This year's achievements stand as a testament to the collaborative efforts of our dedicated team, supporters, partners, and the communities we serve. Amidst our expanding programs and growing teams, we have upheld our vision for a harmonious coexistence between Africa's people and wildlife within thriving, resilient landscapes.
Finding Hope for Elephants & People
This year marked a bold leap into human-elephant coexistence as we recruited, trained, and equipped new Warriors for Wildlife in communities struggling to live alongside elephants around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and villages surrounding Mkomazi National Park. In the NCA alone, these officers responded to nearly 700 reports of crop raiding and tracked 2,500+ elephant observations to identify conflict hotspots.
Building Capacity for Community Engagement
Learning never stops with ACTIVE™! Our team facilitated workshops and onsite retreats this year with a diversity of organizations looking to create lasting relationships with local communities through their programming, including the Okavango Wilderness Project in Angola and Botswana and Cotton Made in Africa efforts in Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania.
Connecting Climate to Range Management
Whether in the classroom, meeting hall, with policymakers, or by video, climate change education continues to be a common thread throughout our programs. This is especially true of the Sustainable Rangelands Initiative, where we’ve expanded to 49 participating villages (adding 8 this year!) and grown from 42 to 58 community rangeland monitors to help inform climate-smart grazing plans for the benefit of livestock and wildlife.
Promoting Honey for Habitat
As interest in the Women’s Beekeeping Initiative continually grows, so does the amount of habitat protected by 1,600+ APW-funded hives hanging in trees overhead. Five women’s groups were added to the program in 2023, which now impacts 1,900+ women annually, and we continue to train members in value-added products like skin care for their wildlife-friendly businesses.
Taking Living Walls to New Landscapes
Living Walls protect Big Cats and other carnivores by preventing livestock attacks that often result in retaliatory killings. This year, we reached 1,987 predator-proof corrals, directly impacting 23,250+ people and securing an estimated 38.8M USD in livestock. The installation of Living Walls has also started in the new Mikumi landscape, where demonstrations inspired community members to start the tree-planting process for 2024.
Inspiring Youth Action
Environmental education isn’t limited to schoolrooms, especially when you’re full of youthful enthusiasm! With over 3,000 current members in 23 schools – and a total reach of 19,000+ boys and girls – APW’s Wildlife Clubs have been busy this year with World Lion Day celebrations, community clean-ups, schoolyard tree planting and gardening, environmental camps at Noloholo, and building awareness of conservation issues in their communities.
Advancing Women in Conservation
This year, three women thrived in a dynamic three-month mentorship at the Noloholo Environmental Center, gaining hands-on experience, essential career skills, and ongoing support through partner networks. Simultaneously, we released a first-of-its-kind report on women in leadership roles in Tanzania's wildlife sector, providing key recommendations for advancing gender equity in conservation.
Strengthening and Scaling Up Our Team
GIS expert Methusela Magobeko (far right) is the most recent addition to the Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Adaptation team, shown here enjoying team bonding time at Noloholo. Other areas within the organization are also growing; in 2023, we welcomed David Castico and Molly Dodge to our staff and welcomed Hans Cosmas Ngoteya to the Board of Directors.
Honing and Honoring Our Strengths
We are immensely grateful for the positive feedback from local people and organizations who see the impact of community-driven conservation. This fall, partners with the Trias HUSISHA program voted on awards to highlight on-the-ground champions of environmental causes within the farming community. We're excited to share that Tanzania People & Wildlife, our sister organization, won the 2023 Eco-Champion Award!
In the words of Neovitus Sianga, “Providing [rural communities] with the tools and resources necessary to understand the intricacies of their ecosystems enables them to adopt responsible and sustainable practices.” Heading into 2024, we look forward to continuing this vital work alongside partner communities and with supporters like you.
Cheers from the program team in Tanzania!
