Conservation is as much about helping people as it is about helping wildlife. WCN’s Conservation Partners believe that local people who live among wildlife will determine the future of these animals and are at the heart of wildlife conservation solutions. They work with communities to understand their needs and jointly develop solutions to allow people and endangered animals to coexist together and thrive.
Learn MoreThe presence of wildlife in our world is a treasure, one that cannot be reclaimed if it disappears.
Without wildlife our forests and grasslands, mountains and oceans are empty. Without wildlife, economies suffer and poverty in local communities persists. We need wildlife to sustain a healthy and beautiful planet. A future without wildlife is no future at all.
This is why our 17 Conservation Partners and the grantees of our Wildlife Funds devote their lives to protecting wildlife on the frontlines.
A Network of World Class Conservation Partners
Never underestimate what a few committed individuals can do for a threatened species.
Saving wildlife requires a collaborative spirit, long term commitment to work in remote places, and the courage to pioneer new approaches. We believe that investing in the individuals who are willing to take on these challenges is the best hope for wildlife. At WCN we find the best of these “conservation entrepreneurs” and, after a rigorous vetting process, invite a select few to receive in-depth, ongoing support by joining our Network of Conservation Partners.
Please learn more about these incredible conservationists and their efforts to save wildlife.
100% of designated donations to the programs below go directly to the field with no overhead.
Wildlife Funds
Wildlife Funds invest in a wide breadth of projects aimed at protecting a threatened species beyond a singular country and across its entire habitat. The Funds focus on collaboration and encourage everyone—from nonprofits, to conservationists, to philanthropists—to work together to save wildlife. Wildlife Funds identify and vet the best ideas from any institution, regardless of their size or stature, that are designed to stop a crisis and recover wildlife populations.
100% of donations to our Wildlife Funds go directly to the field, with zero overhead.
Elephant Crisis Fund
Elephant Crisis Fund
Africa’s elephants could disappear from much of the wild within a generation.
Elephants are facing serious and urgent threats to their survival. African elephant numbers have plummeted from 1.2 million in the 1970’s to only around 500,000 alive today. This is a result of illegal hunting for their tusks and body parts, the trafficking and sale of ivory, and the sharp rise of conflict between humans and elephants through an escalation of competition for space and resources.
Such a clear and present danger to one of the most ecologically important and treasured species on earth requires collaborative responses that are rapid, innovative, and – most importantly – effective.
Scientists, front-line conservation organizations, and governments have united behind a common strategy to secure a future for Africa’s elephants. We must:
Stop the Killing of Elephants.
Stop the Trafficking of Ivory.
Stop Ivory Demand.
Promote Human-Elephant Coexistence.
The Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) team has unrivalled continent-wide knowledge of the unique threats to African elephants and a vast network of collaborators. The ECF funds the best ideas and most urgent actions by trusted conservation organizations working to safeguard the future of elephants. The ECF fosters collaboration and delivers rapid impact on the ground, with 100% of every dollar deployed directly to the field.
The ECF’s goal is to end the ivory crisis and secure a future for elephants.
Lion Recovery Fund
Lion Recovery Fund
Lions are in crisis. In just 25 years, lion populations have declined by half.
But, lions can return.
WCN launched the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) in 2017 in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. This innovative Fund serves as an additional and separate WCN investment vehicle for range-wide lion conservation, alongside the courageous, impactful lion conservation work of our Network Partners Ewaso Lions and Niassa Lion Project who work tirelessly on-the-ground with communities to reduce human-lion conflict, and to protect and manage lion landscapes.
The Lion Recovery Fund invests in the most effective projects aimed at recovering lions across Africa—backing several key tactics such as supporting the parks and reserves that serve as lion strongholds and promoting co-existence so that people can live alongside and benefit from lions.
The LRF is moving swiftly to convene conservationists and other institutions to address the threats to lions and ensure the King of Beasts can thrive across Africa.
Lion recovery is within our grasp.
Pangolin Crisis Fund
Pangolin Crisis Fund
There is no animal on Earth like the pangolin, yet most people have never even heard of them. Despite their relative obscurity, pangolins have the unfortunate distinction of being the most illegally trafficked wild mammal in the world.
Pangolins are hunted to supply a rampant illegal global trade in their scales, meat, and parts. Because of demand—mostly in Asia, where pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and their scales are believed to have medicinal qualities—all eight species of pangolins are threatened with extinction.
But it’s not too late to save pangolins.
The Pangolin Crisis Fund (PCF) was created by Save Pangolins and WCN to eliminate the demand, trafficking, and poaching crisis that puts all eight species of pangolins at risk of extinction.
Rhino Recovery Fund
Rhino Recovery Fund
Despite their powerful physical presence, rhinos are incredibly vulnerable to human-induced threats. Asia’s three rhino species have dwindled to distressingly small populations due to habitat loss. In Africa, white and black rhino populations also struggle with habitat loss and are brutally poached for their horns.
But, there is still hope for rhinos. WCN created the Rhino Recovery Fund (RRF) to help protect all rhino species from wildlife crime and restore their landscapes, focusing on improving the health of rhino populations while also benefiting local people.
To protect rhinos from wildlife crime, the RRF supports projects that are designed to stop rhino poaching and end the trafficking and demand for rhino horn. To restore rhino landscapes, the RRF invests in projects that include the management of protected areas, community involvement, and supporting governments.
The RRF believes with the right support, rhinos can turn a corner and recover their populations.
$27.4M
Amount raised to-date for the Elephant Crisis Fund to stop the ivory crisis and secure a future for elephants.
$18.8M
Amount raised to-date for the Lion Recovery Fund to recover lions in Africa.
$1.8M
Amount the Pangolin Crisis Fund intends to raise in its first three years to help save pangolins from extinction.
Wildlife Crime Prevention's Luwi Nguluka Talks at Expo
The illegal bushmeat trade is the single greatest threat to wildlife in Zambia. Luwi Nguluka shares how the Wildlife Crime Prevention Project—a grantee of Lion Recovery Fund—launched a public awareness campaign, This is Not a Game, with the goal of ending this tragic practice.
Wildlife Funds Reporting
The following are the most recent Elephant Crisis Fund and Lion Recovery Fund reports; they offer supporters greater insight into the impact their investments are having. Get a closer look at the effective projects supported by these Funds and the incredible grantees working to stop the ivory crisis, secure a future for elephants, and bring lions back to Africa.
Elephant Crisis Fund 2019 Overview Report
Elephant Crisis Fund 2019 Mid-Year Report
Lion Recovery Fund February 2020 Progress Report
Lion Recovery Fund August 2019 Progress Report
Lion Recovery Fund Strategy to Recover Lions and Their Landscapes
Accomplishing more by working together
We recognize that the issues we work on are complex and require a variety of approaches. We accomplish so much more when we work together, so we strive for open collaboration with conservationists outside of our Network of partners.
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Photo Credits: Spectacled Bear Conservation, Eric Ash, Ken and Michelle Dyball, Julian Fennessy, Rachel Graham, Martin Harvey, Jillian Knox, Steve Mandel, Susan McConnell, Frank af Petersens, Juan Reppucci, Navinder Singh, Jack Swenson, Predrag Vuckovic, Jane W Wynyard, Unique Safari Eye