ABOUT US - Conservation of Elephants, Wildlife, Environment

Welcome To Wildlife Action Group Malawi

The Wildlife Action Group (WAG) is an NGO, who co-manage two governmental protected areas Thuma Forest Reserve and Dedza-Salima Forest Reserve which are located in the Central Region of Malawi between Lilongwe and Lake Malawi on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Together the two forest reserves cover an area of app. 500 km².

Generally, the topography is rugged. Slopes are steep although there is some flatter land at the foot of the escarpment. The upper levels of reserve are covered with Brachystegia (miombo) woodland whilst the lower levels are characterized by mixed low altitude woodland with patches of bamboo. Along the many streams within Thuma F.R., the habitat can be typified as riverine forest. Both reserves fulfil an important water catchment function for the area.

An Important Biodiversity Hotspot In Malawi

Thuma FR and Dedza-Salima FR contain significant numbers of the remaining large mammals of Malawi, including several key populations identified by the IUCN. Thuma F.R. and Dedza-Salima F.R. are one of the few protected areas in Malawi which give still home to elephant and buffalo. Other (larger) game include greater kudu, bushbuck, baboon, vervet monkey, bush baby, leopard, cerval, spotted hyena, genets, African civet, warthog, bush pig, porcupine as well as a number of smaller antelopes like Sharpe's grysbok, common duiker and klipspringer. But Thuma F.R. is not only of interest for these mammals. There is a variety of trees and plants, birds, insects, and other animals which make the two reserves an important biodiversity hotspot in Malawi.

Scout Work and Presence: Active Conservation Of African Elephants

The most immediate threat to most elephant populations in Malawi is illegal hunting for ivory. And WAG is working very closely with DNPW and other government agencies to bring about the effective enforcement of these laws. This activity will not only curtail the operations of those illegal forest/ wildlife exploiters who are prosecuted, but as awareness spreads it will act as a deterrent and reduce the overall level of illegal hunting and trade.

However uncontrolled illegal activities in the two reserves (mainly poaching, charcoal burning and illegal harvesting of bamboo and timber) threatened to destroy its precious habitats and the environmental services it provide for the region and the nation which is why our scout work and presence is so important.

Primary Task Of Scouts And Other Field Staff Is To Protect And To Secure The Wildlife

Most NGO's working in conservation receives funding for starting micro-projects in villages, for putting up an electric fence to keep elephants out of the fields of farmers, for putting up direction signs, for buying GPS's for mapping natural forest resources, for conservation awareness projects and so on. Most people acknowledge that these activities are extremely important in conservation, and so do we, at the same time often hardly any funding is made available for paying the staff, whom are crucial for actually doing all this work. And even more important, and where it all starts with, the primary task of scouts and other field staff is to protect and to secure the wildlife in the reserve; micro-projects and direction signs are of course utterly useless, when at the same time, the wildlife in a reserve is poached to extinction because of the lack of field staff.

We hope this programme will raise your interest to contribute directly to the conservation of Malawi's wildlife and environment.

Thank you for visiting our web site, Lynn Clifford, Field Manager