EWT - Engangered Wildlife Trust {an Overview]

The EWT in brief

What is the Endangered Wildlife Trust?

The EWT is a non-profit conservation organisation operating on-the-ground projects throughout Africa, with a particularly strong presence in southern Africa. We take a partnership approach and have constructive relationships with industry, government and communities, all for the conservation of our biodiversity.
The EWT’s structure allows for expertise to be developed in a particular area of conservation. However we have an overall conservation strategy for the organisation and our specialists meet regularly to ensure that this strategy is being followed. In this way we are able to provide holistic solutions to a large number of environmental problems, while still fulfilling the key niche of species protection.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust is registered as a Non-profit Organisation, registration number 015-502 NPO and PBO number 930 001 777. The EWT is 501 (c) (3) compliant, US IRS Reg. EMP98-0586801.

How did the Endangered Wildlife Trust start?
The EWT was founded by Clive Walker, James Clarke and Neville Anderson in 1973 with the purpose of protecting South Africa’s threatened wildlife species. Over the years our approach to conservation has changed to match technological developments, new knowledge and understanding and changes in global conservation thinking, but our core purpose, that of biodiversity conservation, has remained unchanged.

Who runs the EWT?

The EWT has a board of trustees ensuring good governance and sound implementation of all our activities. Yolan Friedmann is the Chief Executive Officer and she is supported by a Chief Operations Officer, Mandy Poole, a Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Vanessa du Plessis and a Director of Science, Dr. Harriet Davies-Mostert. These individuals, along with Finance Manager, Abbas Moolla, Human Resources and Administration Manager and Alison Jånicke currently make up the Executive Management Team.

Where does the EWT work?
We work across Africa, with a strong focus on southern Africa. We have projects running on-the-ground in every South African province and in Botswana, Kenya and Uganda. We collaborate on projects with organisations in other African countries including Tanzania, Namibia and Sudan.

What kind of work is the EWT involved in?
Our core business is biodiversity conservation. We are involved in a broad range of projects that include protecting Critically Endangered species, addressing human and wildlife conflict issues, working with rural communities to ensure that they are protect their direct environment while continuing to live sustainably on this land to managing metapopulations of threatened species across privately owned and formally protected land.

How many projects does the EWT run?
At the start of 2010 the EWT ran 88 projects. This is however a dynamic figure and changes as new projects are established and as projects reach their objectives and close down.

How many people work for the EWT?
At the start of 2010 there were 85 staff members employed by the EWT.

What successes has the EWT had?
The EWT has had many successes over the past 36 years. Some highlights are:

• The EWT was instrumental in bringing the concept of ‘community conservation’ to South Africa. Previously conservation approaches were very much about protected areas and excluding people from wildlife areas. Today, with a large number of people dependent on the land on which they live, the EWT is able to work with communities to identify and solve the problems specific to them, while also benefiting wildlife and their habitats in a sustainable way.
• Up until 13 years ago, large birds such as vultures, storks, cranes and Ludwig’s Bustards were often killed on powerlines, either when flying into the cables or electrocuting themselves when perching on the poles. The EWT, together with the South African national energy utility Eskom, began working on solutions. Today powerlines that have been identified as particularly dangerous to birds are fitted with ‘flappers’, devices that the birds can see fairly easily, so helping them avoid flying into the cables. Exposed conductors are also insulated so that perching birds are not directly exposed to the live electricity. This has lead to a significant reduction in the number of birds being killed by electrical infrastructure in South Africa. We also advise on the placement of new powerlines so that they avoid bird flight paths. This Programme is a global leader in wildlife/powerline interactions and is expanding into other African countries.
• The International Crane Foundation/Endangered Wildlife Trust Partnership for African Cranes has been instrumental in uncovering the threat of trade to Africa’s cranes, and facilitating partnerships to address this. For her role in this, the Partnership’s Manager, Kerryn Morrison, was awarded the Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria’s (PAAZAB) Conservation Award in 2008.
• Vulture conservation requires international cooperation since these birds fly long distances, frequently across country borders. The EWT has been instrumental in understanding the true extent of their flights in southern Africa through a long-term monitoring project that has been underway for 22 years. Over the years technology has helped us improve our monitoring techniques, and as a result of methods such as satellite tracking we know today that vultures travel much further than was believed before. This information can now be used to make better future conservation decisions for the species