Income and Conservation Dynamics of the Biological Bee-Fence: A bio-Economic Simulation

Human-elephant conflicts in most African countries coincide in areas where poverty and natural resources are most profound. Although popularly believed to be an asset capable of generating consumptive and non-consumptive ecotourism revenue, African elephants are in some parts of Africa viewed as pests and predators worth eradicating as a result of high human-elephant conflicts (crop raiding, property damage, human and livestock predation). This has shifted the conservation debate to issues of how much biodiversity (elephants) can be saved in the face of suffering local communities. With that background, we tested the income and conservation premise of the biological bee-fence concept as a complementary problem animal control (PAC) measure from a rural setting where elephants interact with local poor communities using bio-economic simulations. We conclude that the biological bee-fence concept has a significant potential to deter elephants from invading surrounding communities' fields as well as generating the much needed household income. These findings reinforce the conservation and income premise of the biological bee-fence under a typical African rural setting worth up-scaling.