International Anti-Poaching Foundation

Akashinga: since our formation, the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (iapf) has pursued a consistent vision of protection for the natural world, which we have achieved at a landscape level through operational agility and leadership - consistently adding key wildlife areas to our conservation portfolio currently totaling 1.3 million acres of wildlife corridor across zimbabwe's zambezi valley; connecting 3 national parks to other wildlife areas for animal movement and genetic dispersal. Furthermore, in late 2021, we moved to finalize deals in mozambique and botswana which increases the land portfolio to over 8 million acres with an anticipated workforce of 1000 by 2026 managing the three landscape projects. Now, with over a decade of hard-won experience behind us, the organization has reached a level of maturity and stability whereby we can look forward, and with confidence set an organizational course for the next decade and beyond. After carrying out numerous projects across four african countries (also including tanzania), iapf has settled on two complementary core programs which together meet the requirements of our mission: 1) akashinga - nature protected by women iapf was founded in 2009 with a focus on supporting conservation wildlife rangers to protect wildlife. In 2017, seeing increased conflict with local communities, we set out to transform the current model, building a system that would reset the direction of the organization and industry. This was the creation of akashinga - nature protected by women.akashinga is a conservation model that empowers local communities to protect, connect, and restore threatened large-scale wilderness landscapes of significant ecological value. Akashinga partners directly with communities in holistic wildlife protection, working closely with all levels of society to move away from the adversarial, exclusively male-led models of protection and rehabilitation. The model brings a more effective, just, and sustainable concept of conservation which is highly adaptable to varying landscapes. The akashinga model uses social impact approaches such as gender equality, healthcare, education, water sanitation, and infrastructure development to achieve conservation outcomes. Akashinga's initial pilot landscape deployment in zimbabwe's section of the zambezi valley helped drive an 80% downturn in elephant poaching across the region while supporting an almost 400% increase in wildlife populations. Following a successful pilot in zimbabwe, iapf's akashinga gained traction within indigenous leadership circles and spread across the region. In five years, it has grown to 500+ staff, 13 project areas, and over 8 million acres of wilderness being protected under our management. Furthermore, to date, our akashinga rangers and wildlife crime unit teams, working alongside local agencies, have made a total of 1154 arrests in 664 separate operations, for a total of 662 wildlife offences.zimbabwe landscape - the zambezi valley, in which the akashinga project is located, is one of the most biodiverse and important ecosystems in southern africa (the zambezi basin contains about 7000 species of plants, 200 mammal, 700 bird, 300 reptile and amphibian, 150 fish, and over 1100 butterfly species, amongst others). The ecological complexity of the system, with fragile interspecific relationships and reliances, means that even small environmental disturbances are severely felt. Of vital importance is that the zambezi valley, and greater zambezi basin, is both a catchment area and a conduit for the numerous tributaries that feed into one of the world's great rivers, and thus holistic habitat conservation in this area is an urgent priority so as to prevent erosion, siltation, agrochemical poisoning, and loss of biodiversity; where failure to protect this habitat will have significant ripple effects felt for hundreds of kilometers downstream that further impacts this critical ecosystem. The lower zambezi valley contains one of the largest remaining elephant populations in the world, and the phundundu area (directly adjacent to and acting as a buffer zone for mana pools national park - a unesco world heritage site) contains a healthy and growing population. Of particular conservation significance, phundundu boasts an intact predator guild - with resident lion, leopard, wild dog, spotted hyaena, and occasional cheetah. This is an excellent indicator of system health and overall biodiversity, and unfortunately there are only a few wild places remaining in africa that can claim similar. There are also healthy populations of pangolin and pythons, where they are well protected from the illicit International wildlife trade. Mozambique landscape - now protecting 2.2m acres of lands with terrestrial and coastal ecosystems. We aim to extend protection offshore, helping to create a transformative conservation corridor that connects 3 national parks and 7m acres of lands with distinct ecosystems and enormous biodiversity. Botswana landscape - protecting 5m acres of wildlife landscape in partnership with a local ngo and local communities, this ecosystem is one of the largest intact wildlife areas in africa. It contains the complete predator guild and is a lion population stronghold.

Education and outreach: while focused primarily on field work and on-the-ground results, we also seek to educate the public about the important issues of conservation and wildlife protection - because public opinion and pressure will play an important role in bringing an end to poaching. The uniqueness and success of akashinga generates empathy and vast media interest. In recent years, we were featured in a wide variety of print and electronic outlets around the globe, but perhaps the most exciting media coverage iapf garnered was focused on akashinga, as three-time academy award winner james cameron executive produced "akashinga: the brave ones", a wildlife conservation documentary celebrating the impact that this program has on people, communities, wildlife, and the environment. For more information about iapf and to see the film, please visit iapf.org.

Lead ranger addresses the limited capacity at higher levels within africa's conservation community, providing advanced training, development, and mentorship of high-quality rangers and ranger managers. Lead ranger produces exceptional instructors able to embed within their own units and give lasting benefit. The program is iso 9001 certified, an internationally recognized certification that ensures benchmarks of high-quality standards using relevant, up-to-date, and evidence-based curriculum. The program is a collaborative partnership between the iapf, thin green line Foundation, and ranger campus.international Anti-Poaching Foundation (iapf) delivers ecological stability and long-term protection of large-scale wilderness landscapes by supporting and empowering local communities. Healthy and functioning ecosystems are the Foundation of life on earth. As a collective, we are failing to safeguard these ecosystems for future generations. To date, an estimated 75% of our planet's terrestrial environment has been severely altered by human actions. Half of the assessed targets under the sustainable development goals related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, climate, ocean, and land are being undermined by negative trends in nature. As we strive to achieve global targets, it will be critical to ensure the long-term ecological success of large-scale regional wilderness landscapes through effective conservation management and empowerment of sustainable local communities. Wilderness land designated as concessions and conservancies, under the custodianship of local rural communities, makes up more than twice the area held under national park portfolios across the african continent. If community needs are not addressed as a central strategy of conservation, these areas will be at risk, leaving only isolated pockets of wilderness and fragmented ecosystems behind. Iapf aims to work together with communities to safeguard wilderness areas that connect fragmented ecosystems. Our holistic conservation model not only works towards protection of biodiversity, but the empowerment of women, local communities, and towards the development of local leaders.

Wildlife crime unit (wcu): due to the sensitive nature of the work, wildlife crime unit (wcu) is a less-publicized program. This work focuses on the wildlife smuggling supply chain. Wcu investigates activities about wildlife crime with the intent of prosecuting criminals involved with trafficking. Working with local authorities in each of the countries we operate, continuous pressure is applied to illegal networks helping to drive downturns in poaching.