Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Elephant Collaring and veterinary fences grant.

Defra has provided the KAZA Secretariat just under £569,000 of funding for projects seeking to build capacity and support cross-border action on the conservation of wildlife within countries in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. This includes the assessment of veterinary fences in northern Ngamiland, Botswana.

The assessment identified those fences that have major negative impacts on regional wildlife to inform whether they should be removed or realigned. The assessment is with the Government of Botswana, awaiting official release.

Defra also provided support to the KAZA Secretariat for the deployment of 40 elephant collars which track elephant movements through wildlife corridors in the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) region.

Data from the collars has informed recommendations for protecting and maintaining corridors used by elephants and other wildlife. These recommendations were included in the Policy Brief published by the KAZA Elephant Sub Working Group in January 2023.