In Kiswahili the whale shark is called “papa shillingi”, translating as “shark covered in shillings”. There is a local legend that God was so pleased when he created this beautiful fish, that he gave his angels handfuls of gold and silver coins to throw down from heaven onto its back. So it goes that whale sharks have their magical markings and swim near the surface, catching the sun on their backs, as a way of saying thank you to their maker.
Whale sharks have called Kenyan waters home for many years. Recently, there has been a significant increasewhich is perhaps related to the post El Nino mantis shrimp invasion.
Based on Diani Beach the East African Whale Shark Trust was founded by Volker Bassen in response to the dramatic increase in sightings as well as increased interest from the tourist sector.
The increase in whale sharksalong the Kenyan coast has meant that they have become more of a target. Under international law, whale sharks are only given a secondary type of protection. They are listed under CITES Appendix II meaning that trade in whale sharks is allowed but must be monitored. Although relatively little is known about the biggest fish in the ocean, most specialists will agree that this level of protection is not enough.
The overall aim of many whale shark projects is to raise awareness so that the level of protection afforded to whale shark is increased. The more we know about whale sharks the easier it will be to review the level of protection. The EAWST aims to provide a research centre for collecting and analyzing data on the local whale shark population, its habits and movements. The Trust works closely with other regional organizations because whale sharks are migratory.
EAWST feels that their work to date is just the beginning for whale shark conservation in Kenya. The potential for cutting edge research and conservation initiatives as well as tourism boosters is immense. We are dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the whale shark, and would ask that you help us to continue our work.
Centre For Research in Environment Kenya
Creek-Kenya has been supporting stakeholders, clients and organizations across East Africa and beyond attain and realize their business goals efficiently, cost-effectively and with the minimum of environmental and social impact.
The project helps to implement the Africa Policy adopted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In cooperation with business, it promotes employment in seven African countries, while also raising income and improving working conditions. Young people in particular benefit from training measures and additional employment opportunities.
We help organisations, public authorities and private businesses to optimise their organisational, managerial and production processes. And, of course, GIZ employees advise governments on how to achieve objectives and implement nationwide change processes by incorporating them into legislation and strategies.
DEVELOPMENT WORKERS
Development workers bring their professional expertise to non-governmental and state organisations in partner countries. They provide training and advisory services, and work with our partners to help design projects. Development workers are offered an extensive and attractive financial package with benefits.
The Civil Peace Service (CPS) is a global programme aimed at preventing violence and promoting peace in crisis zones and conflict regions. CPS experts support partner organisations in their commitment for dialogue human rights and peace on a long term basis http://www.giz.de/zfd.
CIM EXPERTS
Integrated expert’ is the term used for experts and managers who put their skills to good use in key positions in developing countries and emerging economies. The term ‘returning expert’ is used for those who have gained technical or managerial skills through study and work in Germany and who then go on to use their knowledge and expertise in their country of origin. The term ‘diaspora experts’ is used for well-qualified and skilled people with a migration background who wish to support their country of origin by putting their expertise to good use as volunteers.
As a means to achieving its mission of biodiversity conservation, RSCN has dedicated itself to Setting up and managing of nine protected areas in Dana, Wadi Mujib, Azraq, Shaumari, Dibeen, Ajloun, Fifa, Yarmouk and Wadi Rum, covering over 1200 square kilometers in some of the finest natural landscapes in the country to safeguard Jordan’s natural environment and biodiversity. Currently, a reserve is being set up in Burqu, while eight additional sites are proposed locations for the establishment of new reserves in the upcoming years;
- Enforcing the Wildlife Protection Act through a special mandate from the Ministry of Agriculture, and working closely with law enforcement agencies, such as the environmental police unit (Rangers), to protect biodiversity. RSCN is also designated as the management and enforcement authority for CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
- Conducting research to provide a scientific base to aid conservation efforts.
