Land cover change and its impact on human-elephant conflicts in the Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia (ZiMoZa) Transboundary Natural Resource Management Area

Abstract: Land cover change is a characteristic reflection of a human society interacting with the physical environment. The Zimbabwe-Mozambique-Zambia Transboundary Natural Resources Management Area is a human settled area endowed with a variety of wildlife (elephants, lions, and buffalo) and wild lands (Dry forests and Miombo ecosystems). However, human-elephant conflicts are known to occur whenever these two species inhabit the same area, which poses serious threat to elephant conservation. The study mapped the extent of land cover changes over a 19-year period (1989, 2001, and 2008). Landsat™ satellite images were analysed to interpret and detect spatial and temporal land cover changes. Relative to change detection analysis the community perception on the state and cause of human-elephant conflicts and the role of conservation policies were captured through targeted questionnaire guided discussions.Deforestation, cultivation, and human-elephant conflicts increased over the period under review and forest classes decreased while the cultivation class increased. Human-elephant conflict hot spots increased, predominantly in areas where cultivation, settlement, and water sources coincide. Agriculture for livelihood was the major factor driving agricultural extensification in ZiMoZa. Weak policing, poor user rights, and pseudo decentralisation of power were policy issues found influencing community resentment towards conservation initiatives in ZiMoZa. The study concluded that extensification of agriculture and human-elephant conflicts will continue to increase in the study area and suggests the need for a paradigm shift from agricultural based livelihood to conservation-based livelihood.