The EPI Foundation is delighted to announce that our Director of Programme Development, Greta Iori, has been invited to become a member of IUCN’s Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group, an international group of experts which promotes best practice, collaboration and capacity building in the area of human-wildlife conflict. Greta said, 'Finding ways for humans and wildlife to coexist in an age of climate change and biodiversity collapse is one of humanity's greatest challenges. I am honoured to accept this invitation. The IUCN’s HWCCSG brings together outstanding academics, field conservationists and public officials, working to find and apply solutions which conserve biodiversity whilst also protecting people most affected by conflict with wildlife.’
Across Africa, elephants and people are increasingly coming into competition for land and resources, and many African governments say that Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) is now a greater challenge to elephant conservation than ivory poaching. Greta has led the development of the EPI Foundation’s new HEC strategy, which aims to ensure the harmonious co-existence of people with elephants across their range. The Foundation’s CEO, John Scanlon AO, said, ‘We’re thrilled that Greta is taking up this position. The EPI Foundation is working with our 21 member states to find solutions to HEC, and this appointment is a recognition of Greta’s personal expertise and our role. Greta will make a powerful contribution to the IUCN Specialist Group, while the EPI Foundation will benefit from the exchanges of ideas and policies with distinguished conservationists from across the world.’
The EPI Foundation is the secretariat of the EPI, an alliance of African countries with shared policies on elephant conservation. Most of Africa’s surviving elephants are in EPI countries.
For further information please contact the EPI’s Director of Communications, Barnaby Phillips: bphillips@elephantprotectioninitiative.org