind yourself in one of KAZA’s equally exciting national parks, reserves or wilderness areas. Using Victoria Falls or Livingstone as a hub, discover how to combine ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ with other highlights in KAZA – from the mini-Serengeti of Zambia’s Busanga Plains to the mesmerising salt pans of the Kalahari; from water-wonderlands like the Okavango and Kariba to wildlife strongholds like Chobe and Hwange. Covering an area the size of Spain, KAZA also includes…

1 See the Falls You’ll be spellbound. The world’s largest curtain of water — 1.7km wide and 108m tall — Victoria Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, the ‘Smoke that Thunders’. Spray rising from this colossal cataract can be visible from 50km away, but what makes this natural wonder so utterly mesmerising are the up-close, ground trembling, mist-drenching viewpoints. Make sure you take them in from both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides of the Zambezi. And if the pathways that weave through dripping rainforest to vertiginous lookouts over Main Falls, Devil’s Cataract or Rainbow Falls are not enough, you can take to the skies on a Flight of the Angels, gazing down on Victoria Falls from a helicopter or microlight. TRY: With Victoria Falls National Park remaining open during evenings, you can now…

A lthough Angola has so far missed out on the boom in conservation-led tourism and community development in KAZA, officials hope this will be rectified in Luengue-Luiana National Park — an enormous chunk of land in the country’s southeast corner, bordering Zambia and Namibia. The drawn-out Angolan Civil War from 1975 to 2002 can be blamed for the country’s delay in engaging in eco-tourism, or any tourism to speak of. But now that it is enjoying peace and stability, efforts have intensified to clear miles of roadside booby-traps placed during the conflict. The Angolan Government approved a plan to demine the Angolan component of KAZA TFCA in 2011 and around 70 per cent of the area is now considered to have been cleared — but that still leaves the danger…

I think human beings love to see distance, a tranquil landscape, nothing moving – it’s very therapeutic, a great tonic,” muses Dave van Smeerdijk, co-founder of Natural Selection, as we discuss the awe-inspiring panoramas at their Hoanib Valley Camp, one of the newer offerings in the remote north-western Kaokoland region. Namibia certainly delivers on deep-breath horizons. To put it in context, Britain’s population is roughly 25 times larger than Namibia’s, yet the UK’s total land area is three times smaller. This equates to 277 people per square kilometre in the UK, compared to just three per square kilometre in Namibia. Perspective is certainly one of the things you get on a trip here, shrunk beneath the vast sky, endless flatland, cathedralesque dunes or metamorphic amphitheatres. In the solitude of these…

The ‘big tusker’ known as Mountain Bull weighed six tons, but his size was nothing compared to his stubbornness. Born in Kenya, he was notorious for trampling fields, knocking down fences and raiding crops as he travelled along age-old migration routes. Though he was a menace to farmers, over the years Mountain Bull gained admirers in Kenya and beyond. His refusal to alter his migration path became almost legendary. Conservationists struggled to find solutions that would protect farms as well as Mountain Bull and other destructive elephants like him. Eventually they created a 28km corridor, including a bypass that affords elephants safe travel beneath Kenya’s Meru-Nanyuki highway – Africa’s first underpass for elephants. By the time he moved into his prime, Mountain Bull had become a battleground himself. Ivory poachers…

Across Africa, as around the world, wildlife reserves face growing pressure from issues such as expanding human populations and poaching. A considerable amount of work takes place in the background to find sustainable solutions that safeguard the natural environment and the wildlife, and it is heartening to see their success. To learn more, we visited one of the continent’s more remote, yet most outstanding, parks: the vast Ruaha, in southern Tanzania. Just twenty minutes after arriving in Ruaha, we spot Mr T lying flat out in the afternoon sun, with a dark matted mane and a belly full of buffalo. Deep in sleep, his paws are twitching, like a dog lost in a dream. “He’s a real character, a very strong lion,” our guide Dulla Fardy whispers. “He’ll happily pose…

The world’s most trafficked mammal may vanish before many people have ever heard of it. The pangolin, a shy and scaly animal, resembles an armadillo and is found in both Africa and Asia. All eight species, four found on each continent, are decreasing in population and are at risk of extinction. The four African species — the white-bellied pangolin, giant ground pangolin, Temminck’s ground pangolin, and black-bellied pangolin — are classified as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The white-bellied pangolin is the most common of the African pangolins but IUCN predicts a 40 percent decline in the next decade based on current trends. African pangolins prefer sandy soils and can be found in dense woodlands, forested savannas, and floodplain grasslands. They are insectivorous…

