Several years ago, the African People & Wildlife Fund integrated rangeland management into its four-step process towards long-term conservation success in Tanzania. Recently, a collaboration of ten organizations kicked off a five-year project to ensure that Tanzania’s rangelands, ecosystems, and the communities within those ecosystems, are protected. By the African People & Wildlife Fund Wildlife...
In late December last year, the African lion received a special gift from the U.S. government. Over the past few years, non-profit groups, the national and international public, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service itself, have been rallying the government to protect lions under the Endangered Species Act. And just in time for Christmas...
By Jeremy Swanson On this World Wildlife Day, we reflect on the past, look at the present, and talk about our dreams for the future, of lions and their roars in Tanzania and East Africa. In protecting lions and supporting communities through Living Walls, the African People & Wildlife Fund (APW) can now...
With the closing of 2015 comes the end of a big chapter for Africa and its spectacular wildlife. Looking back on the year, we reflect on the big wins and big changes for wildlife conservation in this huge, unique continent. Here are the top seven milestones for African wildlife in 2015. By Deirdre Leowinata The U.S. Government listed...
With the expansion of human populations, instances of human-wildlife conflict become increasingly frequent. One proposed solution to protect both people and wildlife is the implementation of fences around established protected areas. Many conservation scientists argue that these fences may do more harm than good. A recent paper published in June by some of the world’s most renowned...
Just ten years ago, two young explorers set up camp by a small acacia at the top of a hill given to them by the rural Tanzanian community of Loibor Siret. That camp was to eventually become a permanent base for the African People & Wildlife Fund’s conservation programs focusing on the lions of the...
Education is the foundation for positive change, and every year the National Geographic Student Expeditions takes groups of high school students from around the world to beautiful places on quests for both knowledge and skills. The trips also serve as a way to help various developing communities, and this year two groups of students made...
“In a few years to come, the world will only see the rare lion spoor on the sandy soil. If the wind blows, then even those spoor will go.” One extraordinary Maasai warrior shares his message for the world about the future of big cats. Elvis Kisimir experiences the full extent of familial responsibility while...
In a land where the lion truly is king, attitudes about traditional lion hunts are changing. Two Maasai people – one lion slayer and one lion savior – share the stories of their respective journeys. Species are disappearing at a rate that has scientists around the world calling this period the sixth mass extinction. Today,...
In the coming years, climate change will transform the world in ways that we have not predicted. The king of the big cats has already survived two major periods of change, but with humans quickly taking over valuable grassland habitat, will they be able to survive another? On the Maasai Steppe of Tanzania, lions have...
The Maasai warriors of Tanzania are known around the world for their tradition of hunting lions. When a young warrior kills a lion, he is celebrated for his courage and skill in the face of a powerful beast. But as the human population grows, the lions are disappearing. The Maasai of the Tanzanian steppe now...
In rural northern Tanzania, an African country famous for charismatic megafauna, including free-roaming cheetah and other big cats, impoverished and under-employed Swahili villagers struggle to survive. One way to earn money and make cooking fuel is to cut forests for wood that can be turned into charcoal. It’s an economic and environmental disaster, illegal because...