What if the very fences built to protect livestock have been quietly driving one of Africa's greatest wildlife crises? Professor Steve Osofsky, one of the architects of the One Health movement, has spent over 30 years trying to solve exactly that problem in the vast five-nation Kavango-Zambezi Conservation Area, home to the majority of Africa's elephants.

Steve shares how a science-based shift in how beef is processed helped change international trade rules for the first time in over 70 years, and how reviving the lost art of herding is now reducing lion attacks, restoring wildlife corridors, and opening new markets for farmers living alongside wildlife.

This is a story about bio-diplomacy, breaking down institutional silos, and finding win-wins in one of conservation's most stubborn standoffs. After 30 years, Steve is cautiously optimistic, and his reasoning is hard to argue with.

Links

Profile on the Cornell website

Program websites: cornell-ahead.org and wildlife.cornell.edu

Cornell Chronicle news piece: Removing Southern African Fences May Help Wildlife, Boost Economy

Most recent paper on the issue: Using Qualitative Risk Assessment to Re-Evaluate the Veterinary Fence Paradigm within the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area

Related paper from 2013: Balancing Livestock Production and Wildlife Conservation in and around Southern Africa's Transfrontier Conservation Areas

The Manhattan Principles on “One World, One Health”

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