Imagine a quiet corner of Africa where an elephant can live to more than 60 years of age, growing long in the tooth until her tusks sweep the ground before her. Imagine that elephant dying not from a bullet, snare or poison, but from natural causes, wrinkled and dignified. Sounds hard to believe in this day and age… And so we welcome a new book that celebrates not only the life of the ‘Queen of Elephants’ but other big tuskers of Kenya as well. Land of Giants, by UK photographer Will Burrard-Lucas, is a rare treasure. Less than 20 of these extraordinary creatures – bearing tusks each weighing in excess of 100lbs (45kg) – are thought to remain, and half of them live in remote, inaccessible tracts of Tsavo. Burrard-Lucas…

My eyes pinged open. Something had woken me. I lay perfectly still under the covers and strained my ears. There! A rustle in the bush around our tent. My mind began to scan through all the possible candidates. Leopard? Hyena? Porcupine? The weird and wonderful noises of the African bush are at their best at night. Without the calls of diurnal creatures, everything is amplified and mysterious. As the rustling moved closer I sat up and elbowed my zonked-out husband to wake him, or at least stop his snoring. My elbow achieved neither outcome and so I peeped alone through the gauze window of the (fortunately) elevated roof tent perched on top of our Land Rover. I held my breath as a bull elephant trundled towards us, a low rumble…

One of the world’s most beautiful cities, Cape Town has long been a magnet to travellers, lured by its iconic mountain, crinkle-cut coast and sandy beaches — not to mention its outdoor lifestyle, vibrant foodie scene and close proximity to other Cape highlights like the Winelands and Garden Route. In many ways, it’s a well-known destination that slots comfortably into most itineraries. But there’s another side to Cape Town: the city’s secret spaces, the new and imaginative experiences and the lesser-known highlights. A fresh narrative is being written as the Mother City continues to evolve. In this feature we venture deeper and more intimately into Cape Town, to explore it from a local’s perspective. There’s more to the place than you might have imagined.…

The musical legacy of this city is extraordinary. As the composer and guitarist Mac McKenzie says, Cape Town is a pirate city and it has taken all the music of the world and distilled it into its own thing. So the music from here is at once very much about home, while being at home anywhere in the world. Chris McGregor, from Somerset West, and the Brotherhood of Breath shaped European jazz in their own image while in exile. Abdullah Ibrahim from District Six gave traditional goema music a world stage. Brenda Fassie from Langa was a pan-African superstar, and around her emerged an industry of copycats and new genres. Mac McKenzie, from Bridgetown, Athlone, and Hilton Schilder, from Wittebome, blew the seams of traditional goema music apart with their…

We have some great theatre makers and choreographers in Cape Town, and really good theatre and dance schools at the University of Cape Town. Magnet Theatre, iKapa Dance, New World Dance Theatre and Theatre in the Backyard are some of the most interesting theatre and dance companies in the country. We have some great spaces too – the Baxter in Rondebosch is part of the University of Cape Town, and home to new work aAnd diverse audiences. And there’s the Alexander Bar, Cafe and Theatre, where the intimate 50-seater space upstairs offers probably the most prolific programming of original theatre content in the city. And finally, the Fugard Theatre, named after our famous playwright Athol Fugard, where serious theatre fans are most at home. As a theatre graduate, I am…

When it comes to beautiful beaches, we are spoiled for choice in Cape Town. Of course, the well-known beaches – Camps Bay, Clifton, Llandudno – are amazing. Boulders Beach, penguin guana aside, is a marvel of a beach, sheltered from wind and with plenty of shady spots. But if you want something a little more local, Water’s Edge – between Boulders and Seaforth – is the secret beach favoured by Capetonians who don’t like swimming with penguin guana at Boulders (or paying heavy entrance fees for the pleasure) and who find Seaforth a bit yukky (with the restaurant jutting into the beach, it really is). A little nondescript gate along the road gets you in. Calm waters, very few penguins, lots of fun. Fish Hoek is ideal for families, with…

