Tusk Talk 2023

TUSK TALK 2023

Welcome

Last week I received a message from a couple of our project partners working off the coast of East Africa. It read: "The sardine shoals 10 miles out were 300 feet deep. We were over them for 45 minutes at 6 knots, with no knowledge of how wide the shoal was!" Life in such abundance makes the hairs on my neck stand up. This simple message tells us all we need to know – nature knows its business. It will deliver if we let it.

Over 30 years, Tusk has worked to support conservation in Africa. It's unique portfolio approach, of 79 projects across 23 countries (at last count), has underpinned its stand-out success to date. This edition of Tusk Talk focusses on collaboration, and our work to accelerate networking and knowledge exchange between conservation leaders working in different communities, habitats and cultures across the continent.

Decades of working hand-in-hand with such a diversity of independent projects, through good times and bad, has given Tusk a privileged insight as to what success in conservation depends on. The answer is locally-led and supported approaches, which integrate nature, communities and economies. This understanding underpins the Tusk Conservation Awards which celebrated their tenth birthday last year. Increasingly looked to as recognising best practice in African conservation, at the Awards ceremony last year, it felt like perhaps their time is only just dawning.

This sentiment is perhaps reflective of today's reality, in which the resilience and productivity of the natural world can no longer be taken for granted. Biodiversity is no longer considered somehow separate from our economies, but a central business and political concern. The World Economic Forum's Risk Index again puts biodiversity loss right at the top of its list, alongside failure of climate mitigation and adaptation and extreme weather. This grouping reflects what the African communities Tusk works with have understood for years: the basic requirements of life – clean air, clean water, shelter and food – depend on a healthy environment and productive natural systems. As we are learning, the same is true for the most sophisticated of our economies.

The links between climate risk and biodiversity loss reflect another important point – action needs to be both global and local. Biodiversity evolves to fit local habitats, creating unique ecosystems providing immediate services to support

life. Unlike carbon, biodiversity is not fungible. The World Bank estimates that by 2030 over 50 million people will become climate migrants – because their homes will become unliveable due to a failure of action on climate mitigation, climate adaptation and biodiversity loss. Displacement on this level would be the biggest human rights disaster of climate change. It would also assure ecological destruction on an unimaginable scale. The ecological protection and restoration work needed now to avoid this catastrophe depends on the urgent creation of hundreds of thousands of local conservation leaders.

This is why Tusk this year has launched the Tusk Collaboration Fund. This dedicated fund seeks to cover the cost of exchange programmes and knowledge transfer between our portfolio projects and past Award winners. The objective is simple: to accelerate the growth of a well-supported and networked cohort of local conservation leaders, right across the African continent. We are excited about this initiative to leverage our portfolio, the Awards and our biennial symposium, as well as the Wildlife Ranger Challenge (WRC). We hope that alongside providing critical front line funding for our work, you will be inspired to support it.

I hope this edition of Tusk Talk whet's your appetite. It is jam packed with inspiration and insight – from our Tusk Award judge and Trustee Bea Karanja writing on how we can use nature's lessons as a roadmap for a sustainable future, to Kenya's former Environment Minister Hon Najib Balala's reflections on the importance of African leadership in African conservation; and Rory Bremner's thoughts on his visit to the community Rhino Sanctuary at Sera in Northern Kenya to Andrew Campbell and Benson Kanyembo's report on the impact of the WRC on rangers across the continent. It also highlights our many events this year.

In his opening address at last year's UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gueterras told delegates that "humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction". At Tusk, our view is different. In our every interaction, we see opportunity and potential to restore African ecosystems for the benefit of us all. We hope that you will join us.

Looking to the Future of Conservation

For more than 30 years, Tusk has carefully nurtured and supported a growing African-led conservation movement. Raising nearly £120m since the charity was founded, I am delighted that revenue in 2022 exceeded expectations and grew by 9% to £14.2m (approx $17.1m USD).

As a result the charity was able to have a significant conservation impact across Africa by investing over £11m in direct conservation work.

Income was buoyed by the return of the Lewa Safari Marathon, our ability to finally host our postponed 30th anniversary Ball at The Natural History Museum and the spectacular 10th anniversary of the Tusk Conservation Awards at Hampton Court Palace. Additionally, our Wildlife Ranger Challenge, now in its third year, raised £2.6m in support of nearly 10,000 rangers.

Protecting the natural world has never been more critical and we welcomed the commitment made by 196 countries at the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) held in Montreal in December to protect 30% of the planet’s biodiversity by 2030. The urgency is clear - in less than 50 years we have lost nearly 70% of the planet’s mammals, birds, fish and reptiles, whilst the human population has tripled.

Africa accounts for 25% of all global biodiversity and behind the proposals at COP15 was the connection between protecting biodiversity and tackling climate change. We can no longer afford to view wildlife and habitat conservation in isolation, but very much an integral part of the solution. Africa’s forests, mangroves, coral reefs, and savannah grasslands store vast amounts of carbon, so protecting these ecosystems is vital for tempering the planet’s climate.

However, the greatest threat to Africa’s rich natural heritage continues to come from mankind. Our increasing human footprint, conflict with wildlife, illegal charcoal burning and poaching, combined with our ability to destroy so much of the environment is truly alarming.

Tusk’s vision is both simple and possible – a future in which people and wildlife can both thrive across Africa. We demonstrably continue to see how our conservation

Tusk’s vision is both simple and possible – a future in which people and wildlife can both thrive across Africa.

efforts can protect nature whilst creating jobs, supporting education and improving livelihoods – particularly through the growing number of community-based programmes that Tusk is proud to have invested in for over two decades.

Our funding is now applied through four parallel funds: our longstanding Tusk Fund, which supports the high impact work of our core portfolio of partners; the Ranger Fund, which supports the employment, training and welfare of rangers across Africa; the Tusk Awards, which recognise the work of some remarkable ‘unsung’ conservationists; and lastly our Collaboration Fund. We are excited this new fund will help to drive greater collaboration and support important joint ventures – particularly those emanating from our biennial Conservation Symposium and initiatives such as our Round Table at St James’s Palace so kindly hosted by our Royal Patron last November.

Likewise, we are excited by two new revenue sources, which will help build greater sustainable income. Our longstanding corporate partner, Ninety One, not only made a £1m donation last year, it has recently launched a new share class within their Global Sustainable Equities Fund, from which the firm is committed to donating 100% of its annual management fee to Tusk. The charity has also established a new partnership with Exceptional Travel by which the specialist African travel company will kindly donate a meaningful share of their profits.

As ever, we remain incredibly grateful for all the support we have received this last year from so many individuals, foundations and companies across the world. After all, it is only with your financial support that we may continue to back and invest in the remarkable work of our Tusk project partners – the true unsung heroes of conservation.

Thank you!

Tusk works across Africa to further its mission.

Advancing Conservation in Africa

1. Protect endangered species

2. Preserve natural habitats

3. Promote human-wildlife coexistence

4. Provide environmental education

By partnering with leading and emerging conservationists across Africa, Tusk secures donor funding to invest in the best grassroots conservation organisations, encouraging and enabling their local African leadership, helping to increase their profile and maximise their impact.

Our funding covers a broad portfolio of projects and is split across three types of grant:

• Catalyst grants for early-stage initiatives testing new conservation strategies;

• Evolution grants for emerging efforts that are developing a proven track record and scaling their impact; and

• Keystone grants for established organisations that continue to innovate and test new strategies and approaches to conservation.

Main image

Collared wild dog family from the Karingani Game Reserve

Credit: Jo Taylor

Bottom left

A dog handler from Honeyguide's K9 unit in Manyara Ranch, Tarangire National Park Tanzania

Credit: Monica Dalmasso

Far right (from top) Staff collecting data and assessing health of rescued turtles prior to release

Credit: Local Ocean Conservation

Herd of white rhino

Credit: Martin Harvey

A Zambian Carnivore Programme team monitoring lions in South Luangwa

Credit: Edward Selfe

Schoolchildren in Nigeria engaged in treeplanting

Credit: Rachel Ikemeh

Our support amplifies our partners’ action on the ground to:

Tusk’s new Collaboration Fund will add to this by enabling our partner organisations to stimulate new ideas, explore solutions and build innovative initiatives together.

Since Tusk’s inception in 1990, we have invested over £100million in wildlife conservation initiatives across more than 24 different African countries. We have supported more than 100 local organisations, and in this way, we have fostered the development of the grassroots conservation movement throughout Africa.

Your generous support underpins Tusk’s positive and lasting impact in Africa.

How Tusk Makes A Difference

Our vision is an Africa in which people and wildlife co-exist and thrive. We believe in the inherent value of wildlife and know that sustainable conservation requires local solutions, expertise and engagement.

When local communities and stakeholders see economic benefits to co-existing with wildlife and that their actions are connected to a global environmental movement, conservation can and does succeed.

By championing sustainable solutions for conservation, Tusk, together with our supporters and partner projects, can have real and lasting impact.

Your generous support last year is making a huge difference; here’s how.

£14.2 million

global revenue

Every£1

donated is used across three areas:

91p - conservation activity

6p - support costs

3p - cost of raising funds

41

endangered species benefitted from our projects

54,028,044 hectares

secured for wildlife

£2.6 million

provided in support of wildlife rangers

*This page reflects total revenue raised in 2022 but does not reflect the total impact of the funds which have been and will continue to be disbursed in phases through 2023 and 2024.

*These figures are extracted from the unaudited 2022 accounts and do not constitute summary financial statements.

45

projects helped address illegal wildlife trade

Focus of Tusk funded projects Protecting endangered species 41%

3,600

Human-wildlife conflict incidences mitigated

10 million+ people

benefit directly and indirectly through the work of Tusk project partners (including Wildlife Ranger Challenge participating organisations)

79

projects supported with Tusk generated funds

£11.1 million

invested in direct conservation activity

2,178

snares recovered

200,000

children using Tusk’s Pan African Conservation Education (PACE) materials

Source of funds

Donations from individuals 66%

Corporate 17%

Fundraising events 9%

Charitable trusts 6%

Gift Aid <1%

Government funding <1%

Legacy <1%

Endowment income <1%

Tusk project partner distribution by African region

Southern Africa 46%

Eastern Africa 33%

Western Africa 11%

Central Africa 6%

Africa Wide 4%

Project Partners 2023

Success Spotlights

Our project partners have achieved some great successes over the past year. Here is a snapshot of those along with our shared ambitions for the future.

These successes have been made possible because of your generous support, and it is your financial commitment to conservation in Africa that will enable us to continue to amplify our project partners’ work in 2023 and beyond.

Africa-wide

• Elephant Protection Initiative

• PACE

• Game Rangers Association of Africa

1 Angola

• Kissama Foundation

2 Botswana

• CLAWS Conservancy

• Coaching Conservation

• Wild Entrust

• Northern Tuli Game Reserve

3 Comoros

• Blue Ventures

4 Cote d'lvoire

• Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

5 Democratic Republic of Congo

• Okapi Conservation Project

• Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

• Virunga National Park

6 Gabon

• OELO Gabon

7 Gambia

• Red Colobus Conservation

8 Ghana

• HERP Ghana

9 Guinea

• Chimpanzee Conservation Centre

10 Kenya

• Borana Conservancy

• Grevy's Zebra Trust

• Lamu Marine Conservation Project

• Milgis Trust

• Pangolin Project

• Save The Elephants

• The Maa Trust

• Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust

• Big Life Foundation

• Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

• Lion Landscapes (Kenya)

• Mount Kenya Trust

• Mountain Bongo Surveillance Project

• Ngare Ndare Forest Trust

• Northern Rangelands Trust

• SORALO

• Tsavo Trust

11 Madagascar

• C3 Madagascar

• Madagasikara Voakajy

• IMPACT Madagascar

12 Malawi

• Lilongwe Wildlife Trust

• Wildlife Action Group

13 Mali

• Mali Elephant Project

14 Mozambique

• Maputo National Park

• Chuilexi Conservancy

• Luwire Wildlife Conservancy

• Karingani Game Reserve

15 Namibia

• Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation

• ORKCA Namibia

• Save the Rhino Trust

16 Nigeria

• SW/Niger Delta Forest Project

• African Nature Investors Foundation

• Yankari Game Reserve

17 Rwanda

• Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association

18 São Tomé and Príncipe

• Programa Tatô

19 South Africa

• Bateleurs

• VulPro

• Project Rhino

• Transfrontier Africa

NPC

• Wildlife ACT Fund Trust

• Zambeze Delta Safaris

• Southern African Wildlife College

20 Tanzania

• Global Animal Health

Tanzania

• Lion Landscapes (Tanzania)

• Ujamaa Community Resource Team

• African People & Wildlife

• Africa Foundation

• Honeyguide Foundation

21 Uganda

• Nature Uganda

• Conservation Through Public Health

• Uganda Conservation Foundation

22 Zambia

• Zambian Carnivore Programme

• Game Rangers International

• Musekese

Conservation

• North Luangwa Conservation Programme (FZS)

• Nsumbu Tanganyika Conservation Programme (FZS)

• Conservation Lower Zambezi

• Conservation South Luangwa

23 Zimbabwe

• Bhejane Trust

• Wildlife Conservation Action

• Tashinga Initiative

• Malilangwe Trust

• Painted Dog Conservation

1. Blue Ventures, Comoros

Blue Ventures in partnership with Tusk have helped forty women from three villages in Anjouan, Comoros, increase their earnings and reduce overfishing by preserving their catches through seafood smoking. Research shows that fishers in the area face income losses of up to 30% due to spoiled fish, leading to significant loss for the communities.

This spring, Blue Ventures will be facilitating a learning exchange visit between fishing communities in Comoros and Kenya. The exchange will focus on Locally Managed Marine Area governance, fisheries management measures, financial management, and sustainable fishing techniques.

2. Herp Ghana, Ghana

With the support of Tusk, the Nick Maughan Foundation and other supporters, Herp-Ghana completed and operationalised the first canopy walkway in the Volta Region of Ghana. 4000 people have already visited the canopy since its completion. They also successfully planted back 10 hectares of previously degraded forest in the Onepone Endangered Species Refuge. 10,000 native tree seedlings have been planted along riverbanks and in degraded areas of the reserve. The trees were mainly all forest species that have been heavily logged. Lastly, they expanded their 15,000-capacity tree nursery to a 50,000-capacity one.

3. Lamu Marine Conservation Project (LaMCoT), Kenya

In 2022, LaMCoT celebrated their 30 year anniversary! A major highlight was their inaugural Bahari Yetu Festival - an ocean festival attended by over 150 children. They also hosted coral reef surveys and were recognised on CNN’s Call to Earth series.

