Margot Raggett with Henry Mwape of the Zambia Carnivore Programme
Remembering Wildlife – Supporting Projects in Africa & Asia
Remembering Wildlife exists to raise awareness of the plight facing wildlife and also funds to protect it.
It is our great honour and pleasure to support hard-working organisations on the ground, ones that are making a real difference. Through sales of Remembering Elephants, Remembering Rhinos, Remembering Great Apes, Remembering Lions and Remembering Cheetahs to date, Remembering Wildlife has donated £947,500 to 58 projects across 24 countries.
Read more about some of those project donations below.
SORALO
Location: Kenya
Donation amount: £28,500
The first donation to come from Remembering Lions was awarded in the South Rift Valley, home to one of the highest densities of lions in any non-protected area of Africa.
There are estimated to be 23 to 30 lions over the age of one in the valley.
These lions live alongside local Maasai who farm and graze their livestock in the valley, an important corridor between the Maasai Mara and Amboseli.
The SORALO project aims to ensure the South Rift Valley’s ecosystem remains healthy and protected for the benefit of both the local people and wildlife.
A £25,000 grant was given to SORALO’s 'Rebuilding the Pride' project, to fund a new patrol and research vehicle.
The new vehicle will be used for research, monitoring and for the occasional rescue of lost cows, with the aim of minimising conflict.
A further £3,500 donation has since been made towards camping gear for the rangers.
Niassa Lion Project in Mozambique
Location: Mozambique
Donation amount: £8,000
In northern Mozambique on the border with Tanzania, Niassa National Reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Africa. It is home to an estimated 800 to 1,000 lions, along with wild dogs, leopards and spotted hyena.
Areas
like this are critically important for future recovery efforts for lion
conservation, but sadly these types of landscapes are becoming
increasingly rare.
The Niassa Lion Project works to conserve lions, their prey and their habitats through peaceful coexistence and a shared respect for people, wildlife and the environment.
Our
donation will be used towards the salaries of the lion monitoring team,
who respond to - and work to prevent - carnivore conflict events.
The project has sent this comment to us with their gratitude:
"We
are all intricately intertwined and remembering our humanity is
essential to save both wildlife and ourselves. We cannot save one
without the other. At this time when everyone is scared and uncertain,
this is not the moment to abandon our communities and relationships but
to remember that conservation is community, we get through this together
even when we are physically further apart. A life well lived with
passion and purpose has far reaching impacts."
Zambian Carnivore Programme
Location: Zambia
Donation amount: £11,481
The Zambian Carnivore Programme is a not-for-profit Zambian organisation working in close collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and dedicated to conserving large carnivores and ecosystems.
Our donation will be used by their Luangwa Lion Project for anti-snaring work, combatting traffic in lions, training of future Zambian lion conservationists and outreach to local communities.
The Luangwa Valley is one of ten remaining lion strongholds left on the continent and has Zambia’s largest lion population.
The Wildlife Conservation Society
Location: Nigeria and Uganda
Donation amount: £32,500
We are supporting the work of The Wildlife Conservation Society in Yankari National Park in Nigeria as well as their work in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, over in East Africa.
The donation will be split between the two and used for Lion Protection Patrols and collaring, using data to identify core areas used by lions in order to intensify patrol effort in those areas.
The lion population in Yankari is estimated to be less than 20 individuals that are extremely vulnerable to extinction. In Murchison Falls, our funds will be focused on lions in the less accessible northern sector, which is exposed to high levels of snaring. Our funds will cover four collars in each site for two years.
African Parks
Location: Benin
Donation amount: £7,654
According to a newly-proposed classification, West Africa has by far the rarest lions.These belong to a distinct sub-species, and are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered.
Remembering Wildlife is supporting the work of African Parks in Pendjari in Benin. African Parks took over the management of Pedjari in 2017.
It is estimated that over 100 individual lions reside there, facing threats from poaching, poisoning and hunting.
Ruaha Carnivore Project
Location: Tanzania
Donation amount: £15,300
The Ruaha Carnivore Project is part of Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).
This landscape supports around 10% of all remaining wild lions. Our donation is being split between two projects there, community camera trapping and Lion Defenders.
Community camera trapping is an innovative way of encouraging villagers to capture data of wildlife in their area, with images earning points and - subject to no retaliations - points mean prizes!
Every three months these points are converted into healthcare, education and veterinary benefits, demonstrating a direct link between wildlife conservation and community benefits.
Lion Defenders employs local Maasai and Barabaig warriors to defend rather than hunt lions, as a way to prove their status. They work to detect and prevent traditional lion hunts, are given literacy training and also new skills in GPS and radio-telemetry.
Lion Defenders are now seen as attractive prospects for husbands in a way that previously, lion hunters were.
EAGLE
Location: Uganda
Donation amount: £7,654
The illegal trade in lion skins is very active in Uganda, which is endangering lions in East Africa. Our donation will be used for activities of the small team in Uganda, including undercover investigations, arrest operations, legal follow up and media efforts to maximise the deterrent value of enforcement results.
Margot Raggett meeting with Niels Mogenson, Senior Programme Scientist, with a lion collar
Mara Predator Conservation Programme
Location: Kenya
Donation amount: £11,481
Remembering Wildlife met with KWT's Mara Predator Conservation Programme to discuss the issues facing lions in the Maasai Mara and surrounding areas.
Our donation will be used to collar three disbursing young male lions, to find out why so many disappear once kicked out of the pride, never to be seen again.
African People & Wildlife
Location: Tanzania
Donation amount: £7,654
African People & Wildlife partners with local communities to create effective, sustainable solutions that improve the lives of rural Africans while protecting the natural world.
Our donation will help to pay for a vehicle to strengthen lion-related conservation activities, after two of their vehicles recently broke down beyond repair.
The Maa Trust
Location: Kenya
Donation amount: £3,827
The Maa Trust is a
With human/wildlife conflict the biggest threat of all to lions due to ever-expanding populations, our donation will be used to fund two mobile healthcare clinics in the area, with a focus on family planning and sexual reproductive health.
Lion Light Deterrent Systems
Location: Kenya
Donation amount: £2,800
Our donation will contribute towards Lion Entry Deterrent Light systems for BOMAS of Kenya, a tourist village in Langata, Nairobi.
The systems will be installed in hotspot areas and will identify lion collars, with the aim of mitigating suspected retaliation killings.
Anna Tolan with Margot Raggett in the school
Chipembele
Location: Zambia
Donation amount: £3,827
Chipembele is an inspirational wildlife school with a mission to teach Zambian children and communities the value of wildlife and their environment, so they may be conserved for present and future generations.
Remembering Wildlife visited the school in June and met co-founder Anna Tolan. The donation is going to be put towards the running of the centre. In honour of Remembering Lions, a special all-day session focused on lions will be developed and delivered to multiple children throughout 2020.
The Soft Foot Alliance
Location: Zimbabwe
Donation amount: £15,300
The Soft Foot Alliance is led by Brent Stapelkamp, who spoke so passionately at the Remembering Lions launch at the Royal Geographical Society last October (pictured here).
The funds will be used to develop educational materials that clearly communicate simple methods of wildlife protection, landscape regeneration and improvement of people's lives. We will also be supporting the building of a community centre.
Get in touch
If you have a general enquiry about Remembering Wildlife, please email contact@rememberingwildlife.com
If you are a member of the press and are interested in covering Remembering Wildlife, please contact media@rememberingwildlife.com
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