Safety Like in any city, when navigating Cape Town you need to have your wits about you. Crime is a reality everywhere in the world. And so a little street suss is always valuable. Be aware of your surroundings, leave your jewellery at home and don’t pay with wads of cash. Being conspicuous is never a great idea. The biggest threat is from pickpockets. Statistically speaking, the people most at risk in Cape Town are us residents. The reality is that most Capetonians are really happy you are here, especially when you venture out of the tourism hubs and into different communities. It’s a good idea to draw cash from ATMs in well-lit and busy areas. Don’t let anybody help you – that’s a well-known ruse to swipe your card…

The world’s largest terrestrial conservation area (covering an area of nearly 520,000 sq km), KAZA will have your safari bucket list overflowing in no time. Nearly 75 per cent of southern Africa’s elephants are found within its borders, half of them in Botswana and Zimbabwe. KAZA is also home to nearly a quarter of the continent’s remaining population of African wild dog — and if your wish list contains other rarities like sable, roan, sitatunga or Pel’s fishing owl, get a pencil ready to mark them ‘seen’ in one of KAZA’s 36 national parks and protected areas. You can also tick off three World Heritage sites — Victoria Falls, Tsodilo Hills and the Okavango Delta — and plan safaris to Chobe, Hwange, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kafue, Lake Kariba or Matusadona. Using…

It might not have the ‘big-ticket’ drawcards of the Okavango, Victoria Falls or Chobe River, but there’s a special atmosphere about Hwange. Visiting Zimbabwe’s largest, most popular national park, it’s almost as if you’re stepping back in time to a place where nature remains untouched. Having said that, Hwange’s lifeline is actually its artificially pumped waterholes, an idea originally implemented by Ted Davison, the park’s first warden, to retain year-round wildlife populations and transform the park from a migratory route to a permanent wildlife haven. Located a two-to three-hour drive from Victoria Falls (depending on which entrance you use), Hwange is well-known for the large elephant herds that gather around its waterholes during the July-October dry season. Then there are the big cats: lion, leopard and cheetah are regularly sighted.…

For years, perhaps decades, Malawi has been known as the ‘Warm Heart of Africa’, with the tourism industry touting its people as the country’s shining light – the raison d’être for visiting. That and the big stretch of water that occupies 20 percent of Malawi’s total surface area, of course; hence, Malawi’s other often-used moniker: the ‘Land of the Lake’. But this (relatively) tiny, land-locked country, sandwiched between Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Mozambique, is so much more than these well-worn clichés. From relaxing on the beach to deep sea (or rather lake) fishing, from canoeing to safari walks, from snorkelling to hiking across plateaus, from river cruising to Big 5 game drives, from rolling hills to golden sands, from forests to lakes and more… Malawi, to use…

You’re out on a walking safari. All eyes and ears are focused ahead, anticipating growls, hoof-beats, flutters, any sign of life. And yet signs of life don’t have to be animate ones. Look down. The ground beneath your feet is strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of the bush – a veritable nature table, with each item telling its own story. This broken hemisphere of hardened clay is all that remains of a dung beetle brood ball, ransacked by a honey badger. During the rainy season, a male dung beetle rolled up a pile of dung and buried it in soft ground, whereupon the female laid eggs inside. When the resulting larvae hatched, it fed on the dung and grew into a fat grub – so fat and juicy, unfortunately,…

The cheetah looked decidedly nervous. Between hurried sips of water, the slender cat glanced over her left shoulder, then her right, before risking another mouthful. It isn’t paranoia if there really is something after you. A leopard appeared on the far bank of the Mwagusi river that cuts through Ruaha National Park, the two cats locking eyes across the dry riverbed. Leopards are known to attack and sometimes kill cheetahs. A clash seemed inevitable, the leopard bearing down at speed on the terrified smaller cat. But at the last moment, the cheetah turned and used her superior speed to escape, disappearing into long grass. We’d certainly not seen the last of that marauding leopard though… Exceptional wildlife sightings come thick and fast in Tanzania’s vast, remote Ruaha National Park. At…

It’s no surprise that Mozambique, rich in wildlife and proximate to South Africa’s Kruger National Park, has attracted organized traffickers intent on profiting at the expense of Africa’s endangered, iconic wildlife. The criminal syndicates exploit the country’s port and road networks for trafficking and have made Mozambique an established export route to consumer countries in Asia. In response to this urgent situation, AWF’s Canines for Conservation program in late 2018 sent an anti-trafficking dog-and-handler team to Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. This team is enhancing Mozambique law enforcement activities at critical points along notorious trafficking routes. Canines for Conservation deploys skilled handlers and carefully selected detection dogs that have undergone intensive training to detect even trace amounts of ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, and other contraband. Since the program’s launch in 2014, Canines…

