Photo: 11 September, 2015-Addis Ababa, Ethiopia-Members of the African Elephant Steering Commitee meet for the first day of deliberations of the 5th AEFSC meeting at Friendship International Hotel. In the front row, from left to to right, are Roger Mbete, Dawud Mume Ali, Miet Van Looy, Patrick Omondi, Frank Barsch. In the center row, from left to right, are Barbara Matu, Lee White, Abednico Macheme, Marcel Van Nijnatten, Cyril Taolo. In the back row, from left to right, are Felix Monngae, Solomon Kyalo and Mamadou Kane.

Ethiopia hosted the 5th African Elephant Fund Steering Committee (AEFSC) that ran from 11thSeptember to 12th September 2015.

The event was presided by Kenya, current Chair of the African Elephant Fund Steering Committee. Members in attendance included country representatives from Botswana, Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, and Kenya as well as donor country representative from Belgium, Germany and Netherlands. UNEP attended the meeting as the Secretariat and ex-officio member of the Steering Committee. The Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) was represented by its CEO Alexander Rhodes, who was accompanied by his team.

The 5th African Elephant Fund Steering Committee met back-to-back with the Elephant Protection Initiative first meeting that took place at the same venue.

Members of the Steering Committee met, among other things, to review the implementation of current projects, to evaluate the twenty-three (23) newly submitted proposal from Range States, discuss possible alignment of AEF and EPI (Elephant Protection Initiative) and strategize on future funding.

After long deliberations, eight (8) proposals from East, Central, Southern and West Africa were approved and an agreement was reached that a total of $477,930.80 shall be dispersed for funding. This year’s submissions were AEF's strongest and largest volume of project submissions to-date.

Moreover, the Netherlands, current donor to the AEF surprised the Steering Committee members with the news that its government has agreed to commit a further €120,000 to the fund.

All in all, the event was a huge success and the disapproved fifteen (15) proposals were recommended for review and re-submission in the next round of funding by the AEF.

As always, the AEF funded projects that shall be implemented to combat poaching, the illegal killing of elephants and the illegal trade in elephant products.

Approved Projects

1. Angola- Resolution Of The Human-Elephant Conflict ($50, 000)
2. Botswana - Spatial And Behavioral Analyses Of Elephants Roaming Outside Expected Range Using Modern Monitoring Tools ($34,000)
3. Ethiopia - Improving Field Intelligence And Investigation Capacity For Ivory And Other Wildlife Crimes In Ethiopia ($66,900)
4. Gabon -Developing A Quadcopter And Infrared Camera System To Monitor And Track The African Forest Elephant ($16,399.80)
5. Gabon- Genetic Traceability Of Ivory For Law Enforcement In Gabon ($39,500)
6. Ghana - Elephant Conservation Through Law Enforcement And Stakeholder Engagement In Mole National Park And Its Corridors ($133,640)
7. Kenya- Building Capacity And Developing Tools For Elephant Censoring And Elephant Mortality Monitoring In Tropical Mountain And Forest Habitats In Kenya ($60,000)
8. Namibia- Aerial Survey Of Elephants In The Northwest Of Namibia ($75,681)

Pictures and video from the event can be found here.