This year, LaMCoT plans to expand its education and community outreach. The Bahari Yetu Festival will return and a 14th school will be added to their environmental programme. They will also work to establish sustainable fishing and livelihoods in the Kinyika marine area and coral reef conservation efforts in the Kiweni conservancy.

4. Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, Malawi

Last year Lilongwe Wildlife Trust opened a brand-new environmental education centre providing inspiring and immersive learning experiences for youth, set in the heart of a forested area at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. With Tusk support, they developed new, action-based lesson plans and teaching modules and delivered educational sessions to over 8,000 students from 347 schools.

Their aim for the coming year is to continue delivering experiential learning to over 10,000 students, and to develop field camps, conservation career days and hands-on, skills-based conservation projects with schools and universities.

Success spotlights Continued

5. Mali Elephant Project, Mali

Community support is key to making space for the Mali elephants and their migration. Despite high insecurity, the Mali Elephant Project works with local communities to co-create governance systems that protect the ecosystem while providing multiple benefits. The focus in 2023 is to facilitate human-elephant coexistence in zones prone to conflict. Another key focus will be the newly designated Gourma Biosphere Reserve, which locals refer to as “their reserve” because it allows them to prevent over-exploitation by outside commercial interests, and to protect the resources on which their own livelihoods depend.

7. Okapi Conservation Project, Democratic Republic of Congo

2022 welcomed the 30th anniversary of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve and the reopening of their Mungbere agroforestry site. They were also proud to have reached over 7,000 students with presentations highlighting the ecological and cultural importance of the Reserve. In 2023 they hope to plant 100,000 seedlings to combat deforestation and preserve Okapi habitat. These past three decades have granted the Okapi Conservation Project a wealth of knowledge and invaluable, enduring relationships with indigenous and local communities. They look forward to more growth and the celebration it will bring.

6. OELO, Gabon

OELO was awarded a 2022 Equator Prize for their community initiative, “Our Lake, Our Future.” With local fishers, scientists, non-governmental and governmental partners they created Gabon’s first freshwater fisheries management plan to protect lake resources for future generations. In 2023, with Tusk support, they aim to gain governmental approval for the Oguemoué Community Forest with sister initiative, “Our Forest, Our Future.” Along with lake communities, they have applied to the government to reclaim ancestral forests on the lake with the aim of reducing ongoing illegal logging and poaching.

8. ORKCA, Namibia

In 2022, ORKCA’s major success was its formation and instituting a legal framework to purchase and manage land in Namibia. They also secured three years’ worth of operational funding, carried out biodiversity assessments and hired key senior management staff. In the coming year they look forward to increasing their footprint by 35,000 hectares while strengthening their operations and partnerships. In 2023 and beyond, ORKCA is working to build a hub in Southern Namibia for Namibian, South African and international conservationists to collaborate.

5 9

6 7 8

9. Programa Tatô, São Tomé and Príncipe

One of Programa Tatô’s key successes in 2022 was the involvement, motivation and the sense of belonging from local communities, who day by day are assuming their role as community and conservation leaders in their own communities, as well as the growing involvement of national authorities, increasingly active in enforcing the sea turtle protection law.

In the coming year Programa Tatô will consolidate its conservation actions in the country and guarantee sustainable long-term funding for the conservation programme, which is one of their main challenges.

11. SW/Niger Delta Forest Project, Nigeria

In 2022, SW/Niger Delta broadened and maintained protection efforts for the Ise Forest conservation area which reduced threat levels by 97% and completely dislodged the entrenched problem of illegal forest conversion for marijuana farms. There has been accelerated natural regeneration of the forest with observed increase in encounter rates of wildlife species including chimpanzees. In 2023, they would like to build on this progress and launch conservation enterprises, notably promoting domestic tourism that will help local communities and stakeholders link economic benefits to conservation actions.

(PDC), Zimbabwe

In 2022 Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) continued their support of the Mabale Community Anti-Poaching Unit (MCAPU). They collaboratively conducted 1,636 patrols and removed 3,503 snares. PDC’s Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp conducted 31 conservation education camps hosting 852 kids from 21 local primary schools. Through their increased monitoring efforts, they recorded 10 breeding packs of wild dogs compared to 4 last year. In 2023 their goal is to keep boots on the ground in collaboration with MCAPU, monitor more wild dog packs and increase awareness campaigns for the protection of wild dogs.

13. Wildlife Conservation Action (WCA), Malawi

In the past year, Wildlife Conservation Action launched their Environmental Education programme called Guardians of the Wild (GOTW) within primary and secondary schools. The programme is aimed at educating school children about the importance of environmental protection and biodiversity conservation; this is done through environmental lessons, seminars, content creation and trips to National Parks. In 2022 they successfully piloted GOTW in 16 private schools in Harare. This year the programme will be expanded to other parts of the country especially to schools around wildlife areas in order to connect their students with nature.

12. Yankari National Park, Nigeria

Yankari National Park’s key achievement last year was zero elephant poaching with no elephant carcasses recorded. In addition to protecting elephants, regular ranger patrols have also helped improve security in surrounding communities – helping to deter the kidnappers and cattle rustlers that are increasingly active in the landscape. Despite the human-elephant conflict, Yankari has been able to maintain good relations with local communities – this is due to the Elephant Guardian programme, supported by Tusk since 2016. Over the coming year, Yankari plans to focus more attention on their small and endangered lion population.

14. Zambia Carnivore Programme, Zambia

In the pandemic’s wake the Zambia Carnivore Programme emerged in 2022 stronger, wiser, and more directed. They set records for their work: covering over 39,000km2, intensively monitoring over 1,100 carnivores, logging over 10,000 snare checks and 5,000 person days in the field. ZCP mentored 47 trainees in their Women in Wildlife Conservation, Conservation Biologist, Wildlife Vet, Integrated Field Conservation, and Professional Development programmes, and worked with nearly 3,000 farmers to mitigate human-carnivore conflict. In 2023 they will continue to work on their OrganizationalStrengthening Plan to increase their impacts going forward.

There were many highlights to our work in 2022

2022 in Review

Without the funds raised by the dedicated Tusk donors who attended or supported Tusk’s events and appeals in 2022, our work would not be possible. With an exciting roster of events in the pipeline for 2023 (see page 61), there are plenty of ways you can support wildlife conservation this year.

'Karibu Africa', Aspen

Tusk hosted an après ski event at the Caribou Club in Aspen, Colorado in March 2022 to raise funds with our US partners African Conservation and Communities Fund (ACCF), raising $265,000. Building upon its success, another event on March 15th 2023 was held at Aspen Meadows.

Tusk Ball, The Natural History Museum

In May, Tusk descended on the Natural History Museum for the Tusk Ball, complete with drinks, dinner, dancing, music by Jack Savoretti and a fantastic auction hosted by Rory Bremner. Generously sponsored by ISPS Handa, a total of £460,000 was raised.

'Karibu Africa', The Hamptons

Many thanks to Gary and Amy Green for hosting Tusk and ACCF at their beautiful home in the Hamptons, Long Island. We are pleased to announce that we raised $184,000.

Hannah Shergold

Tusk Ambassador, Hannah Shergold, smashed her fundraising target of £100,000 through sales of her distinct new exhibition, The Sovereign Collection, at the Mall Galleries in London. Thank you, Hannah, for your incredible contribution to Tusk.

Left to Right

Guests enjoy the 'Karibu Africa’ Apres-Ski Reception in Aspen

Credit: ACCF

Tusk Ball at the Natural History Museum

Credit: Nick Andrews

Singer Paula Abdul and actor Quinton Aaron lend a helping hand with the Karibu Africa auction in aid of Tusk and ACCF in The Hamptons

Credit: ACCF

Hannah Shergold in her studio

Credit: Hannah Shergold

Ivo Graham hosting the 2022 GenerationTusk Comedy Night

The Ambrose Buoys crossing the finish line after completing the Atlantic Challenge

Credit: Ambrose Buoys

GenerationTusk Comedy Night

The GenerationTusk committee organised another riproaring evening at the Comedy Store, hosted by Ivo Graham and 7 of his comedian friends. Along with a successful raffle, the night raised a fantastic £7,000 and introduced GT to a host of new faces. Thank you to all who joined us!

Follow GenerationTusk’s Instagram for upcoming events: @generation_tusk

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

For the Big Give Christmas Challenge, we celebrated ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’, raising an incredible £72,000 to support pangolin, hyena and vulture and bring awareness to those animals that often slip under the radar.

Ambrose Buoys Atlantic Challenge

In December, Finn, Felix and Louis Ambrose embarked on the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, the world’s toughest row. They completed the crossing in a mere 36 days, raising over £30,000 for Tusk.

Brian Jackman pays tribute to one of Africa’s greatest conservationists, the friend he first met at George Adamson’s camp in 1980 and who died in May 2022 after a prolonged fight against a malignant brain tumour.

Remembering Tony Fitzjohn OBE

Tony Fitzjohn’s extraordinary life is bound up inextricably with that of George Adamson and Elsa, the lion cub he and Joy, his wife, raised and released into the wild.

Fitzjohn was himself an orphan, born in 1945 and raised in Cockfosters at the end of the Piccadilly Line, where he read and re-read Tarzan of the Apes while leading such a wayward life that he seemed destined for Borstal. Somehow, he was spared and went instead to Mill Hill, an exclusive north London boarding school.

By the time he turned up in Kenya, having hitch-hiked from Cape Town, the boy who would be Tarzan had already become an impressive hell-raiser. But Adamson and the remote bush camp where he lived at Kora would be the making of him. Kampi ya Simba (Lion Camp) was where Adamson lived with a raggle-taggle pride of orphaned lions, and Fitzjohn turned out to be a natural at handling them.

As for George – “the Old Man” – Tony adored him like a father. But most of all he loved the lions. During the 18 years they worked together, Adamson and Fitzjohn reintroduced more than 30 lions into the wild, but their idyll could not last. In 1987, being so near to Somalia, Kora was closed down due to the growing security situation, although Adamson was allowed to remain, and a year later he was shot dead by Somali bandits.

By then, having no option but to leave Kora, Fitzjohn had moved south at the request of the Tanzanian Government to take up the post of field director at Mkomazi, a clappedout game reserve adjoining Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.

The job required someone who was a fluent Swahili speaker, an experienced bush pilot and skilled mechanic who could fix 4WD vehicles, set up two-way radio networks, organise anti-poaching patrols, cut bush roads and handle captive-bred rhinos – all this while raising funds and coping with Tanzanian officialdom. Fitzjohn turned out to be a shoein.

Over the next thirty years, as the field director of the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust, he enlisted a formidable group of supporters, experts, and international institutions - including the Tusk Trust - to create what became a template for the conservation of habitat and wildlife.

During that time, he and his Tanzanian team worked in partnership with the wildlife authorities to transform an area that had been so heavily poached and degraded it was

By the time I got to Tanzania the rhino had all been wiped out. There were none left. We wanted to do something for them, but it was unattainable — it was so expensive. You need fences, space, and they need peace and quiet. But once I decided to do it, it was extraordinary the support I got.

Main image

Tony with a hand reared lion in Kora

Credit: George Adamson

Wildlife Preservation Trust

Right

Tony with Tusk’s Royal Patron

HRH The Prince of Wales on a visit to Mkomazi National Park in 2018

Credit: Sarah Watson

Bottom right

Tony with a black rhino that was relocated to Mkomazi from Port Lympne Zoo

Credit: George Adamson

Wildlife Preservation Trust

Tony Fitzjohn OBE

feared the reserve might be turned over to subsistence agriculture. Instead, against the odds, he and his team pulled it up by its bootstraps and transformed Mkomazi into a National Park of outstanding beauty.

When full stewardship was passed back to the Tanzanian authorities in 2020 the park was rich in all kinds of wildlife including 600-strong herds of migrating elephants. In addition, it was also the home of two remarkable rehabilitation projects for endangered species - one for the African Wild Dog and the other creating one of Africa’s most successful black rhino sanctuaries.

In paying homage to Tony’s incredible achievements it is also worth making one final point. Throughout his career in Africa, he never had a proper salary – from the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust or from anyone else. Moreover, it is also worth adding that virtually all the inheritance he received from his father (about £80,000 in total) went into the rescue of Mkomazi; and as the most influential creator of one of Tanzania’s priceless national parks, he finally emerged from George Adamson’s giant shadow to leave his own indelible stamp on wild Africa.

Meanwhile, it is heartening to know that Lucy and Alex Fitzjohn, Tony’s wife and son, are continuing his work at Kora, where his love affair with Africa began.

A Natural Connection

The interesting thing about watching nature unfold - from a bee whose knees are laden with pollen buzzing onto a new flower or to an ox-pecker picking ticks of buffaloes and even the honeyguide and humans – is that it is all bound on one thing: mutualism.

Mutualism has been defined as an interaction between individuals of different species that results in positive, sometime beneficial, effects for both. The human who will find honey for the honeyguide and the seed that will germinate from a knee swipe from the bee, these relationships grow and thrive from mutual understanding and interactions.

Main image

Tusk Conservation

Award 2020 Winner

John Kamanga of South Rift Association of Land Owners speaks at a community meeting.

Credit: SORALO

Top right

Angola bee

Credit: Kissama Foundation

Using nature’s lessons as a roadmap for a sustainable future

The future success of conservation and wildlife protection rests in similar mutuality. Nature, herself, knows no boundaries and so collaborative efforts across boundaries, borders, species and landscapes need to be embraced and propelled into Africa’s future scenarios in a way that can only benefit both communities who remain the key stewards of the landscapes they are reliant on for livelihoods and the wildlife that they live in proximity with.

To advance collaborative conservation efforts across the African continent, Tusk has achieved significant impact by bringing together grassroots organisations that are delivering change across vast connected ecosystems. The Tusk Conservation Symposium has been the genesis of this (see page 19), out of which has grown Tusk’s Collaboration Fund which is engendering new ideas; allowing our partners to explore solutions and build innovative initiatives together.

Through maintaining these connections we hope to see an increase in a multitude of benefits from increases in healthy landscapes and ecosystems, which in turn will lead to growth in socio-economic benefits – rangers protecting wildlife, growth of nature-based enterprises, local suppliers to tourism lodges earning much needed income and capacitybuilding to up-skill many of those working across the spectrum of conservation professions.

Ensuring that we support local solutions that demonstrate proven track records and an ability to go to scale in protecting endangered species and preserving natural habitats, Tusk is well positioned to drive meaningful and sustainable future for conservation in Africa.

