Donating to African Anti-Poaching Units/Organizations

First off, let me preface this thread by saying this is not an attempt to promote any cause or charity, and I have no affiliation with these organizations that I am asking about what-so-ever. Furthermore, this is not a blatant attempt to get people to donate, although it might be a worthy cause. I do, however, have a legitimate desire to do something to fight the scourge of poaching in Africa, beyond spending my hunting dollars there (hopefully many times) in the future. In a nutshell, I hate poachers, whether it be the large African syndicates that are reeking havoc on African species, or someone that shoots a deer off my property from the road at night with a spot light. Having said that, I have often thought it would be great to donate to causes aligned with that mission, but have been fearful that, as in many 3rd world causes that purport to help people or wildlife, my money would be wasted, or worse stolen.

What prompted this thread was an article I read in my recent Sports Afield magazine that I subscribe to. It was in the July/August 2015 (Vol. 238, No. 4) edition entitled "The Good Fight". The article can be found online at

http://www.sportsafield.com/content/good-fight

It details the support and funding of the Dande Anti-Poaching Unit (DAPU) in Zimbabwe by Buzz Charlton and Myles McCallum of Charlton McCallum Safaris (http://www.cmsafaris.com/african-elephant-research/donate.html) through Conservation Force (https://www.conservationforce.org/donateonline.html) in Louisiana. In one of the side bars, it also details the partnering of SCI with a group called "Humanitarian Operations Protecting Elephants (H.O.P.E.). I was concerned that HOPE could be a "sheep in wolf's clothing" kind-of charity in which they say they support hunting, but really don't. However, SCI did partner with them, and the statements from their leaders do suggest they view hunting as a vital tool in combating the poaching of elephants in Africa. The write-up about them in Sports Afield was also positive.

After reading about these efforts, I felt like this was a way for me to give back to a place (Africa) that I plan to visit for hunting in the not too distant future, and hopefully many times over my hunting years. It would be a way for me to impact (even in a small way) the anti-poaching efforts directly versus via government and concessions funds, etc.. To me it seems like less chance for that money to get get lost in the shuffle, and also it provides a more direct accounting of where those funds are going. I realize that there's still potential for abuse and corruption to occur, but I like this style of direct giving to something I feel passionate about.

The other potential thing I see as a benefit, is that it allows hunters to provide another, and more direct rebuttal to the criticisms of anti-hunting campaigns that PETA, WWF, etc. love to mount against the hunting community. Instead of the terse, and curt quips about, "I'm sure that lion, elephant, rhino, etc. (feel free to insert your animal of choice) fed a whole village"....or the skewed articles that try to show how trophy fees, monies paid to outfitters, concessions etc. really amount to a small amount of GDP, blah, blah, blah.....we as a community would have hard, and direct facts to rebut those smart-ass remarks. It would be another way for us to show that we put our money where our mouth is when it comes to funding conservation of species, and projects such as anti-poaching efforts that impact those threatened or endangered species. I do realize that no amount of evidence will shut the big mouth's of the "anti" zealots, but it just might go a long way to impact the vast majority of the general public that is neutral to hunting, or supports hunting, but are non-hunters. Can you imagine if the thousands of international hunters that hunt Africa alone, were to give just $100.00 a year to legitimate anti-poaching efforts how this would be perceived? That is real money to African communities, and could be stretched a long way, and hopefully make a real impact, to stem the tide of poaching across areas of Africa. It certainly could provide that PR spark that we so desperately need, and have been discussing ad nauseum on this forum, as well as other forums lately. Anyway.......

It may be naive.....but just a thought.

My real question to those in "the know", and may already be doing this, or have researched doing this is:

1) will this be worth it as far as actually doing what is intended, and combating the poachers in Africa?

2) would it be worth other organizations besides SCI, such as DSC, NPHA, etc. to partner with these organizations such as HOPE to spread the word, and solicit donations from the hunting community, ammunition manufacturers, hunting equipment vendors, and even private sector companies outside of the hunting industry.

3) would it provide a positive PR spin to the hunting community as a whole

4) do those more knowledgeable than me have any experience with these organizations, or those like them, and feel that your money is being well spent, and not squandered, or out-right stolen?

I have been very blessed in my life. I have a great family, a wonderful job, and I am able to see some amazing places in the pursuit of my hobby (hunting). I'm always being asked to give money for this charity, or that charity, or any number of causes or campaigns, and a lot of times I do, but honestly most of the time it's because I feel obligated to, or there's nothing better to give to, and I feel like I need to be doing something. This is a cause that I feel passionate about, and I could easily get behind financially.......if it is trustworthy.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't seem like I'm trying to sell these organizations, or getting too preachy, because I honestly am not. However, I thought it might be a great idea that could actually directly impact something we all feel strongly about which is protecting elephants, etc. from poachers in Africa.


