Main fundraiser photo

Save Elephants with bees

READY FOR PHASE 2?

After the success of our first project (see below), Wild & Free and AFeWis are going to work together for a second project in Arusha National Park but this time, we need to raise £5500 for 100 beehives.

Can you be part of it?

Read below the fantastic achievement for the first phase of the project , and continue to support us by sponsoring a beehive directly on the online shop . You will receive a sponsorship certificate and when the time comes, photos of your beehive.

Many thanks in advance for your generosity and making a difference to protect African Elephants and local communities in Tanzania.

PHASE 1:  £1950 SUCCESSFULLY RAISED FOR 36 BEEHIVES!

Thank you all so much for your generous donations to make this first project a success!
Many of you have sponsored a whole beehive or more and were able to choose the name painted on them, whether it was for yourselves, a friend, a family member, even a pet or in memory of a loved one.

The beehives have all been built from scratch, painted then transported and installed at the border of Arusha National Park and the village of Nkwasenga in Tanzania on Tuesday 12th January 2021.

Enjoy some of the photos sent to me by Moses Ryakitimbo, Director of AFeWiS, the organisation working hard on the ground to protect African elephants from the human/wildlife conflict. 







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THE STORY


Africa is home to around 415,000 of the largest walking animals on Earth, the African elephants, which represents a dreadful 30% decrease in the last decade.

Between 2014 and 2019, Tanzania has lost 60% of its elephants, leading as a country with the largest poaching threat in Africa by the end of 2015. 

Tanzania lost over 85,181 elephants mainly due to poaching to meet to the demand of ivory from Asian countries such as China and Vietnam. The country was then left with only 43,330 elephants out of 109,051 that used to roam in the wild. 


Later in late 2015, a new regime took place in Tanzania and president Magufuli took office and promised to end the poaching. He came up with a strong plan to protect all wildlife in the country, and since then, elephant numbers began to slowly increase to 60,000.

Alert for Endangered Wildlife Species (AFeWis) was created in 2016 to protect elephants in all possible ways fighting against human/elephant conflicts. They have put a genius solution in place, which is at the heart of this campaign.


Elephants & Bees

Elephants and bees are not friends, and this is precisely what can save those gentle giants.

Elephants do not care about borders and cross the boundaries of National Parks by breaking down fences into farmers’ lands to feast on their crops like maize, beans, banana plantations and so forth. Angry to loose their source of income but also in danger, farmers want to poison or kill the pachyderms.

AFeWis (Alert for Endangered Wildlife Species) is resolving the human/wildlife conflict between farmers and elephants by installing beehives long the borders of National Parks. This way, when elephants approach the National Park boundaries, the disturbed bees attack and elephants simply turn around as they are afraid of bees. They say elephants remember…and they certainly do, not coming back to these areas.

AFeWis team bringing additional beehives at the National Park's border.

Let’s not forget that bees make honey, and this naturally provides a new source of income to the local communities.



Current project

Since April 2019, AFeWis have built 64 beehive fences to protect two villages and  four gateways in and out of Arusha National Park, therefore protecting wild elephants too.

This has already proved to be a success as 50+ elephants that used to destroy agricultural crops have not returned in that particular area.


Future projects

AFeWis is an ambitious organisation and will continue to expand their efforts to other National Parks such as Manyara National Park. For each new project, 100 beehives will be built and installed: Manyara National Park, Burunge wildlife management area and Tarangire National Park.


WHAT ARE WE RAISING MONEY FOR?

Currently, AFeWis needs to install further 36 beehives to fill a gap where elephants cross from Arusha National Park into a village and farmers land. 

A single beehive costs £55 (or $70). This includes 3 poles, binding wires, cement and crude black oil for painting the poles.

Can you contribute to buy one or more beehive(s)? 



YOUR NAME ON A BEEHIVE

By donating to this project, your name (by default) will appear on a beehive as shown in the example above.  I will contact you following your donation however, in case you would like another name in the beehive such as a loved one or a friend if it is a present.

Also, if you travel to Tanzania and book through me as I am a travel agent specialised in African safaris , I will donate a beehive on your behalf. I can then arrange for you to visit the project and see your name of a beehive too.


HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Your donation on this GoFundMe campaign is deeply appreciated and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity.

You can also donate via Paypal, accessible from the charity website’s homepage.

If your birthday is coming up, why not start a birthday fundraiser for Wild & Free - Rehabilitation and Release? They have been very successful over the lockdown period, but Christmas is coming up soon too!

We have beautiful bespoke Elephant merchandise on Wild&Free’s online shop , where 100% of the profit goes to this campaign. There is a large choice of items such as Elephant print, painting, poster, necklace and many more.

I will be adding all offline donations to this campaign to keep you up to date with our fundraising soy can see exactly how the campaign is progressing.

Thank you very much in advance!
Geraldine


MORE INFO ABOUT WILD & FREE: 

Wild & Free - Rehabilitation and Release supports wildlife organisations worldwide to rescue, rehabilitate and successfully release wild animals back to their natural habitat, and to protect their environment. The charity operates by raising: 

- awareness to the public about the threats faced by wildlife leading to their possible extinction 
- funds for projects that are determined with the selected wildlife rehabilitation centres and organisations.
 
Geraldine and her guide, after  some wonderful elephant sightings in Lake Manyara in Tanzania. We must protect these iconic animals!

Registered Charity N°1158750
www.wildnfree.org



MORE INFO ABOUT AFEWIS:

The mission of the Alert for Endangered Wildlife Species  is to prevent illegal Poaching, Trophy Trade and secure wildlife through Foundational education to communities around Game reserves. The organisation is led by one passionate individual, Moses Ryakitimbo, on the right of the photo below.


Their objectives:
- Preventing illegal Hunting and sell of Trophies Creating awareness to communities that surround Game reserve 
- Concentrating in areas where vulnerability of the crisis is high. Fieldwork entails collecting and gathering of information on poaching in Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, selous and Arusha Game reserves.
- Supporting communities: to date 80 % of families on and around Game reserves are still collaborating with poachers, they have no goals of independence and financial self-sufficiency- and the collusion syndicate might go on and on.  As a result, AFEWIS tries to strengthen and increase their incomes through various programs.
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Donations 

  • Jane Walsh
    • £55
    • 3 yrs
  • Jaana Eleftheriou
    • £55 (Offline)
    • 3 yrs
  • Merchandise Wild & Free
    • £36 (Offline)
    • 3 yrs
  • Julie Breckon
    • £20 (Offline)
    • 3 yrs
  • Agne Salne
    • £50 (Offline)
    • 3 yrs
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Organizer

Geraldine Morelli
Organizer
England
Wild & Free - Rehabilitation and Release
Beneficiary

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