Thank you for supporting David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation through GlobalGiving. As well as providing you with your bi-annual Conservation Education project report full of fantastic news and results of this project we would also like to inform you about an exciting campaign.
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation has always believed that people lie at the heart of conservation and that education and community participation is fundamental in ensuring a sustainable future for both people and wildlife.
We are proud to run an influential and far-reaching UK based conservation education programme alongside ground-based projects across Africa and Asia inspiring and motivating children to become the environmental leaders of tomorrow.
Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic initially hindered education initiatives, our ground-based conservation partners have adapted to ensure our engagement with local communities and children has continued to make an impact.
Here are a few highlights of this year’s achievements:
In Russia, DSWF supported a number of online lessons, an art competition with 922 entrants and 90 ecological lessons at an eco-centre where 1,622 children received in depth knowledge about the Amur tiger, its biology, ecology, habitat, threats and conservation methods.
The education team we support in Guinea, despite restrictions, were still able to reach around 280 children to foster positive coexistence between humans and chimpanzees in remote areas.
In Kyrgyzstan, DSWF funding was redirected towards developing a new remotely delivered conservation education program for children. This initiative aimed to encourage positive values for nature and to equip children with knowledge as a basis for conservation action and continued learning. The team were able to reach over 300 children and their teachers from 18 rural schools.
DSWF have been working to increase conservation awareness to empower communities to protect wildlife in Zambia. DSWF supported a series of teacher training workshops to empower and equip 50 teachers to become Conservation Club Leaders. The teachers have since established Conservation Clubs with their grade 5-6 students and began delivering weekly environmental classes in an extra-curricular setting to more than 1,000 children.
In the UK, DSWF’s education manager has continued to visit schools to provide free of charge assemblies, talks and workshops to raise awareness about endangered wildlife and conservation. We believe that the young people of today are the wildlife guardians of tomorrow, and we aim to inform, encourage, and inspire children, in the hope that when they grow up, they will have an interest in the natural world that will last a lifetime. Despite the closure of schools due to Covid-19, virtual school talks were prepared, and 51 virtual talks were given between September 2020 and 31 March 2021. Despite its virtual format, our international youth art competition, Global Canvas, received 2219 entries from 26 countries and the competition final was held online with people attending from around the world in their classes and schools.
How can you help this vital work continue?
This week GlobalGiving are hosting their annual Little by Little Campaign this means that all donations donated through GlobalGiving to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation between Monday 13th and Friday 17th September will receive 50% match funding from GlobalGiving. So, if you donate £20 today, we receive £30 towards Conservation Education making your contribution work that little bit harder!
We are hugely grateful that you have chosen to support us to help turn the tide on extinction. Thank you.
Little by Little Campaign T’s and C’s
Lion September 21 GG Report
Thank you for supporting David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation through GlobalGiving. As well as providing you with your bi-annual Lion project report, we would also like to inform you about an exciting campaign.
In June this year, DSWF received a request from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). WTI are a ground-based conservation partner of DSWF who provide rapid action responses to wildlife threats tackling risks to India’s wildlife when highly threatened by innumerable threats that require an immediate response.
WTI got in touch with us to ask for support for the Gir National Park in India which is the only hotbed for Asiatic lions in India. We were asked to support the communities surrounding the Gir national Park as for several years, the communities neighbouring the park have been working with the forest department to monitor and rescue lions and to help deter conflict situations.
The community were in need of desperate support as they were suffering badly from the spread of Covid-19 due to a rise in the number of cases in the area. This not only risks the lives of the community who work hard to protect the last Asiatic lion stronghold, but it is possible that Covid-19 can spread to the lions as well.
Further to this, two Asiatic lionesses in South India (Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Tamil Nadu) have recently died of suspected SARS CoV-2 which has created a slight scare around Protected Areas in India. In addition, Ten lions in Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Tamil Nadu and eight in Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh have all tested positive in the last few months as well.
Taking these factors into consideration, DSWF have been supporting the communities living in the Gir landscape to provide safety equipment and improve sanitation for over 15,000 people. So far, we have funded the distribution of 4,500 safety kits, including masks and sanitiser, have installed two community hand washing setups in each village and have put up posters regarding Covid appropriate behaviour. We hope that through this support we can limit the spread of Covid-19 and save the lives of the community and the critically endangered population of Asiatic Lions in Gir National Park.
How can you help this vital work continue?
This week GlobalGiving are hosting their annual Little by Little Campaign this means that all donations donated through GlobalGiving to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation between Monday 13th and Friday 17th September will receive 50% match funding from GlobalGiving. So, if you donate £20 today, we receive £30 towards protecting Lions making your contribution work that little bit harder!
We are hugely grateful that you have chosen to support us to help turn the tide on extinction. Thank you.
Little by Little Campaign T’s and C’s
Thank you for supporting David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) through GlobalGiving. As well as providing you with your bi-annual Painted dog project report, we would also like to inform you about an exciting campaign.
DSWF works closely with our ground-based conservation partner in Zimbabwe who seek to increase the range and numbers of painted dogs in and around the Hwange National Park. We work to achieve this target through a series of initiatives including anti-poaching, education and community outreach programmes.
Over the past 25 years, DSWF have been funding initiatives to combat human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe and were thrilled to hear that our ground-based conservation partners received multiple alerts this year from communities that painted dogs were denning near their homes. This offered opportunities for these packs to be relocated, mitigating any potential conflict and retaliatory killings. With only 6,500 painted dogs left in Africa, initiatives such as this are essential to help populations recover. We were also thrilled to hear that one of the alpha females in the Lukodet pack has given birth to 52 pups in just five years!
In the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe one of Africa’s last painted dog strongholds remain. However, poaching in Hwange remains a serious threat to painted dog populations who are often the unintentional victims of wire snares. This year, DSWF continued our long-term support of anti-poaching patrols in the Hwange National Park contributing towards 16,144km of ranger patrols, the apprehension and prosecution of 28 poachers and the removal of c.3000 snares. After many years of supporting lobbying efforts, we were also thrilled to see Zimbabwe government granting Special Protection to painted dogs meaning that anyone convicted of unlawful killing of a painted dog will face a mandatory 9-year jail term.
How can you help this work continue?
This week GlobalGiving are hosting their annual Little by Little campaign, this means that all donations donated through GlobalGiving to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation between Monday 13th and Friday 17th September will receive 50% match funding from GlobalGiving. So, if you donate £20 today, we receive £30 towards Painted Dog conservation making your contribution work that little bit harder!
We are hugely grateful that you have chosen to support us to help turn the tide on extinction. Thank you.
Little by Little Campaign T’s and C’s
