By Environews, Nigeria African countries belonging to the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) have met on the side-lines of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and adopted a statement on the growing challenge of human-elephant conflict (HEC), which they say is “fast emerging as the greatest threat to the survival of Africa’s elephants”. The EPI statement says that as human populations and economies grow, and competition for land and water increases, “HEC results in injuries and the tragic loss of human life, the destruction of crops and infrastructure, the loss of livelihoods and the...