Human-Wildlife Conflict In Western Liberia Enters Its Seventh Consecutive Years

By Elijah M. Boimah with the Liberia Forest Media Watch

Western Liberia, Grand Cape Mount County-The conflict, which began in 2018 appears far from being over. Both sides, no matter the level of intelligence or strength, are feeling the devastating effects of the conflict. Crops and creeks are being destroyed by the wildlife, mainly elephants, while the elephants are being trapped by humans with some reportedly seen sick with deep wounds.

The conflict has now entered its seventh successive years without a winner. And Gola Konneh, a community in Grand Cape Mount County, is often the battle ground. The battle intensified during the rainy season and the beginning of the dry season at which time humans invade the habitats of the wildlife, particularly elephants. “The sound from the power saw machines (chainsaw) drive the elephants from their home and they have no option but to come to the villages in search of food”, a concerned citizen told the Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW).

It appears there is no lasting solution to the conflict between human-wildlife in Western Liberia given the many years the conflict has existed. With the low manpower among the elephants, possibility exists that the 450 forest elephants  are at serious risk of extinction if mediation efforts are delayed further as currently, the fate of one of the elephants seen sick early this year remains unknown.

“Killing of elephants, which was identified as a third main serious threat to the Forest Elephants in NW Liberia, is not only an issue in the context of HEC, but elephants are still poached and killed for ivory. At least 18 elephants have been killed in Liberia since October 2018, ten in the Northwestern and 8 in the Southeastern Forest Block, and those are just the known cases”. (Report by The Elephant Research and Conservation (ELRECO)

For almost half a decade, local farmers in Gola Konneh District in the Marbon belt (Mana & Darblo), Managorduah Zone and Mafala belt including Jenemana Ward of Laar Clan, have suffered intense hunger from the actions of the giant-sized elephants leaving them with scanty livelihood alternative.

The recent of a series of invasions by the elephants took place in Sumo Village on November 20, 2024, when elephants ruined Pastor Sando Sumo farm with mixed crops, leaving the Man of God whose sustainability depends on agriculture, devastated.

The elephants destroyed crops ranging from palm, cassava and banana. Authorities of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and campaigners for wildlife are yet to adequately respond to the community’s call for intervention as the conflict between human-wildlife continues unabatedly with devastating consequences on both sides. To date, the FDA and partners are yet to proffer a lasting solution to what has now become an annual problem amid the presence of the National Wildlife Crime Taskforce (WCTF) with support from the European Union.

The people of Gola Konneh District preferred buying rice, cassava, peppers and other locally grown foods due to persistent destruction of their crops by elephants who feed on these crops for survival.

Grand Cape Mount County Senator Dabah Mabande Varpillah, early this year, raised concerns over the human-wildlife conflict at the Liberian Senate. Senator Varpillah detailed the negative effects of the elephants’ entries into towns and villages in the district as economic hardship, preventing kids from attending classes due to fear, accidents by motorists who jitter upon seeing the elephants crossing major roads/paths.

Her presentation prompted the Senate to invite the EPA, FDA, Agriculture Ministry to show causes and/or reasons why the elephants were leaving the Gola National Park, and a possible solution to remedy the situation. Since the appearance of the above regulatory bodies before the Senate, less or no action has been seen or heard about the elephants’ situation in Gola Konneh.

In 2023, local farmers in Gola Konneh staged a protest to demand action from stakeholders in addressing the human-wildlife conflict in Western Liberia.

One year after the protest, the elephants have again gone on the rampage destroying crops and smaller streams of waters as a single elephant  consume about 152 liters (40 gal.) of water daily.