As an aside, and I hope this doesn't violate any forum rules, the 2 organizations I was talking about are found here:

1) Conservation Force link: https://www.conservationforce.org/donateonline.html

2) Humanitarian Operations Protecting Elephants (H.O.P.E.): http://saveivory.org


Cheers

Just ensure that whomever you are donating to is legit.

A high profile "for profit business" taking donations to do anti poaching on its own concessions?

As far as doing what is intended?! Who is auditing it and providing a report.

Send spike.t some money to keep the muppets off his place and you'll save a host or species.

Brickburn,

Thanks for the reply. That's exactly why I posted this on the forum.....to garner comments, and advice from those "in the know"

Like I said before, I am constantly bombarded by requests for money, donations, etc. from political campaigns, humanitarian aid campaigns, community building and improvement campaigns, and the list goes on and on. Certainly I have contributed to some of those endeavors, and will likely continue to do so when the situation, and charity warrants, however a lot of these charities are not something I necessarily feel passionate about. I also feel that some are so high profile such as breast cancer awareness, AIDS, Unicef, etc., that other equally important cause's messages get drowned out by the huge political, and advertising machines these charities employ. As I've stated before, stopping the poaching scourge is certainly a cause I can personally get behind emotionally, as well as financially, and one that needs to be brought to the forefront of the world's conscience, but in the right way, and in a way that acknowledges that hunters play a very important role, perhaps the most important role, in conservation of animal species. As many I've spoken with, I just don't know the best way to go about it.

You've raised some good points Brickburn, and ones I have certainly thought about. I to, am fearful that there is really no accountability and transparency, especially with private, "for-profit" organizations. It would be too easy to hide donated monies in general operating budgets, etc., and no way to know for sure whether the funds were being used correctly.

I do realize however, that it is very expensive to perform anti-poaching operations in the rural areas, as well as large concessions. I also realize that for the most part, especially in these rural areas way outside the national park boundaries, that the only ones performing anti-poaching operations to a large extent, are the private hunting operators. As such, I am not opposed at all to giving money to these operators in a designated way, IF that money will be truly used to organize, and fund anti-poaching teams and patrols. The problem is again, how does one know? How does one know that their money is not simply being used to line the pockets of unscrupulous operators, and not doing a damn thing to help the cause of anti-poaching? And, how does one know which operator to give their hard-earned dollars to that will provide for an effective, and efficient means to combat poaching, as well as making a true difference in the area they operate in? After all, one person can't give money to all operators unless they are unbelievably wealthy. It would be so nice if there was a central clearinghouse that all donations could go to, and then it could be distributed to operators who have demonstrated a willingness, and commitment, to combat poaching in their concessions. How that would happen, I don't know, and again it is probably very naive to think it would work in a place that is so rife with corruption as certain African countries are.

It's certainly a hard nut to crack, and hard to know what the right thing to do is. Certainly, hunting with good, honest, and established operators in Africa is a way, and I plan on doing that many times over, God willing. However, I would personally like to give a little bit even during the years that I'm not in Africa. Maybe it won't make a hill of beans difference to stopping poaching, but I would like to think that if enough money was brought in from sources other than, but in conjunction with, hunting dollars per say, and IF, and that's a big IF, the money was utilized, efficiently, effectively, and honestly, that maybe, just maybe, it might start to make a difference at least in some parts of Africa. As I'm writing this, it all seems like its a very naive and overly simplistic way of viewing this problem.....I don't know.

The other thing I think it might help to accomplish, at least in the minds of people that can think rationally, is to show that hunters truly do care about animals and again, are willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to striving for a common goal. I don't really care about what others think about me as a hunter or why I choose to hunt, per say, but I do care about perception. As a mentor of mine is so fond of saying, perception is reality to a lot of people. And if the perception is that hunters truly do care about animals, not just to kill them and hang their heads on a wall, but are those who daily, go above and beyond to help animals, especially the threatened ones, then those rational thinkers will continue to support hunting, and hunters as they have in the past. As a others have written, hunting will still hold relevance in today's society. When it becomes irrelevant, you can kiss it good-bye.

Again, the real purpose I guess of this thread and the questions posed earlier, is to find out if anyone on here knows if these causes specifically are legitimate causes? I do realize it may be hard for some to risk disparaging, or praising specific operators for fear of reprisal, or being seen as favoring those mentioned. I certainly understand that. But any information would help. If it would be easier to respond in a PM that is fine as well.

And spike.t, if you have a program that funds anti-poaching operations as Brickburn mentioned, I'd be curious to hear more about it...

Sandman, brick has the right idea. Instead of donating to some causes, where more money goes to admin than the ground, rather support a legit outfitter. 1500$ a year would support an anti poaching scout a year.

There are a few in RSA that do some good work in parks.

