African Wildlife Foundation Inc

“Data and information for the federal form 990 are compiled by the finance department and reviewed by the controller. Upon receipt of the federal form 990 from awf's tax accountants, the completed return undergoes a second level of review by the vp of finance and administration (vp of f&a). Changes are communicated to the tax accountants as necessary and appropriate. The final draft is reviewed by the vp of f&a and the chief operating officer (coo) before being presented to the audit committee. Thereafter, a copy of the return is provided to the full board of trustees before filing with the internal revenue service.”

“Trustees and officers receive and sign a conflict of interest policy statement upon election to the board of trustees, with new forms completed at least annually. If a trustee feels she/he may have a potential conflict of interest with awf, these concerns are brought to the attention of the board of trustees' chair and/or audit committee of the board of trustees' for deliberation. All staff members are required to sign a conflict of interest policy upon hiring and with each new contract amendment. Staff concerns regarding conflicts of interest are brought to the human resources department for research with review by the vp of f&a and other members of executive management as necessary. With regard to contract review, staff that review purchases and contracts are trained to question potential conflicts of interest. Local finance offices review transactions up to $1,000, with additional scrutiny given to larger contracts. Any potential conflicts of interest are forwarded to the vp-f&a and/or coo for review.”

“A compensation study for officers and key employees is conducted annually. For all officers and key staff located within the united states, information from comparable organizations is collected through publicly available federal 990 forms. For key employees located outside the united states, compensation studies are obtained as necessary to provide comparable data. Compensation data is summarized in a report and approved first by the board compensation committee, and then by the full board of trustees each january. The board of trustees sets the compensation for awf's chief executive officer, and provides guidelines for the ceo to set other executive salaries.”

“Awf's governing documents, policies, financial statements and federal form 990 are available to the public upon request. Additionally, copies of the federal form 990 and annual reports are maintained on the website.”

“Awf continues to pioneer the use of community conservation enterprises, provide critical assistance to national parks and reserves, and promote international cooperation to protect important sites and populations that stretch across national boundaries-demonstrating that wildlife and people can thrive side by side. Awf's work can be categorized into four core areas- land and habitat conservation, wildlife protection, conservation enterprise, education and training. Awf is also active in climate change activities and in policy discussions. Below is a brief description of awf's perspective on each category and key achievements within the last fiscal year. A. Land and habitat conservation: awf's unique large-landscape approach to conservation focuses on identifying africa's great wild spaces, piecing together parks, private lands, and community lands, which can be secured as a home for wildlife. Historically, awf worked to establish national parks and wildlife reserves, and to help local people establish community conservancies. Awf is now supporting the management of parks and exploring new private land conservation approaches, including limited land acquisition and new types of conservation leases, to protect critical wildlife habitat. I. Awf has worked closely with the wildlife authority in the dja faunal reserve in cameroon, a world heritage site that is at risk of becoming a world heritage site in danger. To ensure that this does not happen, awf has provided training and technical support on the ecological monitoring of the reserve to ensure this biodiverse rainforest remains protected from poachers and trespassers who may chunt for bushmeat and cut down trees. We first provided training in the use of handheld ecological monitoring devices and its attendant software to ensure regular data collection during patrols, then worked with the local wildlife authority to more effectively plan patrols, based on the data collected. Awf also conducted a five-day expedition through the central part of the reserve, which does not get patrolled regularly, to determine the true state of this forest. Findings from this expedition were subsequently shared with the ministry of environment and forestry to develop an updated plan for protecting the reserve. B. Wildlife protection: even where land and habitat have been secured, certain species face unique threats and require a targeted conservation approach. Populations of rare and endangered species, such as the rhinoceros, gorilla, and all of the great cats, have been diminished due to poaching, disease, and conflict with humans. Awf uses a number of methods to monitor and protect key populations and ensure these species survive and thrive in their native habitat. One of these tactics is to provide funding to partners on the ground through the species protection grants program, which has evolved into an urgent response fund aimed at combating the illegal wildlife trade through initiatives that stop the killing, stop the trafficking and stop the demand. The grants program funds projects in six thematic areas: elephants, rhinos, carnivores, great apes, law enforcement, and awareness. I. In southern africa, awf has underwritten the purchase of a helicopter to strengthen anti-poaching operations at sabi sands wildtuin, a game reserve next to kruger national park that has a significant rhino population. The helicopter has helped decrease poaching on the reserve, led to the arrest of poachers, and prevented poaching. In northern tanzania, support for anti-poaching patrols on the awf-managed manyara ranch have been successful in reducing elephant poaching and leading to the capture of a number of poachers. In southern tanzania and northern kenya, awf is providing support to lion researchers who are also working with communities to mitigate human-lion conflict. Ii. To help limit the trafficking of wildlife products off the continent of africa, awf this past year launched a new canine conservation prog”