Leveraging on our proven success while identifying the power of collaborative action, together with our network of projects, funders and like-minded influencers, we have the ability to generate, embed and foster linkages across the continent that will drive transformational change for Africa’s biodiversity and its communities who are its custodians.

So just like the honeyguide and the honey-gatherer, collaboration and support to collaborative efforts are the bee’s knees.

In my eyes, generosity should be measured not by the size or volume of a philanthropist’s cheques, but how any giving stacks up against each person’s ability to give.

Convening for Collaboration in Conservation

The pandemic was extremely tough for everyone the world over. The conservation sector, in particular, endured huge losses in tourism, dramatic cut backs in operating budgets, and sadly redundancies too.

In March of 2022, with the early signs of the world emerging from the pandemic, we were joined by 60 of our project partners, trustees and donors in the Maasai Mara National Reserve for our third Tusk Conservation Symposium, which was generously funded by the Nick Maughan Foundation. Over four days, with the help of our partners, Maliasili, we explored how Covid had affected everyone’s work, what opportunities it presented by disrupting the status quo and the prospects it presented to rebuild better for the future. The theme of the gathering was ‘Building Resilience in African Conservation’.

Above Tusk Conservation Symposium (TCS) delegates attend a field day at the Naboisho Community Conservancy in the Maasai Mara.

Credit: David Kabiru

Right

Tusk Chairman Alex Rhodes plants a tree at the Maa Trust headquarters after a visit from TCS delegates

Credit: David Kabiru

Bottom Right

Tusk project partner representatives and symposium delegates Tessa Hempson and Dr Caleb Ofori-Boateng

Credit: David Kabiru

Below TCS 2022 delegates

Credit: David Kabiru

The impetus for our inaugural symposium held in 2017 came from Tusk’s Royal Patron, Prince William. It had become clear that each year the finalists attending the Tusk Conservation Awards were enjoying the opportunity to meet some other amazing men and women working across Africa but, more importantly, they were benefitting hugely from sharing both their challenges and solutions with each other. A decision was made to bring all of the partners together, and the symposium was born.

As an event, the symposium leverages the inherent value from all our delegates sharing their extraordinary knowledge, collective experience and sector-leading expertise. Many of our partners work in remote and challenging environments where the opportunity to meet and learn about innovative techniques and alternative ideas being implemented elsewhere may be rare. As a direct output from last year’s event, Tusk provided 19 collaboration grants for projects to travel and learn from one another, and we are looking forward to supporting the initiatives that have come out of these visits through the newly formed Collaboration Fund.

Tusk is more than just a charity or philanthropic entity; it is a powerful convenor of conservationists and friends of African conservation.

Just a huge thank you from myself, this symposium has energised and motivated me again to not only try harder but also try new ideas. It's so important to have exposure to other projects in this field and we often do not. We learn most by seeing and feeling.

I had a lot on my plate and was considering not coming however I feel I would have regretted this decision if I didn't come. It was a fantastic programme with great learning and networking opportunities.

A big thank you to Tusk, and the Nick Maughan Foundation for supporting this gathering.

The Symposium was really cutting-edge in how holistic and thought-provoking it was, while at the same time striking a great balance between sessions, networking and field visits. Partnering with Maliasili, and the speakers as well as the amazing sessions, site visits, and conversations, and opportunities to discuss and network, really cut across all the pressing topics, ideas and challenges facing us all.

In addition, after two years of keeping our collective heads down and prevailing through the pandemic it was wonderful to see everyone, and have some wellearned laughs and chats with people I now consider friends, colleagues, mentors and inspirations. Lastly, to have it in the Mara - somewhere that's always been on my bucket list - was amazing and so great to see it and all the wonderful work being done here.

The Ripple Effect of Collaboration

There is something about that morning air when you are sitting at a table looking across the Maasai Mara, listening to the early morning chorus of birds in the forest calling out, that inspires the mind to think creatively.

It was the perfect place for three organisations to bounce ideas off of each other. In a matter of days, those ideas would evolve from being a ramble in the mind to a clear vision of collaboration and a catalyst leading to big results.

In February 2022, Honeyguide attended the Tusk Trust Conservation Symposium in Maasai Mara, Kenya. The symposium brought together African conservation leaders from across the continent and focused on building resilience in conservation. Over the course of the four days, we participated in workshops, training sessions, and presentations that highlighted high-impact leadership, strategic collaboration and communications, diversifying

funding and creating opportunities from crises. The symposium created a space where we could network, connect, learn from, and, most importantly - collaborate with a diverse array of delegates. For Honeyguide and some select partners, this symposium was the catalyst for a major opportunity.

During the symposium, the Tusk Trust announced a travel bursary of up to $2,000 for any collaboration efforts. It was during this morning's discussion between Honeyguide and Lion Landscapes that we saw the chance to use this opportunity to leverage an additional $2,500 from each partner to equally contribute towards an application for a Biodiversity Protected Areas Management Program (BIOPAMA) grant that was worth over $160,000.

The funds put towards Tusk Trust’s initial grant brought us to a total of $10,000 to be used on a Sitelevel Assessment of Governance and Equity (SAGE). The main criterion for the BIOPAMA funding was that it would only be granted to actions addressing key management and governance issues identified by a quantitative management and governance assessment tool. This

We know that the only way to achieve the greatest impact is to partner with like-minded organisations

meant if we wanted to apply for this funding, we needed to do a SAGE fast!

As part of Honeyguide’s 2022-2026 strategic plan, there has been a shift in our ways of working with the creation of our partnership model. We know that the only way to achieve the greatest impact is to partner with like-minded organisations with pre-existing relationships with WMAs and who are willing to work together to reach sustainability for them. Prior to the symposium, Honeyguide and the Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP) established a partnership to work together in the Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem, starting with MBOMIPA WMA.

One of the first steps in our governance process is to conduct a SAGE. The SAGE model is a simple, low-cost assessment tool for protected areas. Developed by the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), Honeyguide was one of the first organisations to pilot this methodology. The success of the pilot has led to SAGE being a part of our approach to governance. Also operating in the area is Lion Landscapes, an NGO focused on lion conservation and research, which was also in

Main image Tusk project partner Honeyguide Tanzania rangers and community members working together in the Randilen Wildlife Management Area

Credit: Monica Dalmasso

attendance at the Tusk Trust Symposium. Their Ruaha Carnivore Project has livestock protection, community benefit, and Lion Defender programmes. With such closely aligned goals in the landscape, working with Mbomipa WMA in the area of governance was an opportunity for all.

The Honeyguide team members piled in the car and drove to Iringa, where they joined the STEP team and facilitated the three-day SAGE workshop. The completion of this workshop ensured STEP and MBOMIPA WMA were eligible for the BIOPAMA Medium Grant. Over the next few weeks, STEP, with the assistance of Honeyguide, put together a proposal for 160,000 EUR, and after a few months of waiting for results, the good news arrived that the proposal had been accepted.

The Tusk Trust collaboration grant ignited a spark that started with just 10,000 EUR and ended with 160,000 EUR going towards building the good governance of the WMA. This just goes to show the power of putting funds together and working towards a common goal.

The Ripple Effect of Collaboration Continued

Collaboration Examples

COACHING CONSERVATION & SOUTHERN AFRICAN WILDLIFE COLLEGE

A learning exchange between Coaching Conservation (CC) Botswana, and Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) South Africa, catalysed in 2019, has grown into a strategic partnership. CC’s innovative coaching curriculum has found an ‘institutional home’ with SAWC, whose trainers and physical facilities are now being used to scale the programme. As a result, the number of children benefitting from CC’s curriculum has now almost doubled and is poised to keep growing exponentially.

Main image

The CC team explaining to a school group what it means ‘to be like a rhino’

Credit: Coaching Conservation

Above Students at the South African Wildlife College

Credit: SAWC

WILDLIFE ACTION GROUP & SOUTHERN AFRICAN WILDLIFE COLLEGE

A representative of the SAWC visited the Wildlife Action Group (WAG) Malawi, at the Thuma Forest Reserve in July 2022. The aim was to identify training needs and gaps in skill needed to successfully manage the two biodiversity-rich forest reserves which WAG is responsible for. It was a highly successful visit with potential for future mutually beneficial collaboration between SAWC and WAG, and a training plan to strengthen SAWC’s programmes is in the pipeline.

Collaboration Examples Continued

CONSERVATION LOWER ZAMBEZI & PANGOLIN PROJECT

Top Conservation Lower Zambezi team members learn pangolin tracking techniques from the Pangolin Project team in Kenya.

Credit: Hanneke Hogerheijde

Middle Right

Members of the Conservation Lower

Zambezi and Pangolin Project pose for a photo after a successful knowledge exchange visit

Credit: Hanneke Hogerheijde

Bottom

A tagged pangolin and her pup photographed in the Lower Zambezi, Zambia

Credit: Estella Snowden

Two representatives from Conservation Lower Zambezi, Zambia, visited the Pangolin Project, Kenya, along with one of their partners to learn about pangolin rehabilitation and release. The Pangolin Project hosted a training session at the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the Kenya Wildlife Service Headquarters in Nairobi, with sessions on pangolin restraint, tracking and tagging. The Kenya team shared their ground knowledge and also enjoyed learning from the Zambia team on the rehabilitation work they do. They in turn hope to visit Zambia soon to learn more.

After finding what seems to be a strain of syphilis affecting wild Chimpanzees' health in Guinea, the Chimpanzee Conservation Centre (CCC) Guinea, wanted to learn from Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) Uganda, how to prevent humanchimpanzee disease transmission under the One-Health approach.

The CCC team had a successful visit to Uganda where they learnt how to implement effective One-Health projects with local communities around protected areas. Communities will be much more participative once their healthcare system is significantly improved and in turn the CCC will be able to tackle zoonotic diseases before they can spread to the chimpanzees.

CHIMPANZEE CONSERVATION CENTRE & CONSERVATION THROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH

Collaboration Examples Continued

Tusk partners CTPH and Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA) Kenya, developed a proposal to lend their shared expertise to the Umoja Wildlife Conservancies Association (UMOJA). UMOJA are looking to establish community conservancies through a bottom-up approach in Uganda. Their learning exchange visit was successful on multiple levels including advocacy for community conservation to the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Further collaboration opportunities were catalysed, with an upcoming opportunity for KWCA to in turn learn from CTPH how CTPH’s highly successful One-Health conservation model can be established in Kenyan conservancies.

Top Left Munyana, a mountain gorilla of the Rushegura Group in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Credit: Ryoma Otsuka

Middle Right

A mountain gorilla

Credit: Kibuuka Mukisa

KENYA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCIES ASSOCIATION & CONSERVATION THROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH

Bottom Left

CTPH Founder Dr Gladys

in the

Credit: Charles Capel

HONEYGUIDE FOUNDATION & LION LANDSCAPES

Honeyguide Foundation, Tanzania, and Lion Landscapes, Kenya, had the opportunity to identify areas of synergy during the 2022 Tusk Conservation Symposium. They jointly applied for and matched a Tusk collaboration grant with the aim of unlocking a larger pot of funding. With these initial funds they were able to share expertise to ensure a community wildlife area in which they both work met certain funding and governance criteria. They were thus able to jointly apply for and unlock a funding pot of $160,000.

Main image

A Growing Community Conservation Movement

Lewa holds a special place in my heart. Besides being the first Tusk-supported project I experienced on my first visit to Kenya in 1996, the 62,000 acre conservancy area which now holds 12% of Kenya’s black and white rhino and the world’s largest single population of Grevy’s zebra was where Tessa and I spent our honeymoon.

Lewa itself has always been at the forefront of conservation in Kenya. It was here, on land leased from the Craig family, that Anna Merz set up a Rhino Sanctuary in the mid 1980s, when poaching had almost wiped out the species in Kenya, reducing it from some 20,000 black rhinos to less than 300 in little over a decade. Today, Lewa’s black rhino population has risen from the surviving 15 to over 250.

As wildlife numbers flourished, Ian Craig had an ambitious vision: to inspire and involve other pastoralist communities in a collaborative network of conservancies across the vast landscape of northern Kenya. Hence the creation, in 2004, of the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), an umbrella body of conservancies which now stretches over 63,000 square kilometres, and comprises 43 independent community-led conservancies, each run for, and by, indigenous people, with the aim of managing the communities’ land and improving livelihoods.

Main image

A Sera ranger tracking rhino in the field

Credit: Jamie Manuel

Left

A black rhino in the Sera Wildlife Conservancy

Credit: Olwen Evans

Right Community meeting facilitated by NRT

Credit: Ian Craig

Bottom Right

Rory and Tessa Bremner on safari at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Credit: Rory Bremner

Impressionist,

With collaboration, vision and determination (and support), communities really can be transformed, one conservancy at a time.

Rory Bremner

The NRT’s vision of expanding conservation through collaborative, community-led projects continues to grow, to the benefit of both wildlife (greater protection of endangered species) and communities (providing over 1,400 jobs and fostering peace, development and enterprise - nearly 90,000 people have benefitted from the Conservancy Livelihood Fund established in 2015).

And so it was that I found myself this January in the cool of the early morning, about to climb into Ian’s single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza to visit the Sera Wildlife Conservancy. A pioneer of conservation in Kenya and an inspiration for many projects, Ian retains his passion, his energy and his joyful smile, despite having had three major brushes with fate; one being charged by a rhino (there’s gratitude for you), one falling off a ladder (breaking several ribs) and one which I don’t learn of until we’re safely back on the ground (it turns out a freak wind caused his plane to crash on take-off. Maybe better he didn’t tell me that in the safety briefing).

Sera, a forty-minute flight North-East of Lewa, is one of the latest community conservancy projects, and an object lesson in how the model operates. Historically, Sera’s three pastoralist communities (made up of Samburu, Rendille and Boran communities) had fought over a water source for their livestock. The creation of a conservancy and rhino sanctuary at Sera, owned and managed by the community, became the catalyst for them to put aside their differences and come together in a common purpose.

In a decade or so, an area can be transformed from a troubled and impoverished no-man’s land into a thriving conservancy, providing livelihoods and security for local communities. Collaboration is the key, and to that end Tusk hosts a biennial Conservation Symposium where project partners are invited to spend four days exchanging ideas, discussing challenges and coming up with joint initiatives. This is now backed up with a Collaboration Fund to provide the necessary seed money to stimulate new ideas and initiatives across the continent.

To see Sera in the early stages of transformation is truly exciting. With collaboration, vision and determination (and support), communities really can be transformed, one conservancy at a time.

I can’t wait to visit Sera again. I might even ask Ian to fly me there. But not before I double check the wind speed.

Make a difference with Tusk

Support Tusk

With your help, Tusk will be able to make an even greater difference for Africa’s wildlife, natural habitats and people. There are many different ways in which you can get involved.

