The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is a group that works to protect wildlife, natural lands, and resources in Africa. It was started in 1961 and helped create conservation programs at the College of African Wildlife Management in Mweka, Tanzania, and the Ecole de Faune de Garoua in Cameroon. The Foundation partners with governments and businesses to help protect nature while also making money through conservation efforts.

Early years

The African Wildlife Leadership Foundation (AWLF) was created in 1961 by Russell E. Train, a rich judge, hunter, and member of the Washington Safari Club. Other members who started the Safari Club included Nick Arundel, a former United States Marine Corps officer and journalist; Kermit Roosevelt Jr., who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency; James S. Bugg, a businessman; and Maurice Stans, an accountant who later became the finance leader in the Richard Nixon administration.

Russell E. Train was concerned that African countries, as they gained independence, might replace European park managers with untrained Africans in conservation work. Twenty African nations became independent in 1960 and 1961. Train wrote, "In Tanganyika alone, the government recently ordered 100% Africanization of the game service by 1966. Replacing European staff with untrained people would cause problems for wildlife."

The first major donation from the AWLF was $47,000 to help start the College of African Wildlife Management in Mweka, Tanzania, in 1963. The college was organized by Bruce Kinloch, the Chief Game Warden of Tanganyika, to train African wildlife managers. Funding for the college also came from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, with the government of Tanganyika providing the buildings. By 2010, the college had trained more than 4,500 wildlife managers from 28 African countries and 18 other countries.

In 1963, the AWLF started a scholarship program to send young Africans to American universities to study biology and wildlife management. Later that year, the AWLF built a conservation education center at the entrance to Nairobi National Park. In 1967, the AWLF gave $50,000 to help build a research institute in Tanzania. In 1970, the AWLF established a school for wildlife management in Garoua, Cameroon, where classes were taught in French. During the 1970s and 1980s, the AWLF continued to support students and conservation projects, often providing supplies like tents, vehicle parts, water pumps, and cameras instead of cash.

In 1969, the AWLF led a campaign with other conservation groups to protect rhinoceroses. In 1974, the foundation started a program to study cheetahs. In 1983, the AWLF removed "Leadership" from its name. Train was unhappy with this change, believing the organization had moved away from its original purpose. He felt it had become like other conservation groups that gave money to Western researchers to study animals. Research projects such as Dian Fossey’s work on gorillas and Cynthia Moss’s work on elephants were supported by the AWLF.

In 1968, the AWLF’s annual budget was less than $250,000. In 1988, when the AWLF launched a campaign against elephant poaching, the foundation had six employees and an annual budget of $2 million. When the AWLF turned 30 in 1991, the board of directors was still mostly made up of wealthy and influential Americans, many of whom also worked on other nonprofit organizations.

Recent initiatives

The AWF has stated that its recent programs are based on three main goals: helping people, protecting wildlife, and preserving land. Helping people includes projects that support both communities and the environment.

The AWF's main goal is to preserve land. Since 1998, efforts to protect land have focused on conserving large areas of land and ecosystems.

In the 2009 fiscal year, the AWF had a total income of US$19,333,998. This included $8,582,555 from government sources, $5,815,839 from businesses and other organizations, $5,224,931 from donations by individuals, and $1,360,424 from gifts left in wills. The AWF spent $17,395,456 on its programs, $1,524,764 on raising funds, and $1,262,056 on administrative costs. Of the program funding, $14,174,224 was used for conservation efforts, $2,392,989 for public education, and $828,243 for membership programs.

Priority landscapes

The AWF previously called its protected landscapes "heartlands." Now, the organization uses a "priority landscape" approach. These priority landscapes include:

The Bili-Uele Protected Area Complex is located in the remote north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the border with the Central African Republic. This area includes savanna north of the Uele River and lowland forest to the south. Both regions are home to the last undisturbed population of eastern chimpanzees. An estimated 35,000 to 65,000 eastern chimpanzees live there. Few groups work in this area.

The Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the least developed and most remote parts of the Congo Basin. People living there are among the poorest in Africa. Most grow crops by burning land and rely on bushmeat for food. Cash crops include maize, cassava, and groundnuts. The growing population could lead to more logging.

