Leading conservationists and public figures, including Prince William who is patron of another African wildlife charity, are going public over the severe threats to animals from poaching and snaring. The involvement of Chinese companies in Africa has caused an explosion in the illegal trade in animal parts, including ivory for export smuggling and poached meat for city markets.
Wildlife authorities are under pressure to combat this widespread slaughter and people can help by donating to local and effective projects that operate on the ground in anti-poaching and community development through education and outreach work.
We fund two such organisations: the South Luangwa Conservation Society and the Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre in Zambia, which is home to some of the great national parks on the continent. Both of these are small scale but highly effective and run by dedicated founders who have given their adult lives to conservation and education in these communities. Our trustees insist upon formal quarterly reports from each project and try to visit each one every other year.
Once the appeal target is reached we also intend to support a third project in 2013, working with a respected international conservation organisation that is setting up a community forest reserve for chipanzee conservation in Tanzania.