DSWF has always believed in community engagement and that participation from all stakeholders is fundamental in ensuring a sustainable future for both people and wildlife.
At key conservation locations across Africa and Asia, DSWF is proud to support comprehensive education programmes raising awareness with both children and adults.
By investing in future generations, we are helping the youth of today become the leaders of tomorrow, and for them to become powerful advocates for wildlife and the planet.
It’s about the health of ecosystems, and it’s about people. If we can help instil the belief that, by protecting wildlife and their natural habitats we all stand a better chance of survival, then we are one step closer to turning the tide on extinction.
A core principle at DSWF is the importance of education, the engagement of youth, and in providing them with the tools and voice to fight for a better future for the earth’s wildlife and wild spaces.
DSWF funds education initiatives across Africa and Asia focussed on positive engagement and environmental awareness. From immersive educational bush camps in Zimbabwe to wildlife related art classes across the UK, we believe that conservation education is a vital and long-term tool of conservation.
We invest heavily at our project’s location to help provide education materials, school resources and help support the time and costs of the educators themselves. Each landscape we operate in is different and we pride ourselves in supporting the most relevant and adaptive programmes tailor-made for each species, location and environment.
Education focussed on fighting wildlife crime that teaches both children and adults about the risks associated with illegal wildlife activity, is vital if we are to have successes in the field.
Often those living closest to wildlife are the most vulnerable and susceptible to falling into the hands of criminal syndicates and poaching gangs.
By hosting workshops, classes, and incorporating wildlife crime themes and impacts into school curriculums – and to adult and youth groups, we can help raise awareness of some of the most pressing threats facing wildlife in immediate danger.
Often local communities and young adults are disconnected to the risks associated with illegal wildlife activity. Bringing their attention to the very real dangers and risks from participating in illegal activities, including prosecution, helps alleviate the poaching pressures on wildlife populations and landscapes.
DSWF is proud to support workshops and education initiatives like this across our conservation portfolio.
Since our inception, DSWF has supported and funded education programmes throughout Africa and Asia, which encourage the participation of local and wider communities in conservation efforts, especially across youth groups and organisations.
We fundamentally believe that by fostering and developing positive associations between wildlife and the joy, health, and benefits they bring to those living closest, we can help reinforce the need to protect some of the world’s most threatened and endangered species.
We are merely the guardians of today’s wildlife and wild spaces for future generations and if we can help encourage and build a protectionist belief in those living closest to the wildlife we fight to protect, then we have a greater chance of success for healthy and viable wildlife populations.
DSWF engages with children and adults across all the conservation projects and programmes we support. Changing attitudes can be a long-term process, but some of the long-term and early start-up programmes DSWF funded at the start of our journey, are now paying dividends in locations across Africa and Asia.
In Zimbabwe, where we work to protect painted dogs, we have seen how children who went through the DSWF supported immersive wildlife bush camp are now seeking jobs in ecology, conservation, and at the projects we support themselves – showing the long term impact positive engagement can make from an early age.
Building on our rich art heritage, we are also delighted to fund education art initiatives around the world and support creative teaching techniques to further enhance children’s conservation knowledge – from regional wildlife art competitions in India to creative pangolin workshops in Zambia.
Supporting art and education has been, and will continue to be, a guiding principle in DSWF’s environmental education work.
Just £16 could help provide supplies for a community education project
Human wildlife conflict is a devastating and urgent problem for our Field Partners, and one that is only getting worse as habitats are destroyed, and competition for land becomes more intense, meaning humans and wildlife increasingly come face to face. Learn how DSWF is striving for human-wildlife coexistence.
DSWF work in key markets for wildlife products to persuade people of the tragic consequences of their continued consumption and to debunk myths about the medicinal value of pangolin products. We also share more positive messaging about pangolins, highlighting that if left alone in the wild, the animals are harmless and beneficial to ecosystems. Learn more.
The funds raised by DSWF directly support a variety of ground-based Field Partners across Africa and Asia. We choose our partners very carefully and believe that long-term projects are the answer to truly turning the tide on extinction. View our Field Partners here.
