Mozambique: From Social Unrest and Elephant Poaching to Connection and Guardianship

This transformation was led by a CCT Practitioner trained through our capacity-building workshop.

Conflict:
In Northern Mozambique, community fracturing and disempowerment along with a lack of social cohesion contributed to the onset of rampant elephant poaching and wildlife trafficking. Traditional approaches like education and increasing law enforcement failed to address the complexity of the crisis.

Our Role:
The Mozambique conservation team participated in our 5 day capacity building workshop to understand the drivers of the conflict, and how they could strategically engage to respond immediately to this very challenging situation.

Result:
The conservation team changed their approach. Community pride and social cohesion grew, with local people actively resisting outside poachers and defending the conservation area. Poaching plummeted from 2000 killed in a single year to just 8 the following year. Partnerships expanded and corruption declined. Together, they all strengthened their ability to recover after episodes of violence, becoming more resilient in the face of political destabilization.