Since 1973, a Japanese team has studied bonobos near the village of Wamba. Research stopped in 1991 due to political problems and again in 1997 because of a civil war. Studies began again in the mid-2000s. The IUCN Red List lists bonobos as endangered, with about 29,500 to 50,000 individuals. The AWF works with local and international groups to create a plan for using land in the MLW Landscape. The plan helps meet the needs of people while protecting the environment. It uses tools like surveys, interviews, and satellite images.

The Etosha-Skeleton Coast landscape in northern Namibia includes Etosha National Park, a large salt pan, and ecosystems like woodland and savanna. This area is home to black-faced impalas and oryx. To the west of the park is the Skeleton Coast, where elephants live. The African Wildlife Foundation invests in the Grootberg Lodge through its subsidiary, African Wildlife Capital, which supports the Khoadi-Hoas community conservancy.

The Faro landscape in northern Cameroon includes Faro National Park, near the Nigerian border. This park has the largest population of hippos in Cameroon. The AWF helps park rangers fight poaching and trains community scouts to protect the park’s borders.

The Great Fish River Nature Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province covers 45,000 hectares and is home to critically endangered black rhinos.

The floodplains of the Zambezi River include miombo and mopane woodlands and grasslands that support wildlife migration. Victoria Falls, the world’s largest waterfall, are located between Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe. The area is a World Heritage Site but faces threats from tourism and lack of funding.

The AWF created the 160,000-acre (65,000-hectare) Sekute Conservation Area in partnership with the Sekute Chiefdom. This area helps protect two elephant corridors and allowed wildlife authorities to move four new white rhinos to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia. One of the rhinos is a male, the last surviving white rhino in the country. In 2011, two female rhinos gave birth to healthy calves. The area also has endangered black rhinos. In 2011, the AWF built a new school in Kazungula with six classrooms, offices, and five teacher houses, costing $250,000.

Disney released the movie African Cats in 2011. A portion of ticket sales from the first week went to the AWF to protect the Amboseli Wildlife Corridor. The "See 'African Cats,' Save the Savanna" program helped promote the movie and raise money for conservation.

The Limpopo Landscape includes areas in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It has savannas, woodlands, rivers, and floodplains. Animals include sable antelope, rhinos, hippos, and many birds and insects. The AWF started the Leopard Conservation Science Project in this region. In Mozambique’s Banhine National Park, the AWF built a conservation research center. Fees from researchers will help pay for staff and manage the park.

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) connects Kruger National Park in South Africa, Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, and Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. It is about the size of the Netherlands and three times larger than Yellowstone National Park. The GLTP is home to lions, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, hippos, and buffalos. The AWF supports the park to create jobs and grow tourism.

The Manyara Ranch Conservancy near Lake Manyara in Tanzania is a conservation and tourism project supported by the African Wildlife Foundation, the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust, and the Manyara Ranch Conservancy. The lesser kudu, a rare animal, lives there.

In Kenya’s Rift Valley is the Mau Forest Complex, the largest indigenous montane forest in East Africa. It is a critical water source for wildlife and people. The AWF, along with the Kenya Forest Service and other groups, is replanting native trees in the Mau Forest.

This 1,823,280-hectare (7,039.7-square-mile) area is where Niger, Burkina Faso, and Benin meet. It includes the transnational W National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and nearby reserves. The region has savanna woodlands, gallery forests, and flooded plains where the Mekrou and Niver rivers meet. It is home to the largest elephant population in the region and the only remaining West African giraffes. DNA studies show these giraffes are a subspecies that separated from Rothschild’s giraffes about 350,000 years ago.

In Parc W, the AWF and groups like the International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Wide Fund for Nature, and Africa 70 help local communities and leaders. They collect data and fund tree nurseries in Niger and Burkina Faso to replant trees for gir

Organization

The AWF's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with regional offices in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Washington, DC. The organization is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As of 2009, there were 36 members on the board and 132 paid staff. Funds are raised through direct mail, grant proposals, online appeals, planned giving, cause-related marketing, and membership appeals. The foundation's executive leaders have been:

The AWF is a member of the Conservation Council of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation. It is also a member of EarthShare, which is a national group that helps American environmental and conservation charities.