With support from the European Union, AWF is working in northern Cameroon’s Faro National Park to protect wildlife populations, including a hippo colony that is one of the largest in the country. The IUCN Red List categorizes hippos as “vulnerable,” which is less grave than “endangered” but does signify a serious level of threat. The leading danger to hippos is habitat loss/competition with growing human populations for land and water resources. Direct conflict with humans is another problem, as hippos are among the most dangerous species 400k+ AWF supporters’ online actions for wildlife in 2018. See page 16 for information about our latest campaign, urging action on behalf of the world’s most trafficked species, the pangolin. in Africa. Ivory poachers, targeting hippos for their teeth, pose yet another significant threat.…

“I walked through the savannah with the Maasai. I took this photo when we were surrounded by ten lions stalking through the dry grass.” If you’re in London this April and in need of some travel inspiration, head along to London Bridge City, across the Thames from the Tower of London, where the winning images from the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year awards are on display in a free-to-view outdoor exhibition until April 30. The 16th edition of the global competition saw amateur and professional photographers from 142 countries submit over 22,000 images. Unsurprisingly, Africa was well represented among the winning categories. Here we showcase a few of our favourites. Entries for the 2019 competition open on April 11, at www.tpoty.com…

In 2017, something happened in the township of Langa, Cape Town, that just a few people took note of. A new crypto currency called Project UBU (Universal Basic Unit) was quietly launched. I Typically you would expect that a crypto would launch in a big financial centre, which for South Africa means probably Sandton, in Johannesburg. But UBU was initiated in Langa, the oldest township in South Africa, home to a largely informal economy and some distance from any major traditional economic hub. Bringing ‘township’ and ‘digital currency’ together in one sentence is to suggest a whole new way of seeing things. In this new reality, the informal is hi-tech and super-connected to the global. Townships are digital pioneers. Townships hold the centre of new modes of operating and are…

Tula Dubula, by Abdullah Ibrahim, from the album African Sunshine (1982) | Red Rock City, by Mac McKenzie and the Goema Captains of Cape Town (2003) ● Die Kaa (feat Faranas), by Burni Aman (2015) ● Jarabi (Passion), from Derek Gripper’s One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali (2012) ● Freedom Child, by Melanie Scholtz and James Matthews, from the album Freedom’s Child (2013) ● Vuli Ndlela, by Brenda Fassie on Memeza (1997) ● Goema, by The Genuines (1987) ● Winston Ngozi Mankunku’s Yakhal’Inkomo, from the album of the same title (1968) ● Power to da People, by Prophets of Da City from their Age of Truth album (1992) ● Think Again, by Ernestine, from the album Dub for Mama (2018) ● Doenit, by Jitsvinger, from Skeletsleutel…

The city started out as a market town, primarily to provide passing ships with fresh water and produce. These days there are markets everywhere and most, like the Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay, are excellent. The biggest – and the most important to the city – is Epping Market, where most informal traders and many shops buy their fresh produce. If you want to plug in to stories in the city, this is a great place. The Epping Market is not the sit down and schuck oysters kind of market though. And there are plenty of those! One of my favourites is the Oranjezicht City Market, which has its home just on the edge of the Waterfront. The market grew out of the Oranjezicht City Farm, an inventive approach…

Referring to the South Peninsula as “beyond the tie-dye curtain” implies a hippie mindset, and what’s not to love about a laid-back outdoor lifestyle with a high pleasure quota? My top tips for getting the best out of it are: ● Get your first dose of ‘far south’ vibe at Muizenberg’s Surfers Corner – Cape Town’s best learn-to-surf beach. Top ocean-facing eats include Knead Bakery, Tiger’s Milk and Yoffi Falafel. ● Lick soft-serve ice cream and build sandcastles on Fish Hoek beach while the locals swim. ● I get a thrill every time I swim at Water’s Edge beach just outside Simons’ Town and a penguin torpedo’s past. This cove is accessed through what looks like a private garden gate. ● Hike to Elephant’s Eye Cave in Silvermine Nature Reserve…

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Our most recent visit to Kafue National Park was to the ‘deep south’, to the stunning Nanzhila Plains. We had visited the beautiful Busanga Plains in the far north – the scenic centre of the park – and had been as far south as Lake Itezhi Tezhi, but this trip was a chance to explore the final section, to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and see Kafue in all its ‘glory’. Our nights in camp, sitting by the open fire, were a great way to end our days. With a drink in one hand, our legs outstretched towards the mesmerising flames and the vast spaces all around us, we really appreciated what a special place we were in and what a privilege it was to be there.…