“C. Conservation enterprise: awf believes that africa's wildlife and wild lands can only be truly secure when conservation operations have a sound financial basis, and when economic incentives exist for local people to help conserve natural systems. Over the past several years, awf has worked with private sector partners to create cutting-edge examples of conservation tourism products that include equity holdings and other incentives for local people to conserve wildlife and its habitat. Awf is currently expanding our emphasis on agriculture, livestock, and fisheries as small businesses that support human needs while reducing reliance on the exploitation of wildlife resources. I. In central kenya, awf continues our support of a financial services organization, nasaruni savings and credit cooperative. This past year, awf supported the construction of a new banking hall to ensure a permanent, and central, location for the financial organization, which boasts upwards of 1,100 members and regularly disburses more than 500,000 kes in loans each month. Along with the new banking hall, awf provided new technology and training to ensure the financial services organization will be run professionally. Ii. In the pastoral communities in southern kenya, awf has supported livestock marketing groups and livestock-oriented enterprises to help communities realize better returns on their cattle. In february, an awf-supported livestock market opened in the landscape, allowing the 1,100-plus members of the livestock marketing groups to have a central marketplace from which to sell and buy their livestock. Communities here are now better able to manage their livestock and sell them at a higher cost, allowing them to limit the size of their herds and limit their involvement in unsustainable uses of natural resources. D. Education and training: awf was founded on the belief that conservation efforts must ultimately rest in the hands of the people of africa who, with educational support, will construct a viable platform to conserve the continent's wildlife heritage. Over the past decades, awf has sponsored hundreds of young african conservationists to study wildlife management and to acquire higher degrees in conservation-related fields. Beyond formal education, awf works to train local people and build the capacity of african institutions to protect and manage wildlife. I. Awf's conservation management training program, now called the conservation management & leadership program to reflect the high caliber of candidates come into the program and the intensive training they receive, continued with a new class of trainees in august of 2014 and august of 2015. The 2014 class included 6 associates, from kenya, cameroon and nigeria, who first worked out of awf's headquarters for a few months before embedding in different landscapes. Already one of these associates has been hired full time by awf as an ecologist in one of our kenyan project areas. The others are learning steadily under mentorship of awf's technical and landscape staff. The 2015 class features 3 associates, from ethiopia, uganda and, for the first time, china. The reason for the chinese associate is to begin training not only african conservationists but also chinese conservationists in the issues around african conservation, due to the high involvement of china in african business in the past few years. Finally, the class from the previous year, which had started the program in 2013, recently graduated and took on full-time positions with awf in conservation planning and conservation strategy, respectively. Both work out of awf's nairobi headquarters. E. African conservation schools program: awf finished construction of a new conservation primary school in the democratic republic of congo. Ilima features 6 classrooms built largely out of local materials and incorporating climate-appropriate design to ensure an airy and comfortable environment in which children can learn. In addition to th”

“A. Awf recently launched a chinese version of its website to provide online audiences in china the opportunity to learn more about awf's work and become engaged. China is home to the world's largest ivory market, and has become a destination and transit country for illegal ivory, which is taken from elephants poached in africa. Informing chinese citizens about the connection between buying ivory products and elephant poaching in africa, and mobilizing them to take action, is a key objective of the chinese-language website. B. Awf has continued its public awareness campaigns in china, vietnam and thailand on the elephant and rhino poaching crisis, informing consumers through psas, billboard ads, and bus wraps about the impacts of buying ivory and rhino horn products. Awf and its partner wildaid conducted two surveys in china, one on awareness around ivory and the other around rhino horn, the results of which suggest there is increased awareness of the connection between buying ivory or rhino horn and the devastation of elephants and rhinos in africa. Awf and its partner wildaid have also launched a public awareness program in tanzania with the help of tanzanian religious leaders and celebrities to bring attention to the poaching crisis in that country. Psas have been filmed and distributed to media houses in dar es salaam, and billboards are currently being erected in dar es salaam.”