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Living with Elephants
 Living With Elephants
(LWE) is a federally registered non-profit organization in Botswana which explores the relationship between the African Elephant and people, with an emphasis on research and educational programs aimed at reducing conflict between the two species.
Our programs, coordinated from our field office in Maun, focus on the northern regions of Botswana. We are one of the only organizations, worldwide, looking at human-elephant conflict in this way with the people who actually encounter the problems day-to-day. Since Botswana has the largest remaining free range African Elephant populations of any of the range states, we have lots at stake!
 LWE comprises a small team of international and local individuals who work in a highly participatory manner. Doug and Sandi Groves are the main visionaries behind LWE and the backbone of the organization, yet it is our highly-skilled and motivated volunteers and staff who make LWE a functioning reality. We all have one thing in common - a great desire to improve the relations between the African Elephant and people living in elephant range! We also recognize that we are not the experts of human-elephant relations, but rather facilitators for the cause. The real experts are the people and elephants who face one another in the wild.
What do we do?
Living With Elephants Foundation aims to improve the human-elephant interface by conducting educational and research projects in three main areas:
1. Community Elephant Research Programs:
In order to improve relations between people and elephants, we must first understand the existing relationship between communities and wild elephants in Botswana. To do so, we carry out explorative research with the people who live in elephant range and who have been identified as experiencing negative elephant encounters. Together, we investigate why, how, where and when conflict occurs. We want to know what impacts it has on the livelihoods of people and the health of elephant populations. Most importantly, we want to take this knowledge and develop strategies that could resolve conflict. We hope to become fore-runners in community-based conflict mitigation projects for worldwide application.
2. Elephant Outreach Programs:
One of our main educational programs is to bring local school groups to visit our research station in the Delta. Here, youngsters learn all about the natural history of the African Elephant through close, intimate encounters with
Jabu, Morula and Thembi in their native surroundings.Youth share stories about their fears and their experiences with elephants and learn about elephant behavior, migratory routes, ecosystem significance, and possible ways of resolving these conflicts. They consider potential models for sustainable economies and land use practices to ameliorate wildlife-human interactions.
3. Thembi Trust:
The three elephant ambassadors Jabu, Thembi and Morula , who are currently supported by Doug and Sandi’s Botswana company, Grey Matters, will probably outlive the Groves by decades. THEMBI TRUST was formed to secure the futures of
Jabu, Thembi and Morula and the important contribution they make towards fulfilling the objectives of
LWE.
Why do we do it?
The African Elephant is the preeminent symbol of African wilderness. It plays an important role in the folklore, religion, art and culture. Powerful, funny, tender and scary, elephants tug at our emotions. Their exceptional intelligence, longevity, gregarious natures and unique adaptations place them in a category of their own.
Like fire and climate, the African Elephant is a prime modulating factor in African ecosystems. As a keystone species they play an important ecological role in nutrient recycling, thicket opening and seed dispersal. This combined with their need for large range areas and a diversity of habitats means that by conserving the African elephant one conserves entire ecosystems.
Elephants are "indicator species", meaning their health indicates the well-being of their entire ecosystem. This is due to the vast diversity of vegetation and amount of land an elephant depends upon. In Botswana, as in many other countries, this range is not always protected, and thus, humans are part of the ecosystem as well. To look after elephants, we must ensure their encounters with humans are peaceful. This ultimately leads to the protection of all ecosystem species, including humans.
Become a part of the herd. Visit the elephants. Find out more at http://www.livingwithelephants.org
For further information visit http://www.livingwithelephants.org
Contact living With Elephants Foundation:
Email:
Directors: Doug and Sandi Groves
groves@livingwithelephants.org
General Information
info@livingwithelephants.org
Elephant Ambassadors: Jabu, Thembi, Morula
elephants@livingwithelephants.org
Grey Matters (to visit the elephants)
grey.matters@info.bw
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