Humans are the sole predators of some of the Africa’s most threatened wildlife species.

More elephants and rhinos are dying from poaching than from natural causes or conflict with humans. Their body parts are traded illegally as trophies, traditional medicine, or trinkets on a lucrative black market — but these iconic pachyderms are not the only wildlife species to be slaughtered for human gain. Big cats like the lion and cheetah are killed for their bones; other large carnivores die at the hands of villagers protecting their livestock; great apes, like chimps, are hunted as bushmeat and their babies traded as pets.

Across the continent’s diverse wild lands, management authorities need data-driven solutions to enhance anti-poaching capacity to allow remaining priority populations to recover from previous, and current, crises. Meanwhile, community-level interventions must explore different economic opportunities that secure rather than destroy biodiversity as pressure on natural resources grows with increasing development, infrastructure, and urbanization.

Wildlife habitats must be maintained to reverse population decline.

The rapid decline of Africa’s keystone species over the last few decades is devastating not only to national economies that depend on wildlife tourism but also to ecosystems that provide resources to other species and vital services to growing human populations. As wildlife habitats become increasingly fragmented, securing Africa’s wild lands gives them a fighting chance to survive.

• Training and equipping wildlife rangers.
  In our priority landscapes, CHILDREN CONSERVATIONISTS PROGRAMME works with wildlife management authorities and local stakeholders to build the capacity of anti-poaching units by equipping rangers and training community scouts. Routine foot patrol missions uproot snares and dismantle poacher camps, seizing poaching or hunting equipment as well as wildlife parts before they reach markets. To tackle illegal activity in buffer zones around protected areas, CCP provides vehicles and bicycles for rangers and village scouts to respond effectively to human-wildlife conflict.
• Empowering local communities through conservation.
  Human activity within and around protected wildlife areas can be managed sustainable to benefit people, vulnerable species, and the natural resources supporting Africa’s vital ecosystems. CCP engages community members in sustainable conservation-friendly economic activities that protect wildlife and maintain their habitats. Coupled with education initiatives, these local-level interventions reduce the risk of people living alongside wildlife turning into commercial poachers or bushmeat hunters.