Community Engagement

Putting local communities at the heart of the solution.

Engaging with those living closest to the animals and habitats we strive to protect is key to ensuring positive and sustained change. We are committed to working respectfully and collaboratively with communities to find lasting solutions that work for wildlife, people and the animals within their care.

28%

of global land area traditionally owned, managed, used or occupied by Indigenous peoples

80%

of the planet’s biodiversity is held in lands and waters conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities

100-300

million people in coastal areas are at increased risk of floods and hurricanes due to loss of coastal habitat protection

Unsustainable use of natural resources. Natural disasters. Socio-economic inequalities. The communities that bear the brunt of the most urgent and complex issues of our time must be at the heart of the solution.

The Enduata group is based in Esiteti, outside of Amboseli. Enduata translates to “Vision” - so they see their name as “Vision Women”. IFAW and other women leaders in Kenya came together to share insights on the value of female empowerment. This is the first phase of many to create leaders among women in the Maasai communities. Photo: Alice Waringa/IFAW

Empowering Local Leaders

When an animal needs rescuing or a critical landscape faces devastation, local communities aren’t always included in identifying solutions. Yet the well-being of these people, the animals in their care and the wildlife around them are all inextricably linked and these communities often have invaluable traditional knowledge and experience that external decision-makers do not.

By listening to and learning from Indigenous peoples and local communities, we are able to co-create solutions to animal welfare and conservation challenges guided by those who know the land and animals best, and who are directly affected by the outcomes for years to come. Like in Myanmar, where we helped farmers ensure the cattle their families depend on are safe when flooding hits and that they are equipped to lead management of their village-level risk reduction efforts.

Our drive to find sustainable solutions rooted in local knowledge and leadership helps to empower local people to exercise their rights and ensure their voices are heard in local, regional and global decision making platforms. Our experience shows that when this happens both people and animals can successfully thrive together.

Maasai community member leading cattle through the community land. Photo: Donal Boyd/IFAW

Creating Opportunities

Biodiversity loss and climate change are two of the most urgent risks of our time, threatening more animals and communities than ever before. Disadvantaged, vulnerable or marginalised communities are often the most severely impacted.

By partnering with indigenous and local communities to help ensure they can develop sustainable livelihood strategies that benefit people, animals and habitats, and build resilience to withstand and bounce back from challenges, we are creating new opportunities for people and animals to live together harmoniously.

Our collaborative approach focuses on ensuring inclusive participation so that all members of the community are able to join, benefit from and own conservation and animal welfare initiatives that impact them. In Amboseli, we developed a female-led and owned social enterprise where women were supported to develop a new source of income and invest profits back into education for young girls in their community.

Nania the orphaned elephant with her caretakers in Burkina Faso. Photo: IFAW

Cultivating Coexistence

A growing global human population alongside changes in land use and climate have directly contributed to ever-increasing interactions and conflict between the needs and behaviour of animals and people. This often results in lost crops, livestock and pets, destruction of property, injury and death of wild animals and sadly, in some cases, the loss of human life.

By helping reduce the cost of living alongside wildlife, the communities we work with will not only be safer and better able to realise their own livelihood goals, but more likely to support and participate in conservation initiatives and reject retaliatory killing or persecution of wild animals. Like in Yunnan, China where a village-level early warning system, safety training for local residents and development of new income via beekeeping is helping people and elephants to live side by side peacefully.

Our commitment to working with communities to better understand the complex socio-economic and political factors contributing to human-wildlife conflict helps to ensure we can find sustainable solutions for increasing coexistence so that humans and animals have a place where they can not only survive, but thrive together.