- Raising awareness on environmental issues, with a focus on school students through establishing nature conservation clubs, providing educational programs in the reserves, and integrating biodiversity concepts in school curricula.
- Running captive breeding programs and successfully saving several endangered species from extinction, such as the magnificent endangered Arabian Oryx, gazelle, and ibex and re-introducing them into the wilderness. RSCN has currently moved away from the process of captive breeding and embraced a new method of conservation, which involves a shift from species-oriented conservation programs to habitats-oriented conservation programs.
- Developing large-scale conservation projects that aim to integrate environmental protection with the socio-economic development of local people living in and around the nature reserves. RSCNs socio-economic projects include a wide variety of eco-tourism programs, as well as the production of unique handicrafts and organic food items. These nature-based businesses provide jobs tied to the protection of natural areas and create improved livelihoods for poor rural communities. All of RSCN products and eco-tourism ventures are marketed under the trade name “Wild Jordan” and the full range of handicrafts are available at the Wild Jordan Center in Amman.
- Providing training and capacity building to environmental practitioners and other institutions throughout Jordan and the Middle East in an attempt to share our expertise and empower others to join in the protection of nature.
- Encouraging the public to become more involved in conservation efforts by joining RSCNs membership program and becoming a voice for nature.
- Promoting public action for environmental protection through campaigns and activities run by an advocacy committee comprised of volunteers from different sectors.
Created in 1948, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network. As a membership union of government and civil society organizations, IUCN harnesses the experience of its 1,300 member organizations and around 16,000 experts. IUCN provides knowledge, tools, and a neutral forum in which governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples groups, faith-based organizations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges.
IUCN works with partners to achieve large-scale forest landscape restoration (FLR), or in other words to restore whole landscapes “forward” to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time. IUCN collaborates with FLR partners to gather knowledge, develop and apply tools, and build capacity while supporting policy-makers, practitioners, researchers and landowners around the world. IUCN and WRI developed a proven Restoration Opportunities Methodology Assessment (ROAM) with practical steps for diverse stakeholders to restore landscapes at any scale.
At the invitation of the German Government and IUCN, the Bonn Challenge was established at a ministerial roundtable in September 2011. The Bonn Challenge is a global initiative to restore 150 million hectares of the planet’s deforested and degraded lands by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030. The platform facilitates the implementation of several existing international commitments that call for restoration, including the CBD Aichi Target 15, the UNFCCC REDD+ goal and the Rio+20 land degradation target. AFR100 is a contribution to the Bonn Challenge. IUCN is the Secretariat for the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration, a global network that unites governments, organizations, academic/research institutes, communities and individuals under a common goal: to restore the world’s lost and degraded forests and their surrounding landscapes.
Focus countries within AFR100: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda
Birds of Eden is home to about 220 different types of birds, and more than 3500 birds live in the sanctuary.
Our award winning bird sanctuary provides a forever home where previously caged birds can live a life of free-flight in a habitat as large and natural as is possible.
The feathered inhabitants of the aviary are comprised of a mixture of exotic, as well as African birds. This includes previously caged pets, hand reared and imprinted individuals, which in turn explains why some of our inhabitants, mainly being the parrots, (of which we have 60 different species) are unafraid of human beings and seemingly tame. All new arrivals at Birds of Eden go through a process of rehabilitation before their final release into the main aviary. Most of the birds that arrive at Birds of Eden have a history of being caged in small environments.
Many of the birds we home have never encountered other birds. Therefor the main rehabilitation process involves socialization with other birds in large outdoor pre-release aviaries. Here they are given the chance to build up flight muscles, flight control, i.e. practicing landings, change of direction etc. The rest of the release process is based on instinct and it is rather remarkable – all the birds instinctively know which area of the aviary suits their needs, how and where to look for, and find food, water and shelter from the weather. Species recognition is generally immediate, for e.g. when a new Ringneck is released into the aviary, all the other Ringnecks gather to have a look at the newcomer! Releasing new birds into the main aviary immediately without them going through rehabilitation would be tantamount to running a marathon without any training.