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• Make a donation or set up a direct debit online at tusk.org or via the QR code

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Donating in the USA For American supporters wishing to donate in the most tax-efficient way you can choose to support our work through ‘The Friends of Tusk’ – a donor advised fund administered on behalf of Tusk by CAF America. Gifts made here are tax deductible in the US (CAF America Tax ID 680480736). Donate online at tusk.org or contact our US Development Executive, Bernadette Clemens at bernadette@tusk.org for more information or a gift form.

Main Image In Uganda, participants complete the Rwenzori Mountain Challenge for Conservation, in support of Tusk

Right Families cheering on their loved-ones taking part in the London Marathon for Tusk

Join GenerationTusk

GenerationTusk is a strong community of young supporters who are committed to sharing Tusk’s work with the next generation through a variety of events and other initiatives that promote conservation across Africa. Follow @generation_tusk on Instagram to be kept up to date with news and events, or email susie@tusk.org for more information and to get involved.

Raise funds for Tusk

Much of our work would not be possible without the funds raised through the amazing energy and enthusiasm of our supporters. Whether taking on a challenge, creating your own event, fundraising alone, or with friends or colleagues, we’re here to support your efforts. Contact susie@tusk.org for your fundraising pack or for more ideas and advice.

Run your own Fundraising Event

Many of our supporters arrange their own fundraising event, such as a bake sale, coffee morning, or a mufti day, or collect donations in lieu of birthday, wedding or anniversary presents. If you would like to help and have a fundraising idea, Tusk can provide collection tins, posters and support to help you. Contact susie@tusk.org for your fundraising pack or for more ideas and advice.

Leave a Gift to Tusk in your Will

Gifts left in Wills are particularly special to us, as we know that such a gift comes from someone who cared deeply about our cause. Unless otherwise specified, every gift we receive from a Will is invested in our endowment fund, to provide a regular and sustainable source of income for both the charity’s operations and projects. You can leave a fixed sum or a percentage - a gift of just 1% helps us to ensure Africa's wildlife is protected for generations to come. tusk.org/wills

Travel in Support of Tusk

Together with longstanding Tusk supporters Exceptional Travel, we are pioneering long-term conservation travel, a sustainable way to support the protection of nature, wildlife, and local communities. Already through the partnership we have created three exciting itineraries to Tusk-supported project areas in Kenya, Namibia and Zambia. Not only are they generously committing 5% of their annual profits in support of Tusk projects, but they are also donating an incredible 50% of any profits made from Tusk supporter trips they have curated and booked. tusk.org/exceptional-travel/

SUPPORTS

As the world sees unprecedented changes and threats to the natural world, ISPS HANDA is immensely honoured to be a long-standing partner of Tusk and its endeavour in nurturing its conservation programmes to accelerate growth from an innovative idea to a scalable solution.

ISPS HANDA believes in the ”power of sport” and its ability to inspire, transform and unite people and communities. We are thankful to the work of Tusk that provides opportunities to support in empowering the local communities in improving their livelihoods and promoting effective environmental education designed to provide a more sustainable future.

Awards, the Lion Trail, the Symposium, the Times Christmas appeal match funding, and the Tusk Ball.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge

There is no doubt that the Wildlife Ranger Challenge (WRC) has had a profound impact on rangers and their work since its initiation by organising partners Tusk Trust, Natural State and the Game Rangers Association of Africa.

Having been able to mobilise over 16 million dollars for supporting Africa’s rangers is hugely impressive and funding partner, the Scheinberg Relief Fund, must be acknowledged for their generosity and continued support of rangers.

Impressively, these funds have been channelled into direct action initiatives that have supported ranger salaries, provided rations and food, improved living and working conditions of rangers and supplied basic operational equipment like uniforms and boots for over 70 teams. This has ensured these teams are able to continue to carry out their important conservation work despite the funding challenges experienced since the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the global economy.

It is however important to look beyond the immense financial support that the WRC been able to deliver since inception when considering its impact. When the pandemic gripped the globe, ranger morale hit an all-time low. Many of our colleagues had doubts about what the future held for them and their families. Rangers were told to return home, furloughed or even retrenched. Job security was threatened as conservation funding models collapsed overnight.

Initially, the WRC was initiated to keep rangers employed so that they could stay in the field and keep undertaking their critical conservation work. As the pandemic subsided, the initiative has continued to deliver tangible benefits to rangers. It has become so much more than just a fundraising event, and has had a significant impact on the rangers who take part, both in terms of their physical and mental wellbeing, and their sense of purpose and value.

Top & Bottom

North Luangwa Conservation Programme Chilunda’s protectors team put their best foot forward for the 2022 Wildlife Ranger Challenge. And the North Luangwa Conservation Programme Rhino stars strike a photo as they challenge themselves to the race course during the 2021 Wildlife Ranger Challenge Credit: North Luangwa Conservation Programme

Ranger Leader

What made you want become a ranger?

To be honest, before I applied and trained, I had never thought of becoming a ranger. I could not imagine being away from home for so long. Now, I love wildlife and the adventurous nature of a ranger's work.

Describe a typical day in your life?

I wake up, shower and get dressed. I then check our field equipment such as radios and smartphones for data capture. We do our morning foot patrol which lasts for about 4 hours depending on the situation. Once we are done, the team goes back to the camp to rest or prepare for any media or training activities. We then start preparing for the night patrol: checking the radios, charging the phones, spotlights, checking the vehicles and all our communication channels we have. We finish our night patrol around midnight and return to camp.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I love seeing wildlife and especially observing the animals in their comfort zone. I enjoy knowing that I am their eyes and ears and I keep them safe.

What is your biggest success to date?

Last year our northern team was recognised by the IUCN as a Highly Commended ranger team. We also saved a kudu antelope from a freshly set snare that was closing tightly around its neck. We were just about on time to save its life.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?

The biggest challenge is the unpredictable nature of our work. No day is the same, and every time we prepare for a patrol, we do not know what we may encounter.

What would you like the world to know about rangers?

I would like the world to know that if women are given a chance to step into more ranger roles, we can do so much more for wildlife and our communities as well. If both men and women rangers unite, our spirit will be unbreakable.

Vongani Masingi

Ranger in Anti-Poaching Unit, Black Mambas, South Africa

What would you like to see change for African rangers?

I would like African rangers to do more to positively influence the way their communities perceive wildlife and nature. I hope we can repair the view of wildlife that has been damaged by human-wildlife conflict to show the huge role that wildlife plays in keeping our planet alive for all of us.

As a participant in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, how would you say it has impacted you and your team?

It has lifted our spirits, increased our drive and greatly improved our team work. The Challenge should continue. I bet other African rangers agree with me!

Main image

Vongani Masingi

Credit: Rivoni Mkansi

Bottom

A section of The Black Mambas- an all-female antipoaching unit

Credit: Julia Gunther

If women are given a chance to step into more ranger roles, we can do so much more for wildlife and our communities as well.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge Continued

Creating a ranger community

We recognise that the overall impact of the WRC is immeasurable and goes beyond just the financial support that has been made available to the participating ranger teams. In trying times, this initiative has helped to galvanise the ranger community. This is important as many rangers work in remote areas where isolation from each other is a reality. Having a common goal like competing in the challenge promotes camaraderie, builds community and increases collaboration between ranger groups.

Benson has seen first-hand how the WRC has helped keep his ranger team keep fit, boosted their morale and created a sense of “oneness” across the African ranger community. The esprit de corps of any team is usually directly linked to their success. A ranger team that loses morale, loses effectiveness. The WRC’s role in maintaining ranger morale needs to be appreciated and applauded by rangers and ranger supporters alike.

As the narrative around conservation changes it has become clearer that it is more about people than

Main Image Rangers collect information in a Maasai village in Makame Tanzania, regarding livestock predation

Credit: Monica Dalmasso

Right

The Oceans Without BordersMnemba team take part in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge run.

Credit: Oceans without Borders

wildlife; and the most important people in conservation are the rangers. They perform diverse and critical roles; protecting our wild areas, monitoring wildlife, preventing poaching, engaging local communities, resolving humanwildlife conflicts and assisting with tourism. Rangers form important links between communities and conservation areas and help to ensure these areas deliver benefits for Africa’s people. They are ambassadors for all conservation efforts.

As a profession that supports the sustainability of our planet, rangers need more support. If global goals are met, rangers will be the custodians of over 30% of our planet by 2030. In Africa, we have approximately 58,000 rangers working across 8,788 protected areas. Rangers literally protect the heart and lungs of our planet’s ecosystem which we all rely on for life itself. We need to better protect and support the custodians of our earth.

Ranger Leader

What made you want become a ranger?

I grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kenya where I frequently interacted with wildlife such as buffaloes, hyenas, and elephants on my way to school. As time passed, the wildlife I would see daily began to vanish. I realised that if I wanted future generations to interact with wildlife as I had grown up doing, it needed to be protected. This prompted my desire to become a ‘wildlife policeman’ – as I believed rangers were referred to.

Describe a typical day in your life?

My day begins early with a call-up to various ranger stations to check on them. I then meet the rangers at camp for a run or a strength-training work-out. Afterwards I oversee joint planning of daily security activities by rangers across the landscape. We plan the day's deployments and respond to any emerging security incidents. I stay in contact with various security teams throughout the day and wind up with an evening call to the ranger stations. Sometimes I spend the night at a ranger outpost.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

Working with the rangers and protecting the vulnerable wildlife that cannot protect itself is the most fulfilling aspect of my work as a ranger.

What is your biggest success to date?

My biggest success is re-organising Lewa’s security operations to halt the rhino poaching within the Lewa landscape that had led to the loss of over 18 rhinos in 8 years. The strategies I developed have since been replicated in various places and inspired a closer working relationship with the surrounding communities who are now our first line of defence.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?

My biggest challenge is keeping my team motivated in the face of all the difficulties inherent in being a ranger. The ever-evolving nature of poaching strategies and regrouping of the associated syndicates also remains a major challenge.

Head of Anti-Poaching, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya

What would you like the world to know about rangers?

Rangers are human, they have families, and they are not armed to kill. We are a dedicated group that protects nature and wildlife that cannot protect itself from human destruction and greed.

What would you like to see change for African rangers?

I hope one day rangers across the continent will have standard operating procedures that cut across and inspire uniformity. I would also like to see more avenues for African rangers to collaborate and share ideas.

As a participant in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, how would you say it has impacted you and your team?

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge, raises funds that are critical for ranger welfare. Additionally, it unifies African rangers and gives them a platform to learn from each other. It has also been critical in inspiring rangers to improve their physical fitness.

Main image

Edward Ndiritu

Credit: Martin Buzora

Bottom Edward Ndiritu photographed next to a black rhino at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Credit: David Yarrow

The everevolving nature of poaching strategies and regrouping of the associated syndicates remains a major challenge.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge Continued

During the African Ranger Congress in 2022, rangers set out clearly what needs to be done to support the profession in the coming years. The WRC has an important role to play in continuing to assist the ranger community achieve these goals which include:

• Increased advocacy, representation and recognition of the ranger sector;

• improved and sustained ranger sector capacity building;

• better employment conditions and welfare;

• greater equality and equity in the ranger profession; and

• improved community relations, ranger conduct and accountability.

The WRC has become an important fixture in the ranger calendar and continues to give rangers hope as they work to achieve a common goal. It delivers direct benefits to rangers, promotes camaraderie in the ranger corps and enhances collaboration amongst ranger teams. On behalf of the ranger community we represent, thank you to the Wildlife Ranger Challenge and its partners for their support, long may it continue.

AS CAPABLE ON-ROAD AS OFF IT

Right Gashaka Gumti rangers from the Africa Nature Investors Foundation in Nigeria take part in the 2022 Wildlife Ranger Challenge Credit: Africa Nature Investors Foundation

Whatever the terrain, Defender 110 is equipped to take you above and beyond. Class-leading technologies such as Hill Descent Control will assist you through even the most challenging driving situations. Every detail is designed with purpose, such as the side-opening tailgate with rear-mounted spare wheel to provide better ground clearance and accessibility. landrover.com

In trying times, this initiative has helped to galvanise the ranger community.

Ranger Leader Leo Gungulo

Field Officer and Marine Logistics Manager, Oceans without Borders, Africa-wide

What made you want to become a ranger?

I was inspired to help communities to preserve biodiversity and especially endangered species.

Describe a typical day in your life?

My role encompasses marine ecological research, training and mentorship of community rangers and various forms of relationship building. On a typical day, I spend time engaging with community members and fishermen on our conservation activities. I also go out with our teams to monitor reefs and Marine Protected Areas (MPA).

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy fieldwork the most. Especially being out at sea for MPA patrols and scuba diving for marine research work.

What is your biggest success to date?

Teaching has been my biggest success. As a Master Scuba Diving Trainer, many of my students have made such a huge difference in society and conservation, which makes me happy.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?

My greatest challenge is dealing with poachers and illegal fishermen in our protected areas. We work as monitors and educators rather than as enforcement agents which can be limiting in how effective we can be with respect to poachers and illegal fishermen.

Over and above the significant operational stresses presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, at the sites where I work, the escalation of insurgency activity in Northern Mozambique has made ongoing conservation activities almost impossible.

What would you like the world to know about rangers?

I would like the world to recognise the important role that marine rangers play to protect biodiversity and Marine Protected Areas, and for their efforts to be recognised worldwide.

What would you like to see change for African rangers?

I would like to see African rangers receive more recognition for their work. I would also like to see more marine rangers involved in broader ranger networks, and working as one alongside land-based rangers.

As a participant in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, how would you say it has impacted you and your team?

The knowledge exchange and experience of interacting with both marine and terrestrial rangers through the Wildlife Ranger Challenge has been very valuable. Being part of the challenge has increased my team members’ belief in what we do and inspired us to think of ways we can improve through all the support we receive from the Wildlife Ranger Challenge.

Main image

Leo Gungulo

Credit: Peter Chadwick Bottom

The Africa Foundation Benguerra Marine team on the Wildlife Ranger Challenge race day

Credit: Oceans without Borders

The escalation of insurgency activity in Northern Mozambique has made ongoing conservation activities almost impossible.

Together we can do even more to advance conservation in Africa.

Tusk's Patrons' Circle - A Closer Connection

As a member, you will be joining a community of likeminded people who are passionate about African conservation and want to feel a greater connection to the cause.

We want to make sure that you see the impact of your generous support. Depending on your level of giving and how much you’d like to hear from us, you will receive a range of dedicated communications and invitations to special events to get first-hand updates from our project partners.