BOTSWANA SANDY WOOD, PULSE AFRICA, WWW.PULSEAFRICA.COM With many of Botswana’s gems falling within KAZA, a trip to the Victoria Falls opens up an opportunity to explore the land of desert and delta. But why choose Botswana over one of its equally enticing neighbours? “Botswana is a more exclusive safari experience,” says Sandy Wood of Pulse Africa. “Small camps and control over visitor numbers in private concessions means, usually, you are not sharing your game experience with many other tourists”. With a wide diversity of landscapes, wildlife and culture, Botswana offers a plethora of itinerary options. Here are just two to whet your appetite (one for those tight on time and budget, the other for those with a more relaxed pocket). MID/UPPER RANGE: VICTORIA FALLS AND BOTSWANA HIGHLIGHTS Days 1-2: Victoria…

A herd of elephants stood before us with a glorious backdrop of Kilimanjaro shrouded in purple clouds. Behind us, the sun’s immense orb sank towards the horizon, staining the shimmering swamp purple and casting a golden light over the plains. The dusk sky was dyed orange and blue all at once, resembling watercolour. A stream of wildebeest and zebra plodded in single file, silhouettes against the sun, leaving a trail of dust behind them. They were heading towards the bushes and trees near Kilimanjaro, where they would spend the night sheltering from the wind and nocturnal predators. A dust devil danced across the horizon in the dying light. We were deep in Amboseli National Park, in southern Kenya. Created in 1974, it is the second-most-visited park in Kenya after the…

GETTING THERE Ruaha is accessible by road, but it is a long drive from Dar es Salaam, so most visitors fly into the bush airstrips. Coastal Aviation operates a daily circuit, connecting Ruaha with Selous, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam and Serengeti. BEST TIME TO VISIT The drier months of May to November are most popular for visitors, with wildlife being more easily seen. From January to June the bush is greener and prettier, and the park quieter, and birding is particularly good between December and April. WHERE TO STAY There are remarkably few camps in Ruaha, although growing interest in the park has seen some new lodges opening in recent years. Most are located along the southern flank, with tourism activities centred in only about 10 per cent of the…

Madagascar is a fabulous beach destination. Indeed, for many visitors, this Indian Ocean island’s primary attraction is the postcard-perfect beaches, turquoise lagoons and snorkel-friendly coral reefs that adorn its 10,000km coastline. For wildlife enthusiasts, however, Madagascar stands out as arguably the world’s most important biodiversity hotspot – a vast al fresco laboratory whose ancient floral and faunal stock has been allowed to evolve in virtual isolation for roughly 100 million years, supplemented only by the occasional vagrant that flapped or otherwise leapfrogged across from continental Africa or further afield. The numbers are astonishing. More than 800 vertebrate species are unique to Madagascar, a figure that includes 16 endemic families and 168 endemic genera, more than anywhere else in the world. The island is also the most significant centre of primate…

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Though rooted in the ancient tracking traditions of hunters and gatherers, a conservation tool called CyberTracker has changed the face of conservation science. As a free, open-source smartphone app, CyberTracker streamlines field data collection by recording information such as the number of a elephants counted or poacher snares confiscated in a specified area — all with a few screen clicks. It is compatible with an accessible and powerful mapping software designed to manage law enforcement monitoring data — the Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool (SMART). Together these tools are transforming conservation area management. Equipping rangers and scouts with such tools is at the center of AWF’s strategy to improve protected-area management and sharpen conservation planning. CyberTracker’s earliest users were San hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari, expert trackers with a vast knowledge…

Africa’s wildlife-rich ecosystems extend outside of protected areas. Similarly, human factors driving species loss in these landscapes are not easily contained. To expand protections for these ecosystems, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization upgrades their status to biosphere reserves. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves includes 79 such sites across Africa, recognized for their conservation value as well as their potential to drive sustainable development. A protected area such as a national park forms the core of the biosphere reserve. In the neighboring buffer zones and transition areas, human settlement and economic activity are permitted but often difficult to regulate. Threats include land conversion and deforestation as well as poaching and bushmeat hunting. A three-year AWF study found that elephants are the most poached species in biosphere reserves. Major…