Sadly, we cannot always accept birds which have been pinioned. A pinioned bird is maimed for life, and will never be able to fly in its lifetime again. We are however able to accept a few species such as the cranes, flamingos and even some ducks and geese.
The heartless practice of pinioning is used to ensure that birds cannot fly away. Pinioning is when a section of the wing (the tip) is removed while they are still young. It is an incredibly cruel practice.
The winning factor of Birds of Eden has to be its sheer size. The volume particularly allows for the creation of habitat niches for the large variety of species that find sanctuary here.
The Budongo Conservation Field Station is a nexus of research and conservation whose vision is to ensure sustainable management and utilization of the Budongo Forest Reserve as a model for tropical rainforest management. Budongo is habitat to thousands of tropical plants and animals including chimpanzees. To the local and distant communities, the forest is a source of timber and non-timber forest products.
Environmental Rights Action (ERA) is a Nigerian advocacy non-governmental organisation founded on January 11, 1993 to deal with environmental human rights issues in Nigeria. ERA is the Nigerian chapter of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI). ERA is the co-ordinating NGO in Africa for Oilwatch International, the global South network of groups concerned about the effects of oil on the environment of people who live in oil-bearing regions. Oilwatch was founded in 1995 (in Ecuador), in the aftermath of local struggles against oil companies such as Shell (in Nigeria) and Texaco (now Chevron) in Ecuador. Both cases have given rise to well-known court cases where damages in the billions of euros are being claimed at present. ERA has been the winner of the Sophie Prize.
The organisation is dedicated to the defence of human ecosystems in terms of human rights, and to the promotion of environmentally responsible governmental, commercial, community and individual practice in Nigeria through the empowerment of local people. ERA will mainly provide its great knowledge of oil extraction conflicts and gas flaring to Work Package 2 on the database of environmenal conflicts and to Work Package 4 on oil and gas extraction and climate justice, as well as giving input in many other parts of the EJOLT project. ERA is also the coordinating NGO for the Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA).
The organization’s committed struggles for environmental human rights has won it recognition through awards such as Sophie Prize (1998) for excellence and courage in the struggle for environmental Justice and the Bloomberg Award for Tobacco control activism (2009
The Ministry of Environment & Forestry is a ministry of the Government of South Sudan. The incumbent minister is Mrs. Josephine NAPWON, while Mr.Joseph Africano Bartel serves as the Under Secretary
Vision
“Clean, healthy and safe environment for the people of South Sudan”
Mission
“To provide policy guidance, direction and coordination of all stakeholders for protection, conservation and sustainable management of the environment”
The 400km electric fence is a conservation tool put in place to help resolve multiple challenges facing the Aberdare Range ecosystem. These challenges included poaching, bush-meat hunting, snaring, illegal logging, charcoal burning and encroachment. These activities, by the 1980’s had almost decimated the population of critically endangered black rhino in the ecosystem.
At the same time, regular crop damage by wildlife, especially elephant, was a major problem for the farmers residing next to the Aberdare protected areas. Encounters between farmers and wildlife occasionally led to human fatalities, and served to heighten tensions between humans and wildlife.
Construction of the fence began in 1989 and was completed in August 2009.
Today, in spite of the dramatic decrease in black rhino number in the 1980s, the ANP still hold a small and genetically viable population of native black rhino. This is largely due to the building of the fence.
To maintain the fence in good working condition, a team of fence scouts based in “Fence Energizer Stations” patrol the fence line daily to carry out maintenance work.
The project is a partnership between Rhino Ark, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the local communities. Rhino Ark and the Kenya Government provided the funds while KWS oversaw the construction work.
ENDA-Ethiopia is the Ethiopian branch of ENDA TW (Environmental Development Action in the Third World) based in Dakar, Senegal.
Its present activities center on urban popular economy and ecology, environmental education, sustainable farming and communication.
