Members of local communities living near Kasungu National Park on the Zambian-Malawi border are bringing a legal claim against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) following an elephant relocation project that is alleged to have caused the deaths of at least 12 people, injured many more and left local communities in constant fear for their lives.
The communities argue that the relocation of more than 250 elephants on the Malawi-Zambia border resulted in the animals regularly breaking out of the park and entering nearby settlements and farms, causing the deaths, serious injuries to others and damage to property and farmland as well as hardship and distress.
Law firm Leigh Day has been instructed by 10 clients living in areas of Western Malawi and Eastern Zambia which have been particularly affected by the translocation. They say they have suffered a range of damage, including property damage, physical and psychological injuries, financial losses, as well as pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
On behalf of the clients, Leigh Day has written to IFAW UK, IFAW Zambia and IFAW Malawi to raise their concerns.
The claimants acknowledge IFAW's work as a charity which aims to have a positive impact on the conservation of animals globally. As such, they are primarily seeking meaningful engagement from IFAW to promptly resolve the harms they have allegedly suffered as a result of the translocation and allow them to live safely in their communities again.
However, should such engagement not be forthcoming, Leigh Day has been instructed to bring claims by issuing proceedings in the High Court of England and Wales.
NGO Warm Hearts has recorded more than 11,000 victims who have suffered crop or property damage, personal injury or loss of a loved one and estimates that millions of dollars worth of damage has been inflicted on farmers as a result of the translocation of the elephants.
In July 2022, more than 250 elephants were moved from Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi to the country's second-largest protected area, Kasungu National Park, in what is understood to be one of the largest translocations of elephants ever attempted. The claimants say that IFAW failed to conduct proper due diligence, undertake necessary precautions and implement a suitable boundary fence prior to the movement of the elephants. They say the action placed the well-being of the elephants above that of local communities.
In the days after the translocation, two people were killed by elephants in the area, and a third person was killed in September that year.
Communities warned of growing problems with human-wildlife conflict as the elephant s moved away from the centre of nature reserve to the border where there are multiple farms. The mammals, which can eat up to 150 kilograms of forage and drink up to 190 litres of water a day, regularly raid local farms and drink from the local water supply.
The communities say the translocation of the elephants has seriously disrupted their lives in a number of ways:
Deaths and injuries by elephants entering community areas and attacking people;
- Properties and farmland being destroyed ,causing lost income;
- Grain granaries being ransacked by elephants s causing food insecurity to community members;
- Children witnessing the deterioration of their family livelihood threatening their survival and ability to be able to attend school;
- Community cohesion and cultural life are being negatively impacted by a fear by community members to gather together due to the risk of attack by elephants
Twelve members of the communities surrounding Kasungu national park have died as a result of human-wildlife conflict since July 2022. Leigh Day is representing the family of one of the people who died, and a number of others who have suffered injuries or damage to their properties from the translocated elephants.
Client 1 – a 36-year-old farmer, who lives on the Zambian side of the park, said:
"We are peace loving people, we don't want to have a war between us and the elephant s. We just want peace."
"We really depend on farming, there is nothing else we can do to cover the gap in food and income. We have to now borrow and beg."
Client 2 – a 73-year-old farmer. who lives on the Malawian side of the park, said:
"My farmland has been destroyed five times. I was growing maize, sugarcane, rice and beans. Everything was destroyed.
"I have harvested a small amount of maize, but the rest was destroyed but that undamaged small section is not enough to sustain my family, and I do not know what I will do.
"Before the relocation, sometimes I could harvest 35 bags of rice. This year, I have nothing. We have been told that once elephant s find food, they keep coming back for more. I am scared they will keep coming back to my village."
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Client 6 – a 44-year-old farmer, who lives on the Zambian side of the park, said:
"My children need food. If my harvest is affected, the children do not eat.
"The community doesn't have food. It has been destroyed. I had cattle but I have had to sell them to feed my family."
Oliver Holland, partner in the international department at Leigh Day, said:
"Our clients allege that the elephants relocated to Kasungu National Park have turned their lives upside down and caused irreparable damage and fear to local communities.
"They are seeking meaningful engagement with IFAW and simply want their lives to return to normal but, if such engagement doesn't materialise, they may have no option but to take legal action for the damage they say has destroyed their livelihoods and killed their loved ones. While elephant conservation is important, this should be done responsibly and not at the expense of the lives of local people."
