People & Pachyderms
The People & Pachyderms Collective is centered on protecting elephants and rhinos in East Africa, empowering African women and girls, investing in conservation education within local communities, and creating opportunities for scalable innovation.
We have partnered with the following conservation and education nonprofits throughout Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, and Kenya to support and amplify their critical work through this Collective.
African People & Wildlife
Tanzania
African People & Wildlife (APW) has a mission to protect wildlife, invest in people, and restore balance to Africa’s vital ecosystems through effective conservation action, applied science, and collective impact.
Their goals for 2030 include conserving wildlife and promoting coexistence, strengthening natural resource stewardship, restoring and connecting landscapes, developing conservation enterprises, and building strategic partnerships.
African People & Wildlife
Tanzania
With the support from this Conservation Nation Collective program, African People & Wildlife will be:
- Supporting their rapid response anti-poaching teams and human-elephant conflict mitigation officers in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
- Creating on-the-ground human-elephant conflict mitigation (e.g., beehive fences, chili fencing, etc.).
- Building their team’s resources and capacity.
- Raising awareness about elephants and their conservation needs in local schools and communities.
North Luangwa Conservation Programme in Partnership with Save the Rhino
Zambia
Founded in 1986, the North Luangwa Conservation Program’s (NLCP) mission is to protect the North Luangwa ecosystem, its wildlife and its people. It is an active partnership of Frankfurt Zoological Society and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and has improved security, tackled poaching, and has sought to achieve community-based natural resource management. The NLCP has built community and education outreach support programs into a comprehensive and people-centered approach to wildlife conservation for the last 20 years. Their work to support endangered rhinos in Africa is conducted in collaboration with Save the Rhino.
North Luangwa Conservation Programme in Partnership with Save the Rhino
Zambia
The People & Pachyderms Collective is supporting the North Luangwa Conservation Program’s project to break barriers to bring more women into the wildlife protection sector in North Luangwa by focusing on four key areas.
- Leadership training for female community scouts who are responsible for such critical tasks as tracking and monitoring the rhino on a daily basis.
- Gender-bias training for male wildlife protection officers.
- Spousal visits to field programs to increase the understanding of the importance of the spouses’ rhino ranger work.
- Essential products to help the female rangers in the field.
South Rift Association of Land Owners
Kenya
The South Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO) has a vision of healthy, intact, landscapes that benefit people and wildlife. To achieve this, they are addressing four key areas of intervention including: improving rangelands governance by securing communal lands, water and natural resources; improving natural resource management and conservation efforts to monitor, manage and protect wildlife and other resources; generating benefits and increased income through sustainable natural resource-based enterprises; and promoting cultural values and practices that promote coexistence of people and wildlife.
It’s hard to be the first, but for one Maasai woman, Silvia Nashipae, it has all been worth it. This past spring SORALO (South Rift Association of Land Owners) in Kenya opened its community ranger recruitment process to the public. As Community Rangers they work in their communities to…
South Rift Association of Land Owners
Kenya
Through the support of this People & Pachyderms Collective, SORALO is working to strengthen the role of women in conservation and to break human-elephant conflict cycles by:
- Inspiring and empowering Maasai women to protect wildlife in their communities.
- Establishing female community ranger teams.
- Piloting methods to mitigate human-wildlife conflict at water sources.
The Girls Foundation of Tanzania
Tanzania
The Girls Foundation of Tanzania is a community dedicated to learning, collaborating, volunteering, training and teaching. They provide educational support for bright girls and young women living in extreme poverty.
Their support includes tuition scholarship as well as learning opportunities outside the classroom. They partner with each student from secondary school through university to develop her life skills, to promote teamwork, and to strengthen her academic success so each student can reach her full potential.
Conservation Nation is passionate about connecting girls with nature, nurturing their sense of belonging in nature, and building their confidence as wildlife champions. In Tanzania, we are providing new and exciting opportunities for girls to learn about protecting nature and to share their knowledge and passion with others. We…
The Girls Foundation of Tanzania
Tanzania
The People & Pachyderms Collective is supporting The Girls Foundation of Tanzania to develop a wildlife and climate-focused curriculum and program, and to empower the girls as leaders to spread the word to fellow students in Tanzania. Their project includes:
- Participation for the girls in African People & Wildlife’s Youth Environmental Camp.
- Training the girls to be spokespeople, ambassadors, and leaders of the wildlife conservation message out to nearby schools.
- Establishing Environmental Clubs for secondary school students.
- Creating a unique, play-based program focused on conservation, climate, and gender for children and teens throughout Arusha.
Veterinary Initiative for Endangered Wildlife
Rwanda
VIEW’s mission is to protect endangered wildlife by tackling the health threats they face in their native habitats. They support locally sustainable wildlife disease investigation, prevention, and treatment by providing training, building infrastructure, conducting research, and promoting policies that ensure healthy environments for wildlife and the people and domestic animals that share their habitat.
Veterinary Initiative for Endangered Wildlife
Rwanda
With the support from this Conservation Nation Collective program, VIEW will be establishing an Elephant & Rhinoceros Health Program for Rwanda to take a proactive approach to prepare for potential threats instead of having to react and salvage when crisis strikes. The project includes:
- Developing wildlife health protocols for elephants and rhinos.
- Instituting a research and training program for Rwandan vets and vet students.
- Establishing a wildlife health information system to ensure data-driven health surveillance and impactful research.
WildlifeDirect
Nairobi, Kenya
WildlifeDirect is internationally recognized as a high-impact Kenyan-based organization that seeks to change hearts, minds and laws to ensure Africa’s critical species endure forever. The organization’s strategy is organized around two pillars of work; to change the narrative of conservation in Africa by producing African positive films, and developing the capacity of African storytellers and creating a community of Wildlife Warriors through innovative conservation education outreach programs. The Wildlife Warriors Kids Field Lab is a dynamic space where WildlifeDirect’s mission—to connect people with nature and inspire them to treasure it and act to conserve it—is brought to life.
WildlifeDirect
Nairobi, Kenya
The People & Pachyderms Collective is supporting WildlifeDirect in their work to foster a deep connection to nature, particularly around pachyderms, and inspire future conservationists. The project includes:
- Educating and engaging children visiting the Wildlife Warriors Kids Field Lab (aged 7-15) through hands-on conservation education.
- Developing rhino-focused educational materials and teacher guides for use at the Field Lab and by school environmental clubs.
- Collaborating across the Collective through joint field trips and shared education resources.
William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation
Virginia
The Institute for Integrative Conservation at William & Mary is at the forefront of transformational research and education aimed at solving critical conservation issues that impact global biodiversity.
Working closely with a network of conservation partners, the Institute integrates expertise from across disciplines and sectors, blends diverse knowledge systems, and fosters collaboration between academia, public and private sectors, Indigenous peoples, and local communities.
William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation
Virginia
Conservation Nation has continued its innovative partnership with the William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation (IIC) to create and offer a second curated integrative certificate program around the intersections of mindfulness, conservation, and nature. This certificate, designed in collaboration with both the IIC and the William & Mary Center for Mindfulness & Authentic Excellence (CMAX), provides opportunities for the Collective Champions and their friends and family to:
- Increase their understanding of the sociological, physiological, and psychological benefits of both mindfulness and nature.
- Deepen their understanding of nature access inequities and environmental justice.
- Apply integrative conservation concepts and a mindful mindset to real-world conservation challenges.
Join Us
If you’d like to hear more or have a vision for a Collective of your own, please fill out the form below and we’ll put you in touch with the Director of Collectives, Jamie Palumbo.