Recent industrial-scale commodity production in Central Africa (logging, mining and vast agricultural plantations) has created a network of roads providing easy access to previously remote areas. Roads and the rising price of ivory has resulted in an explosion of elephant poaching in Central Africa. Recognizing the importance of law enforcement, WCS has for decades been helping to establish and strengthen the management of the elephant strongholds in the region. Equipping and training ecoguard teams and helping them to tactically plan their patrols is key to discouraging poachers and stopping the slaughter of elephants and other wildlife. To assess the impacts of these conservation investments on forest elephants and other wildlife, WCS with our national and international partners, conducted,80 surveys across the vast Central African forests, covering 13,000 km and investing 91,600 person-days of fieldwork. Our range-wide analysis revealed the shocking decade-long decline in forest elephants, spurring an international effort to stop the trade. Most importantly our sound science proved that elephants can remain safe where ecoguards are vigilantly conducting regular patrols over most of the forest.