The African Conservation Centre (ACC) is a non-governmental organization based in Kenya. The group was founded in 1995. In 2007, it received a US$200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation. Their work has focused on capacity building "to conserve wildlife through sound science, local initiatives and good governance." Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine One of its projects, the Shompole Group Ranch.", won the 2006 Equator Initiative Award for community-driven biodiversity-based business from the United Nations Development Programme.
According to the ACC's website, the organization's main goal is to protect East African biodiversity by implementing conservation solutions using skills and knowledge of both local communities and scientists. The website also stresses the importance of these solutions accounting for the needs of indigenous people as well as the diverse environment which the ACC seeks to conserve. [1]
Conservation of life's diversity for the well-being of the community and the environment "
The mission is to conserve the wildlife and the environment in and beyond East Africa through the application of scientific and indigenous knowledge, enhanced livelihood and development of effective institutions."
African Conservation Center (ACC) began in the 1970s. Initially, it began as a research field for the issue of conserving wildlife. In 1995, ACC was registered " Archived 2021-12-08 at the Wayback Machine as a nonprofit organization. Since then, the organization has grown to many accomplishments. In 2012, ACC collaborated with the South Rift Association of Landowners to create Kenya Rangeland Coalition.
Thomas Eugene Lovejoy III was an American ecologist who was President of the Amazon Biodiversity Center, a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and a university professor in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University. Lovejoy was the World Bank's chief biodiversity advisor and the lead specialist for environment for Latin America and the Caribbean as well as senior advisor to the president of the United Nations Foundation. In 2008, he also was the first Biodiversity Chair of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment to 2013. Previously he served as president of the Heinz Center since May 2002. Lovejoy introduced the term biological diversity to the scientific community in 1980. He was a past chair of the Scientific Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the multibillion-dollar funding mechanism for developing countries in support of their obligations under international environmental conventions.
Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conservation and environmental education. The definition sometimes also includes being financially beneficial to the host community or making conservation financially possible. There are a range of different definitions, and the correct definition of the term was an active subject of debate as of 2009. The term is also used more widely by many organizations offering nature tourism, which do not focus on being beneficial to the environment.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".
The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous grassroots organization in Kenya that empowers women through the planting of trees. It is one of the most effective and well-known grassroots organisations addressing the problem of global deforestation. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). GBM's successes in forest conservation, education, and women's economic empowerment have gained the organisation worldwide acclaim. It is also noted for its advocacy of human rights, democratisation of access to public lands, and environmental justice issues such as the role of women's traditional ecological knowledge in addressing environmental degradation and desertification.
Community-based conservation is a conservation movement that emerged in the 1980s, in response to escalating protests and subsequent dialogue with local communities affected by international attempts to protect the biodiversity of the earth. These contentions were a reaction against traditional 'top down' conservation practices, whereby governments or large organisations exert control at a local level, which were perceived as disregarding the interests of local inhabitants. This stems from the Western idea on which the conservation movement was founded, of nature being separate from culture. The objective of community-based conservation is to actively involve and give some control to members of local communities in conservation efforts which may affect them, and incorporate improvement to the lives of local people while conserving areas through the creation of national parks or wildlife refuges.
Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust (CWOT) is one of the oldest and biggest sanctuaries for orphaned and rescued chimpanzees, located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Established in 1983, the sanctuary began as a family-run operation when David and Sheila Siddle took in a severely injured infant chimpanzee named "Pal" after it was brought to their cattle ranch by a game ranger. The Siddle’s nursed Pal back to health, marking the beginning of CWOT’s mission to provide care and rehabilitation for chimpanzees in need.
Calestous Juma was a Kenyan scientist and academic, specializing in sustainable development. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine. He was Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma was Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Virginia, in Arlington County, Virginia.
Size of Wales is a climate change charity founded with the aim of conserving an area of tropical rainforest the size of Wales. The project currently supports seven forest protection projects and one tree planting project across Africa and South America. The charity focuses upon furthering the promotion of rainforest conservation as a national response to the global issue of climate change.
The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is a non-profit NGO working in Africa and South America. It is one of the first international organizations to support the indigenous peoples of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights to land, life and livelihood. The Foundation aims to protect rainforests by securing the land rights of indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities. It also campaigns internationally on issues such as industrial logging, climate change, agricultural expansion and nature conservation.
The Equator Prize, organized by the Equator Initiative within the United Nations Development Programme, is awarded biennially to recognize community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Forest Trends is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 and based in Washington, DC, that connects with economic tools and incentives for maintaining ecosystems. Its mission is four-fold: to expand the value of forests to society, to promote sustainable forest management and conservation by creating and capturing market values for ecosystem services, to support innovative projects and companies that are developing these markets and to enhance the livelihoods of local communities living in and around those forests.
Founded in 1980, the Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) is a nonprofit organization located in Anchorage, Alaska. Its focus is in finding ways to sustain Alaska's wildlife, coastlines, and mountains from the effects of climate change. ACF's largest contributions come from the funding that they provide for organizations around Alaska that follow a similar pursuit of environmental conservation. As of 2020, it is the only public foundation dedicated to conservation in Alaska. Through the support of individuals and foundations for nearly 40 years, ACF has awarded more than $52 million in grants to over 200 grassroots organizations and individuals working to protect and manage Alaska's natural resources.
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organization created with the intent of preserving Africa's wildlife, wild lands, and natural resources. Founded in 1961, the organization helped establish conservation programs at the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka in Tanzania, and the Ecole de Faune de Garoua in Cameroon. The Foundation works with governments and businesses to develop conservation efforts as a source of revenue.
The Witu Forest, is a protected area in Lamu District, Kenya, East Africa. It was formed in 1927 by combining the Utwani Forest Reserve with the adjacent Gongoni Forest Reserve, although the previous names remained in use. The independent Kenyan government confirmed the reservation, gazetting the forest in 1962, with 701 hectares more gazetted in 2002. The forest covers 4,639 hectares of gazetted land, with approximately 900 hectares of additional un gazetted, but enclosed, forest. The adjacent Mungajini Forest on the Nairobi Ranch contains approximately 1,100 hectares. As of 2007, there was no management plan for the forest, although it is to be managed under the Forests Act, 2005, by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) which replaced the prior Forest Department in 2005.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 360 km2 (140 sq mi) not-for-profit wildlife conservancy in Central Kenya's Laikipia County. It is situated on the equator west of Nanyuki, between the foothills of the Aberdares and Mount Kenya. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy works to conserve wildlife, provide a sanctuary for great apes, and generate income through wildlife tourism and complementary enterprises for re-investment in conservation and community development.
Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya, is a Ugandan conservationist leader. Since 2019, Sebunya is the CEO at the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization founded in 1961 with the intent of preserving the Africa's wildlife and natural habitats, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to his appointment, Sebunya was the AWF president, since 2016. Sebunya's career lies in conservation of nature and other related activities, he previously worked with Water Aid, Oxfam, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Peace Corps, and Conservation International.