Wildlife Action Group - Malawi

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Sponsor a Scout

The big three’: Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa; everybody knows these countries and has seen the beautiful documentaries about their rich wildlife on television and some of you might actually have had the opportunity to observe the elephant, buffalo, antelopes and other creatures in their natural habitat from the back of a 4x4 Land Rover. Great, isn’t it? Well, for us it’s ‘just’ work…, but I can tell you: every day again it’s a great pleasure to work among these animals and to secure their future.

We do our work not in one of the above mentioned famous wildlife countries but in Malawi, one of the many other countries of Africa which unfortunately don’t get the exposure which they deserve.

'Wildlife Africa' is more than Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Wildlife in these other countries is under much higher pressure than in the ‘big three’. And that’s a pity. Many species of African wildlife are not living in the ‘big three’, and of the species that do, a large percentage of their total population in Africa are under threat in the many other countries besides Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

Besides that, for many poor countries, like Malawi, conservation of their wildlife is one of the few opportunities to alleviate poverty. By following into the footsteps of the ‘big three’, a vast income of foreign currency can be generated by attracting the overseas visitor who is eager to spend his or her money on wildlife safaris. Reason enough to assist these countries in the conservation of their wildlife and, on the long term, the reduction of poverty. Many bigger and smaller Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are trying to do so and the Wildlife Action Group (W.A.G.) is one of them.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find funding for paying staff and to cover other basic operations costs. There are two reasons for that:

First of all, Malawi is not a famous wildlife ‘hotspot’. In fact, many people have never heard of Malawi and for this reason many potential donors are more willing to donate money to projects in the more famous (fashionable) wildlife countries. An, at first sight, reasonable choice but as explained above, from a conservation and poverty reducing point of view, obviously not a correct one.

The second reason we encounter, is that the few donors who are interested in donating money to NGOs in Malawi, are not very willing to pay for salaries of staff. When lucky, a NGO 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’ for mapping natural forest resources, for conservation education and so on. Most people acknowledge that these activities are extremely important in conservation but as mentioned above, at the same time often hardly any funding is made available for paying the staff who 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 rather useless when at the same time the wildlife in a reserve is disappearing because of the lack of field staff.

Therefore, in August 2005, W.A.G. has started the Sponsor-a-Scout programme in the hope that individuals, companies or other organizations would be so generous to sponsor a scout for Thuma. F.R. for the amount of 550 Euro per year, so we could reach our target of 12 scouts in Thuma F.R.. And we received the support! In the year following the start of the programme, we had 6 scouts sponsored. Fantastic!

This important step also created confidence among donors in W.A.G.'s determination to preserve Thuma F.R. and the sustainability of our Thuma project: in September 2006 W.A.G. received additional funding from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to employ another 6 scouts, bringing the total number of scouts currently employed by W.A.G. in Thuma F.R. to12. And what a positive difference this increase has made! Thuma F.R. is now without doubt one of the best protected reserves in Malawi.

Now it is time for the next step: we want to achieve the same for the adjacent Dedza-Salima Forest Reserve. In September 2007, W.A.G. received funding from the German organization Rettet die Elefanten Afrikas e.V. (Safe the African Elephant), to start a conservation project in Dedza-Salima F.R., equal to the one in Thuma F.R..

Dedza-Salima F.R. is located South-East of Thuma F.R. and covers an area of roughly 32.000 ha (320 km²); it is therefore about one and a half times as large as Thuma F.R.. To protect the whole reserve and its wildlife, the Wildlife Action Group needs to employ an additional 18 scouts.

And that is where you might come in. Our initiative is to look for companies, other organizations like schools or clubs and of course (a group of) private individuals who are interested in sponsoring a scout for 1 year (or longer of course).

A scout working for W.A.G. is receiving an income of about 40 Euro per month (well above the average income in Malawi which is about 30 US$ per month). This means that with your 550 Euro per year (i.e. which covers his salary, uniforms, boots etc.), we are able to employ a new scout . And, besides your direct contribution to the conservation of wildlife in Malawi, at the same time you give a Malawian (the new scout) the opportunity to learn, and to earn a steady income with which he will be able to support his family.

But what is in it for you?

• First of all, we hope that you feel it as a unique way for you to contribute to conservation and poverty reduction in Malawi.
• Secondly, you know that your donation will be used directly for the purpose it is meant for and that is: having a scout in the field protecting wildlife!
• Third, of course you want to know about the work of ‘your’ scout(s) and hear about their work in the bush. That’s why you will receive the regular Wildlife Action Group Newsletter by e-mail which will keep you fully updated. And direct correspondence with 'your' scout is of course also possible if you wish; I know the scout would enjoy it!
• And fourth, if you (or someone from your organization) want to visit Thuma F.R. in Malawi, ‘your’ scout will be available full time during your stay for hikes and guidance in the reserve. Of course, entrance and stay will be free!

I hope this programme will arouse your interest to contribute directly to the conservation of Malawi wildlife and environment, and we are looking forward to hear from you.

If you have any other questions concerning our work in Thuma F.R. and Dedza-Salima F.R. or other conservation issues in Malawi, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The people and wildlife of Malawi are worth it!