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Habitat Protection
To save a species ultimately means saving its home – the place in which it seeks shelter, forages, breeds and raises young. For some animals, a habitat might be a one-acre tract while for others, a massive, multi-national expanse. Protecting and preserving these special places is a difficult yet critical conservation challenge and a key focus
for the Fund.
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Project Archives
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Project: "Evaluation of Human-Elephant Conflict in Amboseli, Kenya"
Partner: University of Florida
Location: Kenya, Africa
Conflict between humans and elephants can result in injury and death to both and is a growing problem across Africa. This interdisciplinary study seeks to provide an understanding of the human dimensions of human-elephant conflict around Amboseli National Park, Kenya, by examining attitudes, factors that influence attitudes, and behavior toward elephants on private lands surrounding the park. In Amboseli, several intervention projects have been put in place to mitigate the increasing level of conflict. The SWBGCF grant aids the study's goals of evaluating the projects and other variables such as values, perceived risk, and previous experience on residents' attitudes and behaviors toward elephants.
Project: "Land-Use Practices, Rural Culture & The Ecology of Mackinder's Eagle Owls in Kenya"
Partner: National Museums of Kenya
Location: Kenya, Africa
Loss of habitat to agriculture is a worldwide problem for biodiversity conservation. Practical initiatives to address this extinction crisis rely on understanding the ecology of species occupying fragmented agricultural landscapes, and attempting to resolve human land-use conflicts. This project focuses on a regionally threatened population of Mackinder's eagle owls that breed adjacent to and forage in agricultural fields in Kenya. The National Museums of Kenya investigated the interactions between farming practices, rodents and owl populations to better understand owl ecology in agricultural areas. They are applying the results to further develop education and public awareness initiatives among local communities. These initiatives focus on practical recommendations for land-use management that will benefit owl conservation, and highlight the potential importance of the owls to local communities.
Project: "Shark Conservation Program"
Partner: WildAid
Locations: China; Central & South America
Since 2000, WildAid's Shark Conservation Program has successfully elevated the international profile of the importance of conserving shark stocks and has resulted in the numerous improved laws to protect sharks, as well as a decrease in consumption of shark fins in key Asian countries. The overall goal of the WildAid campaign is to reduce the threats to sharks created by over-fishing and over-consumption of shark products and by wasteful practices such as finning and needless by-catch. The SWBGCF grant helps WildAid take the campaign to China, the world's largest consumer, and to Central and South America to pursue tighter laws and further shark listings for CITES and the UN finning ban.
Project: "Jatunpamba Biodiversity Reserve Creation"
Partner: American Bird Conservancy
Location: Ecuador, South America
American Bird Conservancy is working with its Ecuadorian partner group Fundacion Jocotoco to establish a new reserve at Jatunpamba to protect 1,000 acres of Tumbesian tropical dry forest, an endangered habitat of global significance. There are 59 species of birds endemic to the region, including the endangered grey-cheeked parakeet whose population has been decimated by bird trappers. Establishing this reserve will lay the foundation for an expanded conservation project in the area that will include limited ecotourism development, and a series of research programs conducted with local and international biologists. The new reserve location also offers excellent potential for conservation education and outreach. This will be the seventh in a series of nine planned reserves to protect key sites for bird conservation throughout the Ecuador. Jocotoco's six current reserves occupy a total of 18,000 acres. The SWBGCF grant assists in the purchase of the new reserve.
Project: "Bracken Cave and Nature Preserve Restoration Project"
Partner: Bat Conservation International
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
Home to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats, Bracken Cave houses the largest bat colony in the world. Bat Conservation International is working to restore the habitat to its native state to attract a wide array of butterflies, birds and wildlife to the area. Filled with open spaces with long grasses and meadows interspersed with dense, woody forests, the reserve will be a demonstration of central Texas' natural beauty at its best. In addition to serving as a premier bat-viewing site, Bracken Cave and Nature Reserve will provide visitors with the opportunity to experience central Texas' native landscape. The SWBGCF grant is helping to restore the native habitat of Bracken Cave and Nature Reserve.
Project: "Kitomi Forest Snare Removal"
Partner: Friends of Conservation
Location: Uganda, Africa
Friends of Conservation (FOC) have worked in Africa for the past 22 years initially focusing on community conservation and habitat protection in the greater Masai Mara area. In the last four years FOC has worked with local partners in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. They are now extending their work into the surrounding threatened forest habitats. The Kitomi Forest Reserve is home to an unknown population of chimpanzees as well as forest elephants. Wildlife in the forest reserve is under threat due to resurgence in poaching to fuel the commercial bushmeat trade. Much of the hunting is accomplished by setting wire snares or jaw traps. Both of these methods are indiscriminate in what they catch. Two of the most highly threatened species in the region, the chimpanzee and elephant, are becoming frequent victims of the snare and jaw traps. The SWBGCF grant helps fund FOC's locally sourced anti-poaching units and snare removal teams to protect the Kitomi Forest Reserve's wildlife.
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