African Wildlife Foundation

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is the leading international conservation organization focused solely on Africa. We believe that protecting Africa’s wildlife and wild landscapes is the key to the future prosperity of Africa and its people – and for over 50 years, we have made it our work to help ensure that Africa’s wild resources endure.

Empowering the African People

Who better to protect their land and resources than Africans themselves? Living on the land we strive to protect, Africans are in touch with both its potential and its challenges. They have witnessed the draw of tourists to their land. And, they have come face-to-face with the sometimes destructive consequences of sharing land with Africa’s wildlife.

Empowering Africans to be Africa’s stewards is at the core of our strategy. And, we begin right here at AWF. Approximately 85 percent of our staff are African.

A Unique Continent, A Distinctive Conservation Approach

AWF believes that a continent as unique as Africa requires a unique approach to conservation. It is simply not enough to develop initiatives to protect single species or conserve individual pieces of land. We must look at the whole picture. How do people and wildlife live together and how do they clash? How will the well-being of local people be affected by conservation efforts?

At AWF we approach all of our work at the “landscape level” – that is to say, we look at large landscapes (we have identified nine of these areas to date). Within these landscapes, we implement a variety of efforts that conserve land, protect species and empower people.