"The first time we saw the animals of Africa in their natural habitat was not just awe-inspiring but truly memorable. We shall never forget that. We wanted to make sure that others now and in future generations, continue to have that same experience. As we were already admirers of the work done by Tusk and their partners in the field, we wanted to make a further commitment. Joining the Tusk Patrons’ Circle has helped us do that in a way that not just supports the incredible work being done on the ground but allows us to gain further insight and knowledge. It’s a great privilege!” –

Create a Lasting Impact for Conservation

Collectively, the Patrons’ Circle provides significant and sustained annual income that contributes directly to the broad portfolio of project partners that we support across Africa. This enables us to be adaptable and responsive to their needs and helps us plan for the future.

“Tusk is a critical partner. Not only the huge amount of financial support we have received, but also the long term, reliable relationship is so important to us. Without Tusk's flexibility and support we would not be where we are today.” – Conservation Lower Zambezi

Tusk’s Patrons’ Circle is a group of committed supporters who make a significant contribution to Tusk of £1,000 or more every year.

Patrons’ Circle Giving Levels

• Catalyst: £1,000+

• Evolution: £5,000+

• Keystone: £10,000+

• Flagship: for donors providing annual donations of £50,000 or above, we develop a tailored relationship to reflect your specific interests and passions

To find out more about the Patrons’ Circle, please contact Anna Hunt on anna@tusk.org

Become part of the Tusk family

A Shared Passion

Liza Connelly and her husband Paul, from Massachusetts USA, have been donating to Tusk for a number of years. They first travelled to Kenya in 2010 and were completely taken with the wildlife, the vast open space, the beauty of the area, and a desire to somehow contribute to its protection and preservation. On returning home, they started to look for organisations they could support which focused on African wildlife conservation and had a strong commitment to the people, the wildlife and the habitat. For them, Tusk fulfils all three aspects.

“We support Tusk through the Patrons’ Circle so that we can provide sustained giving year after year for Tusk’s projects. Learning about the Pangolin Project, the efforts to save wild dogs, lions, and other species, every Tusk Patrons’ Circle event is so inspiring. They allow us to really see Tusk’s efforts in the local communities and to hear from the rangers, conservationists and local people who are making these amazing changes happen. We always come away feeling inspired and with a passion to do more for Tusk. It is truly an inspiring organization to support and we are proud and honoured to be a small part of helping Tusk carry out its great work”.

Andrew Pearce is a seasoned fundraiser, having raised around £300,000 to date through challenges and events for a number of different charities. Compelled by the plight of the African elephant, in September 2021, Andrew made the radical decision to give up his job to focus his time on raising funds for elephant conservation, with Tusk as one of his beneficiaries. Starting with a sky-dive challenge in March 2022, he went on to complete the Lewa Safari Marathon in June and then joined the Wildlife Ranger Challenge in September, raising £5,000 in total in support of Tusk’s project partners and ranger teams across Africa.

On what motivates him, he says: “I have had the privilege of visiting some amazing projects to see first-hand the extraordinary work and positive initiatives that ranger teams are implementing to counter poaching and wildlife-human conflict using a combination of traditional methods and modern technology. Their dedication is truly inspiring ensuring that humans and wildlife can coexist side by side in a fastchanging world. All this comes at a cost and Tusk provides a vital funding platform to support a vast range of incredible projects right across Africa and of course the ranger teams.”

In June, Andrew will be putting his running shoes once again to take on the Lewa Safari Marathon, which he describes as “one of the best runs on the planet!”

If you are in a position to make a significant donation to Tusk and would like to find out more, please get in touch with anna@tusk.org.

Our successes are only possible thanks to the generosity of those who fund us. Whether you make a regular donation, support our events or fundraise for us, we are incredibly grateful to everyone for making a difference.

What could be better than running alongside the very animals that you are looking to conserve?!

We always come away feeling inspired and with a passion to do more for Tusk. It is truly an inspiring organization to support and we are proud and honoured to be a small part of helping Tusk carry out its great work”.

Lisa Connelly

African Leaders Herald a New Era of Conservation Success

Aburgeoning cohort of influential African conservationists are blazing a trail for the sector. They all have one thing in common; as winners and finalists in the Tusk Conservation Awards they share a passion for conservation by Africans, for Africa.

We find ourselves within a seminal chapter for Africa’s people and wildlife. The inaugural IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress marked a historic commitment for African conservation and signalled a milestone for progress as the first ever continent-wide gathering of African leaders, citizens, and interest groups united in a common conservation mission.

The Congress also reaffirmed our knowledge that to be truly successful, Africa’s conservation and development progress must be African-led. The Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature made a commitment to strengthening Africa’s protected and conserved areas equitably, particularly by including indigenous people and local communities and youth. All custodians of nature in Africa must be equally empowered for the continent to reach its conservation and

Main image

A herd of elephants in the Southern Rift, Kenya

Credit: SORALO

development goals. Financial investment in conservation - our ‘natural capital’ – must, too, be African-led, with innovative mechanisms to boost sustainability and growth.

So our future is in our hands. African-led conservation is the key to the continent’s green economic growth and Africa’s wealth of diverse landscapes, essential ecosystem services and natural resources are the foundation of our collective development – both now and into the future.

Every citizen can and should play a part in the movement for conservation, but among us are a group of emerging African leaders who stand out from the crowd. These individuals are forging ahead; advancing knowledge, learning, innovation and technology in conservation. They are uniting and empowering our diverse communities and dedicating their lives to the protection of our spectacular wildlife.

Tusk has, for over three decades, known and championed the value of African-led conservation through its partnership model and, with its annual Conservation Awards, illuminates those at the forefront of the sector whilst also fostering the next generation of the continent’s conservation leaders.

It is vital for the long-term success of conservation in Africa that conservation organisations encourage greater African leadership and ownership of programmes. The benefits of doing so are demonstrated by the extraordinary impact of the Tusk Conservation Awards’ notable alumni.

It is vital for the long-term success of conservation in Africa that conservation organisations encourage greater African leadership and ownership of programmes.

Tom Lalampaa has achieved outstanding success brokering peace through conservation amongst communities in northern Kenya and creating a conservation area of 3 million acres for over 150,000 people under the Northern Rangelands Trust.

In Namibia, Simson Uri Khob has generated more than US$10 million in cash income and other benefits for conservancy members, and was instrumental in bringing the country’s black rhino population back from the brink of extinction.

And leading an NGO as a young Malagasy woman is something Julie Razafimanahaka has taken in her stride. Julie has overseen the establishment of four significant protected areas in the Ambatondrazaka district, eastern Madagascar, where colonies of flying fox roost. Without Julie’s work, much less of the Mangabe rainforest would still be standing today.

This is just a snapshot of the achievements from a cohort leading the way. Partnerships, advocacy, and collaboration are cornerstones of the work of all Tusk Conservation Awards alumni and are surely the pillars of meaningful conservation for future generations. The power of the Awards and the collective influence of its growing band of award-winning African leaders are ringing the changes for conservation across the entire continent.

Right

Tusk Conservation Award (TCA) 2022 finalist Dismas Partalala at a community meeting with the Hadzabe community of Yaeda Valley in Manyara, Tanzania

Credit: Sarah Marshall

Bottom Right

TCA 2020 winner John Kamanga at a community meeting in Shompole, Kenya

Credit: Sarah Marshall

Celebrating 10 Years of the Awards

Olivier Nsengimana

Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, Executive Director and Founder, Uganda

Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Finalist, 2016

It would be easy to despair in the face of such seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But, for ten years now, the Tusk Conservation Awards have recognised the individuals rising to the challenge, effecting change and providing hope.

The Tusk Conservation Awards are an annual reminder that, even against the biggest challenges we face in the natural world, there are heroes who take a stand. They are collaborating, innovating and accomplishing. And over the last decade we have been privileged to honour a number of them.

50 leaders recognised. 18 African countries represented. Awareness raised of over 60 vulnerable species that are now better protected as a result. We take great pride in having played a small part in the stories of these remarkable individuals, without whom, much of Africa’s precious biodiversity would not be here today.

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

The most urgent issue is to show the real value of conservation and what it means in our lives, our investments, our economies. We need people with influence to understand the value of our assets, our wildlife, our national parks and again we need to see many African governments start to allocate the budget to protecting some of those areas. We need to work out how to value our natural heritage like an asset and create ways in which we can sustainably use the assets in a way that can benefit us.

Recently I have seen more Africans taking the lead in protecting their wildlife and wild places, which is a change from conservation which has been dominated by the West.

Having African governments taking the initiative to protect the incredible biodiversity of our continent, gives me hope that the future of Africa’s wildlife and habitats are in good hands.

In what ways do you feel communityled conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

Community-led conservation is the key to success. In our organisation we value this approach because when people feel that they are no longer a part of it this is when they start taking part in destructive behaviour, like poaching. However, if we engage communities through their stories, and attachments, it’s going to create sustainability about the use of natural resources and how we treat wildlife.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

The Tusk family is united in its mission to save Africa’s biodiversity. When I became an award winner I became part

of a family, with people I can go to who share the same challenges and goals. The publicity, networking and access to different philanthropists has been amazing.

What contribution to conservation are you most proud of to date?

When I launched the initiative seven years ago there were more grey crowned cranes in people's homes and hotels than there were in the wild. We have put an end to illegal trade in Rwanda and removed all the cranes in captivity, and the wild population has grown from 300 to over 1,000.

What role do you feel Tusk Conservation Awards alumni can play separately and together to advance conservation in Africa?

We are a very strong, diverse group with extensive knowledge of Africa. We need to use our collective voice to influence the decisions made regarding the future of Africa’s wildlife and wild places.

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

Collaboration is key. We need to work together - have joint teams - to make sure we can sustain wildlife across Africa. For example, crested cranes move across national boundaries, and even if we do a lot to protect them in Rwanda we cannot provide that protection further afield.

Arapidly changing world means Africa's dedicated conservationists must now also contend with the very tangible impacts of a changing climate, global population growth and competing demands upon land use.

Collaboration is key. We need to work together - have joint teams - to make sure we can sustain wildlife across Africa.

Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Finalist, 2016

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

I think most of us are so divorced from the natural world, and the environmental impact of our lives, that our daily actions seem almost entirely disconnected from the climatic and conservation problems we see. Global pressures – both positive and negative – come from many billions of human decisions each day, which makes our individual choices seem too small to matter. But it will only be through each of us individually making changes, and communicating those to companies and politicians, that we will see progress.

Conversely, what do you currently see as a marker of significant progress in African conservation?

I think the growing recognition of the rights and voices of rural African people in conservation. For far too long, decisions over wildlife – which of course affected local people as well – were often taken by white foreigners and imposed on Africans. I love seeing the passion, power and growing influence of African communities in global conservation. There is still a long way to go, but it is a hugely positive and exciting movement.

In what ways do you feel communityled conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

I think community-based conservation brings a much-needed realism to conservation. All too often, conservation is sold in simplistic soundbites from far away, while in reality, it is an extremely complex and multi-faceted area. Local communities are the ones who experience those realities every day, so the more that they can develop and lead conservation solutions, the more appropriate and effective they will be for biodiversity, as well as for local rights.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

The Tusk Awards have given me and the project an amazing platform to raise

awareness of our work, and have allowed us to meet and partner with fantastic funders and collaborators. Far from being a one-off event, I have truly felt part of the Tusk network ever since the Award ceremony, and that relationship has been fulfilling, impactful – and fun!

What role do you feel Tusk Conservation Awards alumni can play separately and together to advance conservation in Africa?

The alumni are inspirational for others to see the positive impacts they have had on conservation. The alumni demonstrate that they can help enable positive change for wildlife while also keeping human rights and well-being as a central focus. Together, the alumni form a powerful collective, with many decades of on-the-ground experience. I think that this can be harnessed and shared with up-and-coming conservationists, to help them achieve great success, hopefully with less of the stress and failure which we have all gone through!

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

I think collaboration is absolutely central. It is something we have always pushed, first as part of the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance, and then with Lion Landscapes, where two smaller projects merged together to have more impact and really learn from each other. I think there is far too much of the ‘egos and logos’ approach in conservation, so the more we can work together and share knowledge and skills, the better conservation we will achieve. At Lion Landscapes, we’ve all benefited from a truly shared approach, and it has enabled us to work closely with a huge number of partners, from local villagers to international funders, to co-develop effective conservation initiatives in very different contexts.

Additionally, in what specific areas would you like to see more collaboration?

I would love to see more collaboration in building capacity, both our own and amongst conservationists. Together, we have such good networks and such diverse experience, it would be really valuable to see how we could combine that to provide training, help other conservationists to feel more supported – and hopefully happier!

I love seeing the passion, power and growing influence of African communities in global conservation.

Celebrating 10 years of the Awards Continued

Madagascar

Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Winner, 2021

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

The most urgent conservation problem is the loss of natural habitats, across both the terrestrial and marine landscapes. Natural habitat loss results in species decline and extinction, fragmentation, extreme droughts and floods and exacerbates the effects of climate change. All of which have negative impacts on human livelihoods.

Conversely, what do you currently see as a marker of significant progress in African conservation?

In Africa, there has been a significant increase in the focus in conservation. There are more Africa-based and African-led conservation initiatives and organisations. There has also been a significant change in considering local communities as the leaders and drivers of conservation rather than the destroyers.

In what ways do you feel community-led conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

I believe that community leadership is instrumental to achieving global conservation goals. The decisions members of the communities living around biodiversity-rich areas make each day define the current and future conditions of our planet. For instance, if they choose to clear a forest or kill a species, we will lose that area and species before any intervention happens. Conversely, if they opt to preserve an area, they will also preserve the species.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

Winning the Tusk Conservation Award has had a very positive impact on me and Madagasikara Voakajy. Personally, I feel rewarded and challenged to do better each day. It built my team’s confidence in me, our mission and our approach, and together, we

felt and are stronger. At a national and international level, the Tusk Conservation Award raised our profile.

What role do you feel Tusk Conservation Awards alumni can play separately and together to advance conservation in Africa?

To advance conservation in Africa, Tusk Conservation Awards alumni should highlight challenges in their countries and project areas. They should unite their voices and call for actions to the African leaders on common issues faced throughout the continent.

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

Africa is influenced by the political, social, and economic decisions at the national, regional and/or continent levels. Collaboration for conservation in Africa should grow in the same path as the coalitions and platforms in these domains.

More collaboration is needed on advocacy towards community-led conservation. Some countries are more advanced than the others, so we should learn from each other. For instance, regulations in some countries are straightforward and easy to follow, while in others, including Madagascar, there are areas of confusion.