Enda-Ethiopia’s approach is to help the local people to seek appropriate solutions to their problems, make the most of local resources, negotiate and identify means of action, organize their activities and assess their own methods and results.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATION OF TANZANIA was formally registered as Non Governmental Organization (NGO) on 17th August 1992. The Association earnestly seeks to assist the development of the environmental preservation and also to supplement the efforts and endeavors undertaken by the National Environmental Management Council and other various authorities and bodies at the expertise level.
The Association formed on 28th August 2008 ENATA Ltd as a commercial wing to carryout consulting services in the areas of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) and Audit inspection, Technical feasibility studies, Economic and Financial evaluation, Sustainable Consumption and Production.The company is registered with BRELA Certificate No.67242.
We discover emerging social entrepreneurs and invest deeply in the growth of their ideas and leadership. Over 30 years, we’ve built a broad, dynamic ecosystem to support these leaders as they solve the world’s biggest problems.
Vision
We make a sustained, effective contribution towards the reduction of economic disparities in an increasingly complex, globalized world.
Mission
We promote economic, social, and environmental development by helping people integrate into local economic life. We thus make it possible for them to improve their living conditions through their own initiatives.
Our Values
Our commitment
- We are recognised as the reference for private sector development in Switzerland and worldwide.
- We believe that market mechanisms and a strong private sector create jobs and generate income, thereby reducing poverty.
- We are personally dedicated to our cause and loyal to our organisation.
- We strive for professionalism and quality in project implementation and adhere to ethical principles to carry out our mission.
- We are a politically independent and non-denominational development organisation.
- We are dedicated to equal rights and opportunities.
Our responsibility
- We respect our beneficiaries and all people with whom we work.
- We respect the environment in which we operate.
- We understand our work as a common effort, working as a team with our donors, partners, and beneficiaries.
- We are committed to safeguarding our Code of Conduct (CoC) and feel personally accountable for our actions.
- We meet our contractual and legal obligations.
- We deliver evidence-based results.
How we work
- We understand our role to be that of a facilitator in project implementation, fostering a sustainable environment for entrepreneurship, access to information, skills, and markets, while meeting the employment and income objectives.
- We deliver practical, market-oriented solutions adapted to local realities to meet the challenges of economic development.
- We strive for sustainability in all our activities, efforts, and resources.
The Global Environment Facility was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided over $19.2 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $101.4 billion in co-financing for more than 4,700 projects in 170 countries. In addition, under the Small Grants Programme, the GEF has financed 23,991 projects in 128 countries.
The GEF Partnership recently agreed to a new direction in its work to achieve greater results and help to meet rising challenges. This agreement is set out in the Summary of the Negotiations of the Seventh Replenishment of the GEF. In combination with its traditional investments under the Conventions, the GEF is:
- Strategically focusing its investments to catalyze transformational change in key systems that are driving major environmental loss, in particular energy, cities and food;
- Prioritizing integrated projects and programs that address more than one global environmental problem at a time, building on the GEF’s unique position and mandate to act on a wide range of global environmental issues; and
- Implementing new strategies and policies to enhance results, including stronger engagement with the private sector, indigenous peoples, and civil society, and an increased focus on gender equality.
L’Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU) est une ONG internationale créée en 1987 dans le but d’appuyer les municipalités et les autorités des villes de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre à renforcer leurs capacités de planification et de gestion pour améliorer la gouvernance locale, l’environnement et lutter contre la pauvreté.
La mission de l’IAGU est d’accompagner les municipalités de l’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre à renforcer leurs capacités de planification et de gestion pour
construire des villes inclusives, prospères et durables.
L’IAGU agit par l’entremise de l’appui technique aux collectivités locales, la diffusion des innovations issues de la recherche et des expérimentations locales, la conduite de missions de prestations de service et de renforcement de capacités. Il exécute son mandat sur la base des demandes formulées et des besoins exprimés par les collectivités locales, les organisations communautaires de base, les agences de coopération et autres acteurs de la gestion urbaine. Il assiste à cet effet en permanence les villes africaines dans l’élaboration, la formulation et la mise en œuvre des stratégies et politiques locales de développement durable.
