AFRICAN
CONSERVATION AND WEB SITES FOR AFRICA FROM
AFRICANWEBSITES.NET
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The
International Crane
Foundation (ICF) works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland
and grasslands communities on which they depend. ICF is dedicated to providing
experience,
knowledge, and inspiration to involve people in resolving
threats to these ecosystems. To accomplish this mission, the
International Crane
Foundation (a private, non-profit organization) relies on a wide
range of education and conservation activities directed toward the many countries
where cranes occur. A collection of captive cranes is maintained at their
headquarters near
Baraboo
, Wisconsin, allowing them to pursue two vital techniques
for crane preservation: captive breeding and reintroduction into the wild.
Their work also demonstrates endangered species management for the public,
and facilitates breeding and education efforts with cranes elsewhere in the
United States and abroad. ICF is also concerned with habitat protection and
restoration. Cranes are excellent indicators of the health of wetland and
grassland ecosystems worldwide. ICF strives to alert
scientists,
government officials, and the public to the dependence of cranes on their
habitats, the causes and remedies for habitat destruction, and the importance
of wetlands and grasslands for both wildlife and people. ICF supports research,
serving primarily as a catalyst for research, by making available its facilities
and bird collection to scientists, by sponsoring workshops and publications,
and by fostering a network among conservationists, biologists, and managers
around the world.
The Mission Statement of Lekanyane Conservation Project :
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Lekanyane Conservation Project Education & Outreach
Programmes : As long as people are not aware of specific environmental problems,
there will be no need for them to act positively towards such problems. The
project aims to create an extensive educational and information facility,
which will allow for school groups and the
public to visit. Programmes for day visits and overnight
visits will be designed to deal with the many schools in this area and visiting
schools from elsewhere. These programmes will be targeting the issue at hand
but will also be syllabus related. A mobile extension service will be created
to reach schools and remote rural communities in particular the cattle post
communities. It will by no doubt contribute greatly to the awareness that
is so desperately needed in these cases. Public awareness will be encouraged
through the design and distribution of, for example, car stickers, souvenirs,
newsletters, adoption schemes and the media. By educating the public regarding
these predators, a more positive approach can be brought to their plight
and the problems can be addressed effectively.
Veld Products Research & Development
(VPR&D), is a Botswana-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO),
established in
1981
to research and
dev
elop
a wide range of veld products and to investigate suitable management systems
for natural resources in order to ensure sustainable utilisation. VPR&D's
main research sites and nursery facilities are located in Gabane, a village
18 kms west of Gaborone. A Board of Directors comprised of individuals who
are farmers in the Gabane community as well as senior people in Government
and in other
NGOs
governs VPR&D. In addition to its nursery-based research,
VPR&D
undertakes field activities throughout Botswana and the Southern Africa region.
These activities include community-based project activities as well work
on indigenous fruit tree planting trials and agroforestry trial plots located
throughout Botswana. Veld products include foods, medicines, craft materials,
tannins, gums, resins, dyes, essential oils, florist materials, ornamental
plants, insects, horns, hides, skins and many other renewable natural
resources
The BFA
(Biodiversity
Foundation for Africa) is committed to conserving Afrotropical
biodiversity through the improvement of scientific knowledge
and its incorporation in the planning process. The BFA is a Zimbabwe-registered
non-profit Trust, formed in Bulaway in 1992 by a group of scientists and
environmentalists. The group works in collaboration with scientists
and
institutions in the south and central African
region, UK and the USA. It consists of a number of professional affiliates
internationally recognised in their fields. Most are taxonomists or ecologists
based in the region. Among them, these individuals have many years of experience
in their discipline and access to a wide knowledge base, much of which has
not been formally published. The BFA solicits funds from donors and others
to carry out research into Afrotropical biodiversity, including field surveys
and documentation of existing information. Its particuar area of interest
is south-central Africa. You can
visit their
new website now for more information.
The Southern African Botanical
Diversity Network
(SABONET) is
a capacity-building network
of southern
African herbaria and botanic gardens with the objective of developing local
botanical expertise. The ten countries participating in
SABONET are
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland,
Zambia and Zimbabwe; these
cou
ntries
cover an area of some 6 million square kilometres. SABONET's objectives are
to develop a strong core of professional botanists, taxonomists, horticulturists
and plant diversity specialists within the ten countries of southern Africa,
competent to inventory, monitor, evaluate and conserve the botanical diversity
of the region in the face of specific development challenges, and to respond
to the technical and scientific needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
SABONET is a
GEF
(Glob
al Environment
Facility) Project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP). South Africa's National Botanical Institute (NBI) is the Executing
Agency, responsible for the overall management and administration of the
project. In addition to the GEF/UNDP funding, the project is co-funded by
the USAID/IUCN ROSA through the NETCAB (Regional Networking and Capacity
Building Initiative) Programme.
The
Zambezi Society
promotes responsible management of the
precious
natural resources and wild nature of the Zambezi River basin for the benefit
of its biological and human communities. Formed in 1982, this small,
international NGO has headquarters in Harare, with fund-raising bases in
the United Kingdom and Japan. The Society's focus is the basin of the Zambezi
River which flows through Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique before pouring into the Indian Ocean in a spectacular delta. This
is one of the finest and least spoilt rivers in the world. Its has many important
ecosystems and habitats; wetlands, riverine woodlands; montain forests; dry
forests; savannahs and aquatic ecosystems. Its wide diversity
of
species includes black rhinoceros; elephant; cheetah; lion; leopard; crocodile;
lechwe; over 600 bird species; and a great variety of trees and plants. Some
of these are protected in a series of magnificent National Parks, but many
valuable Zambezi species, ecosystems and wilderness areas still survive outside
these parks as well. The biodiversity and wild nature of the Zambezi are
threatened by unplanned human settlement; illegal wildlife hunting; hydroelectric
projects, minerals exploitation and ill-advised tourism development. But
the biggest threats are lack of knowledge and lack of co-ordinated planning.
The Zambezi
Society, through advocacy and project work, promotes awareness about
the
Za
mbezi
river’s values, encourages coordinated development planning for the
whole river basin, undertakes research into the biodiversity and wilderness
values of the Zambezi, and disseminates the resulting information as widely
as possible. At a grassroots level, the Society helps Zambezi valley communities
develop self-help projects to conserve valuable forest patches in their areas,
provides equipment for anti-poaching scouts in protected and settled lands,
and reinforces mechanisms to protect important species such as the black
rhinoceros which are at risk of extinction through illegal hunting activities.
For more information on Botswana,
click here.
If you would like to
contact us please email
terry@africanconservation.org