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2021 Tusk Award

Conservation Winner Julie Razafimanahaka at a field site in Madagascar

Credit: Magadasikara Voakjay

Josia Razafindramanana

IMPACT Madagascar, Founder and Director, Madagascar

Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Finalist, 2016

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

Over recent years, wildlife has been dramatically diminishing, both globally and in Africa. We are losing species and ecosystems at such a rate that we’ve put ourselves onto an extinction trajectory. This is because our approach to conservation is not sustainable.

An important evolution is the rethinking of conservation in terms of how to preserve nature and sustainably use biodiversity in ways that benefit all equitably, particularly for indigenous peoples and local communities. This step has led to the protection of more biodiversity and ecosystems in Africa.

In what ways do you feel community-led conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

The key is to have a robust governance model with local communities at the centre. When communities are empowered and supported with appropriate capacities, funds, and systems, to manage their natural resources, they become accountable to the future of their lives and that of future generations. Partnerships with local communities can substantially ameliorate shortfalls in habitat protection for biodiversity conservation. At IMPACT Madagascar, we have local communities commit to conservation programmes, with support from the organisation to secure land tenure rights, and improve livelihood opportunities.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

Being a finalist of the Awards changed my career and my organisation in many ways. I was able to establish new donor relationships; strengthen the structure of IMPACT Madagascar and achieve true communitybased conservation programmes. It also helped me to strategically enlarge the domain of the work to become more integrated and holistic to scale-up the charity’s impacts, thanks to the annual continuation funding, without which IMPACT would not have maintained and protected the rare ecosystems of dry-gallery deciduous forests. Personally I

was able to step up from the executive and now sit as a member of the board of directors, providing strategic guidance and maintaining long-term relationship with donors.

What contribution to conservation are you most proud of to date?

Securing more than 150,000 hectares of the remaining rare and endangered dry forests and wetlands, which harbour one of the largest populations of crowned sifaka in Madagascar, and other critically endangered species including mongoose lemurs, Madagascar fish-eagles, Madagascar big-headed turtle and damba cichlid fish. Much of the forest is now being turned into a conventional protected area comanaged with local communities.

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

Collaboration is crucial and urgent if we would like to achieve the 30x30 target of the Global Biodiversity Framework. It should be the foundation of our approach as conservationists. Our effective response to the climate and biodiversity crises relies on solid collaboration either through sharing tools and resources; joint funding proposal and exchange visits to bring new insights, ideas and approaches to the conservation work.

Our effective response to the climate and biodiversity crises relies on solid collaboration through sharing tools and resources.

Right Indri

Credit: Stephen Price

I am very proud that I could lead an organisation that contributes to the protection of a species (black rhino) that was nearly extinct in the country.

Celebrating 10 years of the Awards Continued

Simson Uri-Khob

Save the Rhino Trust, CEO, Namibia

Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa Recipient, 2021

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

Space for wildlife is becoming scarce because of the population growth. More Africans now understand and support wildlife conservation and avail space for conservation

In what ways do you feel community-led conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

Ownership and rights to wildlife for communities is a positive aspect of community-led conservation. It's theirs and they manage and benefit from the natural resources, and by doing so protect the entire biodiversity.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

The Tusk Award has engendered so much trust and respect for me from so many people and it has also given donors the confidence to support SRT as they appreciate the due diligence and rigour that goes into the awards process. This has opened more eyes to SRT from the outside world. More and more people are interested in learning about us and supporting our work. I feel like it put me at the top of the conservation world.

What role do you feel Tusk Conservation Awards alumni can play separately and together to advance conservation in Africa?

The Tusk Awards alumni could play a very important role in promoting African-led conservation. The award gives value to deserving candidates through an equal and fair selection process.

What contribution to conservation are you most proud of to date?

I am very proud that I could lead an organisation that contributes to the protection of a species (black rhino) that was nearly extinct in the country and also that I am acknowledged for my contribution to supporting community-led conservation in

Namibia and in Africa. By influencing communities we have saved biodiversity, land and wildlife.

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

Collaboration is the key to success. Without collaboration, I think what is happening in African conservation today, would not be happening. I would like to see more continental collaboration between our projects and also with other projects that we share the same landscape with.

Left 2021 Prince William Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Simson Uri-Khob tracks desertadapted black rhino in Namibia

Credit: Black Bean Productions

Right

A star beader of the Northern Rangelands Trusts BeadWorks project.

Credit: NRT

Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa Winner, 2013

What do you think is the single most urgent conservation problem? Globally and in Africa?

There is a pressing need to ensure that communities across the globe reap tangible benefits from conservation, as they are the true custodians of natural capital. A paradigm shift is happening in Africa, and communities are embracing conservation. We need to use this emerging opportunity to engage them, as they are increasingly ready to support and participate in activities that preserve biodiversity and the environment.

Community-led conservation has the potential to positively impact the protection of biodiversity?

Community-led conservation has led to a decrease in poaching and increased the space available for wildlife as indigenous communities are willing to host wild creatures on their lands, allowing them to roam freely.

Community goodwill has facilitated the opening of wildlife corridors and the maintenance and restoration of ecological connectivity. It has enhanced the protection of endangered species.

The Sera Rhino Sanctuary, East Africa’s first and only community-run black rhino sanctuary, operates as a bestpractice example of community-led, cross-sector endangered species conservation. 21 black rhinos call the Sanctuary home.

As an alumnus of the Tusk Conservation Awards how has the scheme impacted your career and organisation?

Winning the Tusk Conservation Award increased NRT’s visibility and donor confidence and lent credibility to the vital work that we do of supporting indigenous communities in Kenya and Uganda in conservation, wildlife monitoring and research, livestock management, and economic development.

It helped to tell our story to the world as it showcased our work and highlighted NRT member conservancies' conservation efforts

globally, which was encouraging. The resulting publicity elevated indigenous communities' voices on an international scale, renewing their commitment to conservation.

On a personal level, winning the Tusk Award was motivating and reenergising for me and many others who recognise the urgent need for conservation.

What role do you feel Tusk Conservation Awards alumnus can play separately and together to advance conservation in Africa?

Individually, each alumnus is a force of nature. Working together, alumni can ignite a continental movement that drives community development through conservation.

Separately, alumni can support conservation efforts at the grassroots level, establish conservation-based institutions, provide training, raise community awareness, and lobby for legislation. A network of alumni, if established, will provide a platform for sharing experiences and best practices and a means of supporting emerging conservation leaders across the continent.

How important do you think collaboration is to the future of African conservation?

The complexity of some conservation issues, and their cross-border nature, necessitate collaboration for their resolution. Translocation is one such challenge. Wildlife protection is another. Since there are no fences separating countries, wildlife can cross borders at any point. It is much easier to protect them when neighbouring countries work together to enforce antipoaching laws.

Collaboration among conservationists in Africa is therefore crucial for exchanging ideas, developing best practices, mobilising resources, and lobbying for the formulation of progressive pro-conservation legislation.

I envision a day when all African presidents and governments will work together to implement conservation measures, commit to conservation, and deliver on their promises.

Community-led conservation has led to a decrease in poaching and increased the space available for wildlife as indigenous communities are willing to host wild creatures on their lands, allowing them to roam freely.

Celebrating Conservation Success

The Tusk Conservation Awards, in partnership with Ninety One, honour the heroes of African conservation, and help tell their stories to the world.

For over a decade, The Tusk Conservation Awards have served as a springboard for Africa’s foremost conservationists. These guardians of biodiversity have since risen to the top of their fields, scaling their work and amplifying conservation impact across the continent.

Africa is home to close to 30% of the world’s biodiversity and a third of the planet’s fresh water; the continent will account for a quarter of the world’s population by 2050.

Africans are custodians of an incredible global resource, and the global community can only conserve this resource with leadership from Africans. Those that steward, manage, and understand the importance of investments in nature.

These defenders of biodiversity are who we celebrate with the Tusk Conservation Awards every year.

In 2022, the Awards were hosted against the historic backdrop of Hampton Court Palace. Hosted by the BBC’s Kate Silverton, our winners and finalists met with Tusk’s Royal Patron Prince William, as he announced the results and personally presented the winners with their awards, sculpted by Patrick Mavros.

Our thanks go to headline sponsors Ninety One, to our individual award sponsors Land Rover and the Nick Maughan Foundation, and to all of our corporate partners, without whom the awards would not be possible. These include ISPS Handa, Fortemus & Maia Films, DHL, Mantis Group, Shelton Fleming, Justerini & Brooks and EJF Philanthropies.

Our 2022 winners and finalists met with journalist Sarah Marshall to discuss their work and hopes for the future of conservation. Here are their stories...

Below Winners and Finalists of the 2022 Tusk Conservation Awards with the Prince of Wales

Credit: Chris Jackson

Kenya

IAN CRAIG PRINCE WILLIAM AWARD FOR JOINT RECIPIENT CONSERVATION IN AFRICA

Barely managing to stay afloat in canoes constructed from woven branches, fishermen paddle across Kenya’s Lake Baringo searching for lungfish. Several have already hauled their catch ashore on a tiny island, formerly a peninsula serving as a sanctuary for endangered Rothschild’s giraffes.

When water levels started to rise and land was cut off, action had to be taken, explains conservationist Ian Craig, who came up with the idea of constructing a wooden barge - nicknamed the ‘giraft’ - to float nine animals back to the mainland.

Now community members of the Ruko Conservancy have plans to build an eco-lodge on the island, and Ian has flown in to help their ambitions take shape.

As the founder and Chief of Conservation for the Northern Rangelands Trust, an umbrella organisation knitting together 43 community conservancies in northern Kenya, Ian has been the spark – and frequently a catalyst – for dozens of innovative initiatives.

He came up with the concept of an elephant underpass running beneath the A2 national highway to reconnect an ancient migratory route between the Ngare Ndare Forest and Mount Kenya; helped Sera Conservancy set up Kenya’s first community-owned black rhino sanctuary; and has established a project in Garissa County to boost declining populations of hirola – the world’s rarest antelope.

Reluctant to take credit, however, the modest 70-year-old shies away from the spotlight at all times.

A former professional hunter who grew up on the Laikipia Plateau, Ian played a key role in transforming his family’s 62,000 acre Lewa ranch into a community-owned conservancy, tourism enterprise and haven for endangered wildlife.

“I couldn’t shoot an animal in a million years now,” he says as we game drive below Lewa’s rolling hills. “But it was a fantastic foundation for what I do now, giving me the luxury of appreciating what real wilderness is.”

During his 26-year tenure of Lewa, not a single rhino was lost to poaching – a success he puts down to carefully nurtured relationships with neighbouring communities. Lobbying of international governments resulting in ivory bans has also kept elephants safe from harm.

Now his attention is fixed firmly on people.

“When you turn a corner with species like that, you realise these animals need somewhere to go. You need to invest into space.

“Conservation is about engaging with people to lobby political support for a concept that is going to look after wildlife. It’s that circle which will allow this to endure, to continue and to grow.”

Flying between conservancies in his yellow bi-plane, Ian attends meetings on riverbanks, in simple shacks and under the shade of date palms. In these unconventional boardrooms, important decisions are made by communities while Ian sits attentively and takes notes.

“People are driving this,” he insists, enthusiastically reeling off a list of grassroots conservationists leading the charge. “I don't even need to be here. I could be gone tomorrow.”

In Swahili, he explains, the word ‘conservancy’ has found its own definition: it means bringing people together; improving security; giving young people jobs.

“It’s about unity, not animals,” he declares, firmly. “Put the focus on people and conservation happens on its own.”

Conservation is about engaging with people to lobby political support for a concept that is going to look after wildlife.

Celebrating conservation success Continued

ACHILLES BYARUHANGA

Uganda

PRINCE WILLIAM AWARD FOR

JOINT RECIPIENT CONSERVATION IN AFRICA

Sponsored by Ninety One

Digging their blackened beaks into a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Kampala, several marabou storks are searching for scraps of food. Only metres away, market traders have laid out their wares below a parade of colourful parasols, and mopeds are hurriedly weaving between the makeshift stalls.

The aesthetically unappealing birds have become a permanent fixture on the urban landscape of Uganda’s heaving capital, but they weren’t always welcomed with open arms.

“Now we have over 1500 nests in the city, so there are probably about 10,000 birds,” says ornithologist Achilles Brunnel Byaruhanga, who conducted a study of the birds many years ago.

Blaming poor waste management for the influx of the scavengers, he ruffled more than just a few feathers by publishing an article in a national newspaper, criticising authorities for plans to poison the birds.

“The town clerk never liked me,” laughs Achilles, who even suggested they were more of a help than a hindrance by shifting 10-20 tonnes of rubbish a day. “But the good thing is they never poisoned the birds.”

Over the years, the 54-year-old Executive Director of NGO Nature Uganda has stood up to authorities, protecting fragile ecosystems and the futures of both the wildlife and communities dependent upon them.

In 2008, he stopped the government from allowing sugar cane farmers to cultivate Mabira Forest, outside Kampala, and he is currently supporting the community of Lutembe to fight the encroachment of a flower farm into precious wetlands.

Bottom right 2022 Prince William Lifetime Achievement Award joint recipient Achilles Byaruhanga carries out water safety training at the shores Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda Credit: Achilles Byaruhanga/ Nature Uganda

On a boat trip along the edges of Lake Victoria, we pass through an area where up to two million birds have been spotted in the past. But the situation is rapidly changing – toxins have been found in the water; fruit trees in nearby villages are no longer as bountiful, and less birds are visiting.

“Up to 80% of Uganda’s population depend on nature,” says Achilles, who helped the Lutembe Bay wetland achieve Ramsar status. “So we need to make sure nature can provide for generations to come.”

The Ramsar Convention (an environmental treaty established by UNESCO in the 1970s), he explains, gives these wetland areas global recognition.

“This wetland is no longer a Ugandan wetland; it’s a wetland of international importance. It's not only Ugandans that should be concerned; it’s everybody out there that should be concerned.”

Early on in his career, Achilles conducted a study of wetlands. Many had been drained in the hope of eradicating mosquitoes and were degrading at a rapid rate. He established 34 Important Bird Areas for protection and helped identify and designate 11 of the country’s 12 Ramsar sites.

But his most impactful work has been with communities. Understanding the future of conservation lies in the hands of people, he has helped establish ecotourism projects, such as shoebill tours in the Mabamba wetlands, and empowered Batwa groups in the Echuya Forest.

“The reason why the wetland or forest has been destroyed is this ballooning population that doesn't have alternatives. I think that's where we need to put a lot of emphasis,” he explains.

“In the future, we can’t rely on fences to protect areas. People have to be part of the process. We have to harness their energy and give them responsibility. That’s the only way."

