IUCN

The African elephant, the largest remaining land mammal on the planet, is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range states. This publication provides an overview of the current state of the African elephant alongside recommendations for action to ensure its protection.

Conventional approaches to managing protected areas have often seen people and nature as separate entities. They preclude human communities from using natural resources and assume that their concerns are incompatible with conservation. Protected area approaches and models that see conservation as compatible with human communities are explored. The main themes are co-managed protected areas and community conserved areas.

The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria were developed for classifying species at high risk of global extinction, i.e. for assessment at the global level. Guidelines on the application of the IUCN Red List Criteria at national or regional levels were also developed and this volume presents the revised guidelines, published in 2012.