TUSK Advancing Conservation Across Africa
Tusk’s mission is to amplify the impact of progressive conservation initiatives across Africa.
The charity has earned a reputation for providing a highly efficient solution for funding wildlife conservation programmes. We partner with the most effective local organisations, investing in their in-depth knowledge and expertise. By supporting and nurturing their conservation programmes, we help accelerate growth from an innovative idea to a scalable solution.
The challenges facing the people and wildlife in Africa are greater than ever. The world is experiencing an extinction crisis. We are losing species at between 1,000 and 10,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, caused almost entirely by human activity. This will only worsen as the human population continues to grow and consume ever more natural resources.
It may not grab the headlines, but habitat loss remains the greatest threat to the vast majority of wildlife, including 85% of all threatened species. Approximately half of the world’s original forests are gone, and what remains is still being removed ten times faster than it can be replaced.
The survival of many African species is dependent on healthy, connected habitat. This is particularly important for species such as lion, elephant and wild dog that require large ranges and the existence of vital migratory routes. The African lion, for example, has been reduced to living on less than 10% of the land they once occupied. Their populations have halved within the past 20 years to as few as 20,000 lions remaining in the wild.
With the Africa’s human population set to quadruple to 4.4 billion by the end of this century, the demands on the land will rapidly intensify. There is an urgent need to find solutions that benefit both people and wildlife. Finding space for both to co-exist is the ultimate conservation challenge.
Human encroachment and clearance of land for settlements and agriculture not only results in loss of habitat for wildlife, but forces wild animals into close quarters with humans.
In parts of Kenya, human-wildlife conflict has overtaken poaching as the greatest threat to some of the country’s most important elephant populations. As they follow their migratory routes or come to feed on crops, elephants destroy property and livelihoods. In extreme cases both people and elephants are being killed in confrontations.
Having already suffered from habitat loss, coupled with a decrease in natural prey or other food sources, Africa’s big cat populations are increasingly turning to livestock for an easy meal. Retaliatory, or even pre-emptive killings have become one of their greatest threats.
Whether it’s with elephants, big cats, primates or rodents, human-wildlife conflict is set to grow with the growth of the human population. Finding space for both people and wildlife to co-exist is the ultimate conservation challenge…