Up to 80% of Uganda’s population depend on nature.

Under pressure, it’s hard to think clearly – especially when lives are potentially at risk. But danger didn’t even cross Neddy Mulimo’s mind when he took a splitsecond decision to apprehend a band of poachers.

Dressed in civilian clothes, the fearless ranger was supervising the construction of mud houses in Zambia’s Lukanga swamps when he encountered the criminals. Convincing them he too was involved in the illegal wildlife trade, he lured them into a trap eventually leading to their arrest.

“I was awarded Scout of the Year,” recalls the ranger 32 years later, when we meet at the Game Rangers International base in Kafue National Park.

The daredevil episode is one of several stories drawn from the veteran 66-year-old’s dynamic career. Smart and astute, he combines a talent for quick thinking with dedication, a passion for wildlife and a strong sense of loyalty to his fellow rangers.

Coaxed out of retirement at 55, he now works as Senior Ranger Support Manager for Zambia’s specialist antipoaching units (SAPUs).

“When they asked, I said I still have energy,” he says, reflecting on the appointment. “It is my passion. My aim is to conserve or protect natural resources until such a time that I’m completely tired.”

To date, Neddy’s achievements have been impressive: under his watch 570 firearms have been confiscated, 2,660

snares removed, and 1,250 poachers stopped in their tracks.

But being a ranger wasn’t an obvious path for the son of a truck driver and housewife, who grew up in Lusaka. After leaving school, 12-months of military training primed him for work in the field, arming him with a problem-solving approach many of his superiors had never seen before.

While working at the Blue Lagoon National Park, for example, he came up with the idea of building trenches to ambush poachers in the flat landscape. He helped secure suitable rations for scouts on patrols and worked alongside the Department of National Parks and Wildlife to ensure teams were properly armed.

Witnessing the extinction of white rhino in Kafue National Park set him on a lifelong mission to protect wildlife –particularly the endangered Kafue lechwe, an endemic antelope.

“For some people it’s a story they hear; me, I physically saw those animals,” he says, as we drive along a dirt track passing several temporary fishing settlements encroaching on the park boundaries. “Before, it was possible to see hundreds of Kafue lechwe. Now you can drive for an hour and only find a few.”

Emphasising the value of wildlife to the economy, Neddy believes conservation is a fundamental human responsibility.

Quoting the Bible, he says: “Man’s first job was to take care of God's creation, the natural resources, to use these wisely and not finish them.”

Not everyone in his family, however, initially shared the same enthusiasm.

NEDDY MULIMO

Bottom Right 2022 Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award Winner, Neddy Mulimo with Game Rangers International colleagues Credit: Giraffe Creatives Zambia

The father of five admits his wife had her doubts, “but she came to understand this man loves nature.” In return, Neddy spends his days off taking care of his wife’s 200 chickens and tending to the family farm.

Whether providing for his immediate family or scouts in the field, he always approaches tasks with an unwavering sense of duty.

“I enjoy taking care of rangers and making sure they have everything they need. They should never feel abandoned. They should always feel highly regarded,” he insists.

“When I look back on my career, I'm proud to be a shining example to other rangers. I want people to join me and understand why resource protection is the best career anyone

I enjoy taking care of rangers and making sure they have everything they need. They should never feel abandoned. They should always feel highly regarded

Celebrating conservation success Continued

Pulling a thick wad of notes from her pocket, a woman from the Guengo community proudly shows off the rewards of her hard work. The vegetable patch she’s been tending daily is filled with healthy lettuce heads, soon to be sold for a profit at the local market, generating yet more funds.

“Is that for me?” jests Miguel Gonçalves playfully, raising laughter from other women in the field who are enviously competing to replicate their neighbour’s success.

Joking aside, the project has been yielding pleasing results for communities on the fringes of southern Mozambique’s Maputo National Park. Designed to halt the over-exhaustion of soils by introducing a system of crop rotation, it’s one of several initiatives Miguel has helped set up in his role as park warden.

Combining a terrestrial area running south to the border with South Africa and a coastline washed by the Indian Ocean, the Maputo Special Reserve and Ouro Partial Marine Reserve were amalgamated in 2021 to create a 1700 km² protected area managed through a partnership agreement signed between Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas and Peace Parks Foundation.

Giving me a potted history of the former hunting concession turned preservation area on a drive from his newly rebuilt headquarters, Miguel describes how

MIGUEL GONÇALVES

Mozambique

TUSK AWARD FOR WINNER CONSERVATION IN AFRICA

Sponsored by Defender

landmines and poaching stemming from Mozambique’s civil war almost wiped out the local population.

“Prior to 2010, you couldn’t really see anything,” he says, as several dark-skinned animals, once thought to be a sub-species, slink by.

But better protection and the establishment of wildlife corridors has seen numbers rise to a point that’s almost problematic.

“Elephants are beautiful if you know you’re going to have breakfast, lunch and dinner guaranteed,” sighs Miguel, referencing ongoing problems of space management and crop raiding. “If you don’t, they're an issue.”

One of the biggest challenges he faces is managing wildlife alongside fishing and subsistence farming communities residing within or on the outskirts of the park.

Emphasising the importance of “building a trust relationship,” he says, “people who didn’t like me now call me friends.”

We drive past the site where he built a small school several years ago. Although nothing grand, it played a significant role in changing attitudes.

“You think big all the time but it’s the small things that bring you into contact with people,” says the 49-year-old family man who, preferring to steer clear of any limelight, humbly plays down his contributions.

But behind the scenes he’s become a motor, driving the success of the newly formed park with work that started as a marine biologist, mapping coral reefs and investigating the ornamental fish trade.

Instrumental in composing an application for the park to earn Unesco World Heritage status, his work is also raising the profile of Mozambique.

“This place is unique,” he enthuses, citing the rare opportunity to watch humpbacks breaching in the Indian Ocean and elephants grazing in the dunes.

Although of Portuguese descent, Miguel was raised in Maputo during the civil war and considers himself thoroughly Mozambican - despite his country’s ongoing difficulties and his unfaltering loyalty as a lifetime supporter of Liverpool FC.

“What’s important is the park and people around. The rest I can’t fix. But I give 100% every day.”

Communities understand we can be important and that we are not here to create problems. We are here to solve problems.

DAVID DABALLEN

Driving through Samburu National Reserve, the landscape is almost unrecognisable. Clouds of dust fill spaces left empty by fallen trees and carpets of greenery have withered into patches of parched dirt. There’s an unnerving silence too. Once as common as the sound of birdsong, not a single trumpeting call or rumble can be heard.

“We were recording 600 elephants per day at one point,” sighs David Daballen, director of field operations for Save The Elephants. “Now we can drive a whole day without seeing one.”

As northern Kenya’s three-year drought continues, competition for natural resources is intensifying and conflict between humans and animals is on the rise. Having exhausted grazing areas for their livestock, armed herders illegally entered the park a few months ago, depleting the lush oasis. Forced to find food elsewhere, Samburu’s elephant population have ventured into community land, where David and his Save The Elephants team are now spending most of their time.

Only last week, a panicked mother with her calf trampled someone, 44-year-old David tells me, after receiving a radio call about yet another incident. Tensions are understandably high.

Born into a family of pastoralists in Marsabit, 2km north of Samburu, David has experienced first-hand the challenges and dangers posed by elephants.

But fear evolved into fascination as he grew older, largely helped by school holiday visits to his uncle who

was working for the Kenya Wildlife Service. Subsequently he landed an internship with the government organisation, eventually leading to a job with Iain Douglas-Hamilton’s charity STE.

What intrigues Daballen most about the elephants, he says, is their “social cohesion”.

“It’s the family bonds and the tightness of females together. The love they have for each other really touched me, making me dig myself more and more into elephants.”

During the past 20 years, he’s been involved in more than 100 collaring operations and can identify 500 individuals – even from the air. Amongst the many highs, however, there have been inevitable lows.

Back at the STE camp, on the banks of a dry riverbed inside the reserve, he shows me a graveyard of skulls, mostly belonging to animals shot or speared during Samburu’s poaching crisis, which peaked in 2012.

“It was heart-breaking,” he recalls. “I felt angry and embarrassed as a human being.”

David quickly realised the key to stabilising the situation was earning the trust of communities, a skill proving to be essential in tackling the problems STE is facing today. Mindful of different tribes, cultures and levels of knowledge, he admits it’s an ongoing process.

“You really have to nurture people until they understand what conservation means, rather than pointing a finger at them. It’s not an overnight job, it’s a lifetime commitment. I’ll be doing this for as long as I’m alive,” says the father of four, who still struggles to balance family and work life.

But time lost with his own children is invested in a future generation and he knows, above all, his family are proud of the achievements he continues to make. Despite the enormity of problems driven by climate change, human overpopulation and habitat loss, he steadfastly believes it’s important to remain positive.

“If I give up, then what?” he asks rhetorically. “We have to carry the mantle to the next generation. What really gives me hope is there are so many vibrant Kenyans interested in conservation coming up behind me. That is my driving force and my strength.”

The biggest reward of this work is to leave something for a future generation to inherit from us.

Celebrating conservation success Continued DISMAS PARTALALA

Tanzania

TUSK AWARD FOR FINALIST CONSERVATION IN AFRICA

A tree with a lifespan of up to 3000 years, the baobab is central to Hadzabe culture.

Community members of Mongo Aa Mono, a tiny patch of undisturbed land in the Yaeda Valley of northern Tanzania, use it to shelter from the rain, harvest fruit and honey, and as a gathering point to discuss important ideas.

“This is their Garden of Eden,” exclaims Dismas Partalala, as we weave through a cluster of grass thatched huts scattered throughout the forest.

But like every paradise in our modern world, it’s under threat.

One of the world’s last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes, the Hadzabe have lived in this region, close highlands of World Heritage Site Ngorongoro Crater, for almost 40,000 years. Depending on plants for food and medicine, they’ve inadvertently become some of nature’s greatest guardians. Yet in the last 60 years, they’ve lost 90% of their nomadic land as a result of encroachment by pastoralist tribes.

“They are very innocent people, so they don’t fight,” says Dismas, a Maasai from the Loliondo district, who’s become a passionate spokesperson for a tribe almost forgotten and overlooked by authorities. “If people come closer, they move.”

In his role as a programme coordinator for Ujamaa Community Resource Team, the 48-year-old selftaught conservationist has helped secure land rights for the Hadzabe, while also allowing grazing provision for neighbouring Datoga pastoralist communities.

Since 2011, 100,500 hectares of land have been secured by law and people are extremely grateful. When we arrive in the village, men sharpening their arrows drop tools to greet

us; women roasting freshly uprooted tubers gaze up with eyes as bright as their flickering cooking flames.

To them, Dismas is a hero. But it took patience and effort to gain their trust. Sacrificing time with his own family of seven children, he spent weeks living alongside the Hadzabe, sleeping on weathered animal hides and eating the food they ate.

“I learned that land is life for them,” he says. “They eat what is available today and reserve other things for tomorrow. That impressed me.”

Dismas quickly recognised this was a symbiotic relationship: the land needed the Hadzabe as much as they needed the land.

In the last decade, these protected areas have flourished with biodiversity: elephants, cheetahs, even wild dogs can be commonly seen.

One way to reward the communities financially for their efforts was by setting up a carbon credit partnership with Carbon Tanzania.

“At first they thought we wanted to steal their air but now they understand and support the idea,” explains Dismas, as we climb to a viewpoint overlooking the valley.

Sprawling below us are some of the 71,700 trees saved by the project, benefiting 61,000 people from 12 villages through investments in education, healthcare and enforcement of land protection.

Gazing over an Eden he now calls his second home, Dismas describes his motivation as a vocational calling.

“When I discovered these communities needed help, I knew I had to be the one. If I do this, then I can die knowing I did something in this world.”

I respect everyone no matter which tribe they come from. That’s why they respect me.

Main images

Assorted images from the Tusk Conservation Awards, featuring 2022 finalists, alumni, HRH The Prince of Wales and Tusk ambassador Katherine Jenkins

STORYTELLING

DAVID YARROW

Exactly three years after the publication of David’s last book, Rizzoli released his latest book, Storytelling , in November 2022.

For more than two decades, legendary British photographer David Yarrow has created evocative images of some of the world’s most iconic personalities, sporting moments and endangered wildlife. The images in this book alone have generated nearly $40 million and raised more than $6 million for charities, making him one of the most relevant and bestselling photographers in the world.

In Storytelling, Yarrow takes his work to the next level through tales of adventure and misadventure on an epic scale. This stunning volume is a retrospective of Yarrow’s storytelling work, which has earned him even wider acclaim in the fine-art market. This assemblage of truly unmatched work brings the magic and brilliance of the big screen to still photography. Inspired by the great film directors, Yarrow tells his own cinematic stories - from the wide-open vistas of the American West to the beaches of the Caribbean, from the coasts of Alaska to the plains of Africa, and from the Sea of Cortez to an old saloon in Montana. Whether poignant, dramatic, or provocative, the images are always magnificent.

The book features a mix of more than 130 never-beforepublished and already iconic photographs, including work from assignments with some of the biggest names and brands in fashion, sports, and culture, such as Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Russell Wilson, Ciara, Alessandra Ambrosio and Gary Player. This stunning new collection of images, paired with behind-the-scenes photographs and Yarrow’s firstperson contextual narratives, offers insights into a man who can never be categorized and who will never accept second best in his relentless pursuit of excellence.

“ON MY JOURNEY, I INCREASINGLY USE MY CAMERA TO TELL STORIES AS OPPOSED TO TAKE PICTURES. TO THE EXTENT THAT ART SHOULD BE INTERPRETATIVE RATHER THAN LITERAL; THIS IS A PROGRESSION”

Support the frontline of conservation in Africa

2023 Events

Bank of England Dinner

On the 2nd March, we were hosted by the Bank of England at a private dinner for 100 people who generously contributed £200,000 towards Tusk’s newly launched Collaboration Fund, a unique and innovative fund designed to stimulate sharing solutions and seeding ideas based upon greater collaboration. Guests enjoyed a Champagne reception, dinner and a speech by Sir Alok Sharma MP, followed by a recital by Gerald Finley CBE. Many thanks to Tusk Trustee Jill May and Deputy Governor of The Bank of England, Jon Cunliffe for making this event possible.

London Marathon

London Marathon 2022’s Team raised an extraordinary £37,500 by bounding through the streets of the capital in October. This April, our 29 Team Tusk runners took to the famous route and are on track to raise even more! Get in touch to find out more details about London Marathon 2024.