Il procède par la recherche/action participative, la formation, l’information, l’appui technique et la conduites d’études de faisabilité et sectorielles à travers trois (3) pôles : Planification environnementale, Gestion des Déchets et Agriculture urbaine. Son personnel d’encadrement est constitué de chargés de programme et de chargés de projet qui sont des ingénieurs, des environnementalistes, des géographes-aménagistes, des géomaticiens, des socio-économistes et des sociologues.
L’IAGU est devenu une institution de référence internationale dans les domaines de la planification stratégique environnementale, de la gestion des déchets, du développement durable de l’agriculture urbaine et de la promotion des stratégies d’adaptation aux inondations urbaines. Il conduit des programmes et projets de recherche-action, d’appui technique et de formation sur les problématiques de développement durable des collectivités locales en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre en général, au Sénégal en particulier. Il demeure une organisation professionnelle, performante, reconnue pour son expertise et sa capacité d’innovation dans la formulation des réponses à apporter aux besoins des municipalités et des villes en perpétuelle mutation. Il est accrédité par le Programme des Nations Unies pour l’Environnement (PNUE) et est devenu l’institution d’ancrage de l’UN Habitat en Afrique francophone. L’IAGU travaille aussi en collaboration avec le Centre de Recherches pour le Développement International du Canada (CRDI), le Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD), la Banque Mondiale, Cities Alliance, les agences de coopération bilatérale, les agences gouvernementales, les municipalités ainsi que la plupart des acteurs de la gestion urbaine au Sénégal et dans la sous-région.
Uganda Water and Sanitation NGO Network (UWASNET) is the national umbrella organisation for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the Water and Environment sector. UWASNET is crucial in helping government realise its targets of alleviating poverty and achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through universal access to safe, sustainable water and improved sanitation. UWASNET plays this vital role in partnership with other key sector players such as the Government of Uganda, Development Partners (DP’s) and the private sector.
The African Conservation Tillage Network (ACTN) was initiated following a Stakeholders’ Workshop on “Conservation Tillage for Sustainable Agriculture” held in Zimbabwe in 1998 organized by Zimbabwe Farmers Union, German Development Co-operation (GTZ), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC). Driven by the desire among players to better and share more information and experiences on CA and related aspects, the Workshop ratified the initiation of a regional network as a mechanism to stimulate and facilitate cross-cutting and mutually exchange knowledge and information from experiences of CA. In 2000, under project support from GiZ, then GTZ, the Network formally established a full-time Secretariat with a Steering Committee to manage the Network. The Network has since evolved into a neutral platform, stimulating, facilitating and challenging for mutual sharing of information and knowledge on experiences and lessons on applications of CA and expanding to the whole region.
ACTN is a registered as a pan-African not-for-profit membership association that was initially commissioned with geographical focus on Southern, Central and East Africa. However, the Network has expanded responding to active interest from rest of the continent to west and North Africa. Existing potential for synergistic collaborations and knowledge sharing, enriched by the diversity, across the continent has justified ACTN reformation into a pan-African establishment with networking value within and between regions. Membership to the Network is voluntary bringing together stakeholders and players who are:
- Dedicated to improving agricultural productivity through sustainable management of natural resources in African farming systems.
- Committed to the principles of mutual collaboration, partnerships and sharing of information and knowledge on sustainable natural resource management and drawing on synergies and complementarities.
ACTN is established at three regional levels that include (i) Southern-Central Africa Region; (ii) East and Horn Africa Region; (iii) West-North Africa Region. This enables each region to articulate its main uniqueness, thrust and strengths as basis for inter-regional sharing and interaction. A distinct North Africa region is foreseen in the future.
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We strive for a just world, working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners.