Africa
Africa’s vast and beautiful wild spaces - spanning tropical rainforests, sweeping savannas, deserts, and mountains - are home to an extraordinary diversity of species. This rich biodiversity is shaped by Africa’s unique climates, landscapes, and ecosystems, making the continent one of the most biologically significant on Earth. However, these ecosystems and species face numerous and complex threats.
• Habitat loss from agriculture, logging, and mining, driven largely by global demand for natural resources like timber, minerals, and oil, is rapidly shrinking Africa’s wild spaces, leaving wildlife with fewer areas to thrive.
• Climate change compounds these pressures, altering rainfall patterns, increasing droughts, and shifting ecosystems, which place further stress on wildlife and communities that depend on natural resources.
• Growing human populations, economic hardship, and limited resource management options intensify dependency on these natural resources, leading to unsustainable practices, including bushmeat hunting and deforestation.
• Unregulated hunting, wildlife trafficking, invasive species, and disease further threaten species, while high demand for animal parts in global markets drives poaching, endangering species across the continent.
• Conservation efforts focus on protecting habitats, reducing poaching, and supporting sustainable livelihoods that empower local communities, aiming for a balanced future where Africa’s biodiversity and people can thrive together.
Helping wildlife survive and thrive
Our efforts in Africa
The Giant Pangolin Project
Through camera trapping efforts and a world first tagging achievement we're increasing knowledge of the giant pangolin in Uganda to enact its conservation.
Population monitoring
We investigate the decline of Africa's mega-herbivores including zebra, elephants and rhino, and take steps to mitigate the driving factors.
Northern giraffe conservation
Much of Africa’s wildlife is heavily poached due to the high demand for their body parts in certain areas of the world.
Africa: A land of diversity
Africa’s diverse landscapes, from the vast Sahara to the lush rainforests of the Congo Basin, are home to extraordinary biodiversity. Iconic species like elephants, lions, and zebras roam the savannas, while forest-dwellers like the bongo, okapi, giant pangolin, chimpanzees, and gorillas highlight the continent’s ecological richness.
Africa’s people are equally diverse, with thousands of languages and cultures that reflect a deep connection to the nature and the land. For indigenous communities like the Baka, Mbuti, and Maasai, biodiversity is central to their physical, cultural, and spiritual lives.
The Maasai of the savannas incorporate sustainable practices that integrate wildlife into their pastoral traditions, while forest communities rely on species like antelopes, duikers, pigs, and fish for food. Timber, plants and other forest products are essential resources across the continent, providing food, shelter, and traditional medicines for both rural and urban populations.
This diversity of languages, cultures, and ecological knowledge underscores Africa’s deep relationship between people and nature, highlighting the importance of preserving the continent’s natural and cultural heritage for generations to come.
Our projects
Find out more about the projects we support in Africa.