• Contact: susie@tusk.org

Lewa Safari Marathon

It was a huge joy to be back in Kenya last year for the first in-person Lewa Safari Marathon since the pandemic! Our runners’ fundraising efforts enabled £172,000 in grants to be distributed to projects across Kenya.

• Date: Saturday 24th June

• Location: Kenya

Wildlife Ranger Challenge

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2022 saw over 2,000 rangers come together to raise awareness of the challenges they face on the front line of wildlife conservation. They were joined by 1,100 runners globally, who ran in solidarity with the rangers. The Wildlife Ranger Challenge is back for 2023.

• Date: Saturday 16th September

• Contact: ivy@tusk.org

Clay Pigeon Shoot

A day of fun, teamwork and competition in a stunning setting, the annual Clay Pigeon Shoot is a fantastic experience for both corporate and private teams. Last year’s event raised £40,000. This year, we’re aiming even higher.

• Date: Friday 22nd September

• Location: Royal Berkshire Shooting School

• Contact: anna@tusk.org

Our work would not be possible without the funds raised by the dedicated Tusk donors who took part in, or supported, Tusk’s events and appeals. With an exciting roster of events set for 2023, there are lots of ways you can support wildlife conservation in the coming year.

Tusk Conservation Awards

Last year we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Tusk Conservation Awards at the magnificent Hampton Court Palace, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Awards alumni. The 11th annual Awards will shine a light on the leaders of conservation.

• Date: Monday 27th November

• Location: The Savoy, London

• Visit the website for the latest updates

An Evening with Bear Grylls

Join us for a talk by one of the most famous faces of adventure, Tusk Ambassador Bear Grylls OBE. Inspiring, uplifting and empowering, don’t miss this fantastic event, followed by a drinks and canapés reception. Tickets on sale now.

• Date: 8th December

• Location: Royal Geographical Society, London

• Contact: susie@tusk.org

Tusk Arctic Challenge 2024

Join Tusk and Drift Adventure in January for an epic challenge in the arctic with Nordic skiing, dog sledding, arctic quizzes and snow hut building. Who knows, you might even see the Northern Lights.

• Date: 25th - 28th January 2024

• Contact: susie@tusk.org

Left

to Right

The Bank of England

Credit: The Bank of England

David Kuvawoga Crossing the London Marathon finish line

Credit: David Kuvawoga

International runner taking part in Lewa Safari Marathon

Credit: Safaricom

Chewore North rangers all smiles as they join their fellow rangers across the continent for the Wildlife Ranger Challenge

Credit: Tashinga Initiative

2022 Clay Pigeon Shoot

Credit: Royal Berkshire Shooting School

Tusk Conservation Awards

2022 Wildlife Ranger Winner

Neddy Mulimo with the Prince of Wales

Credit: Chris Jackson

Tusk Ambasasdor Bear Grylls

Credit: Bear Grylls

The Arctic Challenge 2022

Credit: Charlie Mayhew

Thank You

We are incredibly grateful to all our supporters, too numerous to mention here, whose donations have been critically important in supporting our work over the past year. We would like to thank the following for their particularly generous contributions and gifts in kind, without which, much of what we have achieved in light of other change would not have been possible.

Companies & Institutions

A Tent with a View Safaris, Abercrombie & Kent, Access Bank Kenya plc, Accor, Advanced Handling Ltd, Africa Exclusive, Alliance Bernstein, Animal Friends Insurance, Ardea Partners, Atlanta Fulton County Zoo, Aujan Investments, Averna LLP, B2Gold Namibia Ltd, Barrett & Coe, Barton Grange Group, Battea Class Action Services, BlackRock, BMS Group, Borana Conservancy, BPL Global, British Airways, Bryers LLP, Capture Communications, Cask Trade Ltd, Casterline Goodman Gallery, Chaucer Group Ltd, Chester Zoo, Claude Fenton Ltd, Comedy Store, Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens, CPM Stourbridge, David Yarrow Photography, Dennicci, DHL Express Europe, DP World, Drift Adventure, Emso Asset Management Ltd, Eon Productions, Exceptional Travel, Farrant Group, Fortemus Films & Maia Films, Francaise Sauvegarde, Going Green Media, Golden Goose, Goldman Sachs Gives, Grant Macdonald, Hanover Investors Management LLP, Harold Benjamin Solicitors, Hope & Ivy, HSBC Private Bank, Huawei (Kenya) Ltd, IBID Capital, Inkerman, Jaguar Land Rover, Jones Family Office, Justerini & Brooks, KCB Group, Kensington Palace, Kenya Breweries Ltd, KPMG, Le Gavroche, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Lioden Ltd, Longleat Safari Park, Mantis Group, Milton Group, Mishcon de Reya LLP, Mondrian Investment Partners, Ninety One, Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, North Shire Ltd, Novotel, Painted Wolf Wines, Patrick Mavros, Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP, Pennine Energy Group, Prosource, Pula Ltd, Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Safaricom Ltd, Saffery Champness, Sainsbury’s, Shelton Fleming, Smart Veterinary Clinic, Spun Gold TV, Stephens Europe Ltd, Tetra Pak, Thyme, Tin Man Art, TLA Worldwide, Tribe Impact Capital, Tropic Air Ltd, Turnstyle Ltd, Two Keys Ltd, Virgin, Volcanoes Safaris, West Midland Safari & Leisure Park, Woburn Safari Park, Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Young Spirits.

Charitable Trusts, Schools & Public

A & R Woolf Charitable Trust, Addo Trust, African Community & Conservation Foundation, Airbnb Community Fund, Albert Van Den Bergh Charitable Trust, Alexander Dreymon Fan Club, Apex Foundation Ltd, Asamaa Charitable Trust, Bearem Charitable Trust, Blair Trust, Born to Fly Charity, Bradley & Katherine Wickens Foundation, Brown Foundation, CAF America, Cedar Hill Foundation, Charles Hayward Foundation, Chestnut Trust, CHK Foundation, Corcoran Foundation, David L Tandy Foundation, Dean & Anna Backer Fund, Douglas Heath Eves Charitable Trust, Edward Hoare Charitable Fund, EJF Philanthropies, Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust, Friedman-French Foundation, Game Rangers Association of Africa, Golden Bottle Trust, Henhurst Charitable Trust, Henry C. Hoare Charitable Trust, Holtzman Wildlife Foundation, ISPS Handa, Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance, JSK Trust, Kajatawa Foundation, Lizandy Charitable Trust, Lyon Family Charitable Trust, Marjorie Coote Animal Charity Trust, Mayhew Charitable Trust, Merriman Charitable Foundation, Midnight Runners London, Millard Family Foundation, MJL Charitable Trust, National Philanthropic Trust, Natural State, Nick Maughan Foundation, Perivoli Foundation, Prinsep Family Fund, Prism Charitable Trust, Prokopenya Family Foundation, Reed Foundation, Rhodes Charity, Ricochet Foundation, Ripple Effect, Rothes Charitable Trust, Scheinberg Relief Fund, Scott (Eredine) Charitable Trust, Simon Gibson Charitable Trust, Sisi & Savita Charitable Trust, Steel Charitable Trust, Stichting African Wild Dog Conservation Projects, Thin Green Line Foundation, Toby and Regina Wyles Charitable Trust, Tucker Charitable Trust, Vasey Family Trust, Vodafone Foundation, Zoological Society of East Anglia.

Individuals

Lord Agnew, James & Alessandra Alexandroff, Louis, Felix & Finn Ambrose, Peter Anderson, Sue Anschutz-Rodgers, Mark Arcedeckne-Butler, Mark Armenante, Dawn Arnall, Simon Aron, Neeta Atkar, Gwenyth Audran, Stéphane & Rachel Audran, Jonathan Baillie, Karen Baker, Ian Ballard, David Barnes, Richard & Sue Barnes, Lin Barrie, Jeremy & Nikki Barton, Susan Beadle, Paul Beasley, Briony Beattie, Goetz & Alida Bechtolsheimer, Constant Beckers, Malcolm Bell Macdonald, Isabelle Berner, Michelle Berners-Price, Jonathan Biggs & Rachel Heron,

We are extremely grateful to the following for their generous support of our work.

Murray Bisschop, Nigel Bliss, Claire Boakes, Catherine Bohart, Shane Bolton, Charlie Bott, Iain & Jane Bratchie, Katrina Bray, Matt Breidert, Rory Bremner, Stephen Brenninkmeijer, Marcus Brigstocke, Anthony Brooke Rankin, Andrew Brown, David Brown, Clare Brownlow, Tom Bulpitt, Giles Burke-Gaffney, Karen Burrows, Philip & Baroness Buscombe, Richard Buxton, Rebecca Byam, Joe & Farrah Calder, Callum Callinan, Tim Came, Dr Susan Canney, Harriet Carder, Tom Cartwright, Nathan Caton, Philip Cayford KC, Shena Chad, James Chapman, Philippe Chappatte, Chris Churchman, John Cleese & Jen Wade, Liza Connelly, Joseph Cook, Nico Cookson, Elizabeth Coplon, Mark Coreth, David Cotton, Mark Cowan, Daryl Cresswell, Robin & Jacqueline Creswell, Frances Critoph, Sir Jon Cunliffe, Natasha Dalton, John & Lauren Davidovich, Catherine de Freitas, Kevin Dixon, Alexander Dreymon, Hendrik du Toit, Wayne Dymond, David Ebsworth, Gregory Edwards, Henry Egerton, Edward & Sandy Elgar, Hugh Elwes, Sam Excell, Sir Robert & Lady Fairbairn, Paul Farmer, Richard Farmiloe, Michael Farrant, Arnold Feldman & Monica Kreischer, Keith Flavell, Jen Ford, Suzy Fox, Deborah Frances White, Mark & Marnie Franklin, James Fraser, Kindy French, Malcolm Fried, Andrew Galloway, Tara Getty, Sholto Gilbertson, Alli Gorman, Jacqueline Gossip, Max Gower, Alex Graham, Ivo Graham, Stuart & Teresa Graham, Gary & Amy Green, Sophie Green, Andrew Greener, David Gregson, Bear Grylls OBE, Robert Ham, Dr Haruhisa Handa, Carol Hayes, Robert & Suzette Hayes, Michael Hazel, Marsha Henry, Annabel Heseltine, Reggie Heyworth, Emily Hill, Roger Hills, Peter Hinkley, Alex Hoctor-Duncan, Anders & Anne Holch Povlsen, Lady Mary Holmes, Einar Holstad, Bella Hopewell, Simon Hoyle, Roy Hughes, Phillip Ihenacho & Carine Smith, Brian Jackman, Chris Jackson, Tim & Sue Jackson, Janet Jeffs, Katherine Jenkins OBE, Beatrice Karanja, Prue Keigwin, Carol Kemm, Heather Kennedy, Nicole Kent, Paul & Karen Killik, Eliud Kipchoge, Tim Kirk, Marina Kleinwort, Igor Knoester, Julian & Susan Knott, David Korn, David Kuvawoga, Sarah Lang, Stephen Lansdown CBE & Margaret Lansdown, Ahmad Lari, Joyce Lee, Hamish & Venetia Leng, Rosanna Leng, Rosamund Lloyd, David Lomas, Jane Longley, Dame Joanna Lumley, Ben Lundie, Alex Marshall, Maxwell Maccollum, Joe & Minnie MacHale, Jennifer Maes, Tadiwa Mahlunge, Attif Malik, Regina Mariano, Sarah Marshall, Rose Matafeo, Nick Maughan, Jill May BEM, David & Ginny Mayhew, Marie Helene McAndrew, Stuart McCracken, Mitch & Kim McCullough, Deborah Meaden, Steve Messinger, Niko Michault, Florence Midwood, Paul Milton, Lauren Minchin, Eddie Moir, Praveen Moman, Manuela & Salim Moollan, Glenn Moore, Kevin Moriarty, Elizabeth Morony, Donal Mulryan, Sharon Naylor, Caroline Negley, Stephanie Niven, Fergal & Victoria O'Driscoll, Michael O'Hanlon, Robert Page, Geoffrey Page-Morris, Toni Panula, Dr Hamish Paton, Oliver & Emma Pawle, Andrew Pearce, Westley & Lauren Pearson, Rupert Pelly, Charlie Perring, Philip Perry, Sarah Picton, Jolanta Piekos, Edward Pilcher, Andrew Pitts-Tucker, Jonathan Pollack, Maureen Poschman, Nicholas Powell, Andrew Prebble, Mike Prince, Hugh Rattray, Iain Rawlinson, Hefin Rees KC, Robert Replogle, Lady Rice, Helen Jane Roberts, Paul Roberts, Jessica Robinson, Nigel Robinson, Katy Rose, Paul Rose, Ben Ross, Tim & Victoria Russell, Kristine Ryssdal, Mark & Baroness Sater, Elizabeth Saunders, Jack Savoretti & Jemma Powell, Mark Scheinberg, Matt Scholey, Vian Sharif, Hannah Shergold, Catherine & Andrew Shilston, Kate Silverton-Heron, David Simoné, Rachyeta Singh, John Smith, Nick Southgate, Lord St John of Bletso, Steven Stone, Nick & Sheila Stranks, Louise Studd, David Stulb, Alice Tanielian, Richard & Sanna Taylor, Anthony Tester, Peter & Fiona Thomas, Sir Christopher Thompson Bt., Jonathan Tod, Chris Townsend OBE, Paul Tudor Jones II, Richard Turpin, Cara Turtington, Miriam Twaalfhoven, Mark & Rebecca Tyndall, Carol Van Bruggen, Ron Van der A, John Vile, Stephen Vinall, James & Nicky Vyvyan-Robinson, Mark Warrener, David Watson, The Hon. Stephen & Emma Watson, Richard & Laura Webb, Chris Webster, Peter & Diana Whiteside, Jennifer Widener, Diana Wiles, Laura Wood, Ronnie & Sally Wood, Julian & Kate Wyndham Barnett, David Yarrow, Tim Yetman & Catherine Bryan, JP Zammitt, Silvio Zanardini.

Gifts in Wills

We are extremely grateful and honoured to have received a number of gifts in Wills, which are particularly special to us and will support our work in Africa long into the future.

New fund to support Tusk

Tusk is delighted to announce that Ninety One, the founding sponsor of the Tusk Conservation Awards, has donated £1million to Tusk and launched a new share class in its Global Sustainable Equity Fund from which the firm will donate its annual management fee to the charity. The proceeds will go towards supporting the critical work, livelihoods and welfare of wildlife rangers across Africa. This represents a fantastic alignment between the expertise of Ninety One, as a global investment manager, and the conservation objectives of Tusk and we are extremely grateful for this innovative and exciting initiative.