South African National Parks Honorary Rangers
http://www.sanparksvolunteers.org

http://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_membership&id=814&cause_id=2552

Another:
http://www.zapwing.org

hi sandman we dont have an organisation, only have our game scouts on the reserve ( as everyone does) trying to combat the commercial meat poaching which is massively on the increase in most african countries, and we also try and monitor the illegal fishing on the kafue river on the section where Takeri is which ranges from illegal nets to using explosives...... we get assistance with this from local businesses inc Quantum mining who give 200ltrs of fuel a month. here are some good ones in zambia for you to check out

www.slcszambia.org

http://conservationlowerzambezi.org/

http://www.gamerangersinternational.org/

TMS said:

Sandman, brick has the right idea. Instead of donating to some causes, where more money goes to admin than the ground, rather support a legit outfitter. 1500$ a year would support an anti poaching scout a year.

Click to expand...

TMS,

Thanks for the input. Like I said, I am not opposed to giving to hunting operators, in fact I'm all for it in that most, if not all, of the anti-poaching operations carried on outside of the borders of African national parks such as Hwange in Zimbabwe, are carried out by hunting safari concession and private land operators. That's why I listed the DAPU effort by CMS earlier.

As Brickburn pointed out above, the organization I detailed earlier is a private, high profile business that is taking donations to patrol it's own concessions. On the surface it seems like it has the potential for abuse and unaccountability, however as I said before, I also fully realize that these concessions are vast, and require a lot of effort to patrol and combat poaching on a daily basis. In order to be truly effective and not simply be doing it for show, that effort takes money, and I suspect more than what comes in through hunting fees, although I'm not sure. If an operator was honest, and trustworthy, and thus applied the monies donated and designated for anti-poaching activities, that, coupled with the monies received from hunting clients, may start to make a difference in at least some of these GMAs, concessions, private lands, etc.. To me that's a win-win for all sides. It just takes finding the right company/operator, and that's where the hard work comes in. I think giving $1500.00 a year (in monthly, or quarterly installments) to fund an anti-poaching scout is a doable thing for me, and one I'm very interested in pursuing. I just need to do some more research.

The H.O.P.E. group I detailed above is a 503(c) entity that lobbies in Washington for anti-poaching, and is supported by SCI. As distasteful as I find lobbyists, and the undeniable fact that nothing in politics happens without them anymore, I realize that's how the game is played on a national and international level. Groups like this will be vital in applying pressure to politicians to try and combat poaching from the other end, such as applying sanctions and pressure on countries (i.e., China) where the demand for ivory, rhino horn, tiger and lion bones, etc. are the economic force that drive the poaching rings and syndicates. I agree that a lot of money spent by these organizations goes to admin, but unfortunately I feel that some of that has to be done to combat poaching from both ends. I'm not sure if I'll donate to these guys, but was more curious than anything if anyone knew about them, who the players were, and what their mission was. In other words, are they a worthy cause that has the potential to do good work.

Again, thanks to you and thanks to all for comments, suggestions, and help.

BRICKBURN said:

There are a few in RSA that do some good work in parks.

South African National Parks Honorary Rangers
http://www.sanparksvolunteers.org

http://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_membership&id=814&cause_id=2552

Another:
http://www.zapwing.org

Click to expand...

Brick,

Thanks for the info. I'll look into these for sure.

spike.t said:

hi sandman we dont have an organisation, only have our game scouts on the reserve ( as everyone does) trying to combat the commercial meat poaching which is massively on the increase in most african countries, and we also try and monitor the illegal fishing on the kafue river on the section where Takeri is which ranges from illegal nets to using explosives...... we get assistance with this from local businesses inc Quantum mining who give 200ltrs of fuel a month. here are some good ones in zambia for you to check out

www.slcszambia.org

http://conservationlowerzambezi.org/

http://www.gamerangersinternational.org/

Click to expand...

Mike,

Thanks so much for the info. I'll definitely look into it.

Zambia has a special place in my heart as I was there for 8 weeks many years ago on a medical missions trip mainly in the Kasempa province of North-Central Zambia, but also ventured into NW Zambia up near the Angolan border. We were based out of Mukinge Hospital. We were in the "bush" for many days at a time meeting, and trying to offer a small bit of help to the native people there. I met many great people there, but unfortunately time has moved on, and I have lost touch with all of them. I remember my short time there fondly. I also remember driving through the bush on long drives to our next village, seeing wildlife, and wishing that I could hunt them one day.

I really would love to come back one day, and hunt in Zambia.

pleasure sandman, and we look forward to seeing you in zambia one day. there are a small selection of zambian outfits to choose from on AH any of whom you will have a good time with. if you want any info just ask. cheers mike

ps you werent really that far from where Takeri is . if you look on the website it has map that shows you the location.

its approx 130 miles in a straight line from kasempa to takeri, but approx 300 miles by road....

spike.t said:

pleasure sandman, and we look forward to seeing you in zambia one day. there are a small selection of zambian outfits to choose from on AH any of whom you will have a good time with. if you want any info just ask. cheers mike

ps you werent really that far from where Takeri is . if you look on the website it has map that shows you the location.
its approx 130 miles in a straight line from kasempa to takeri, but approx 300 miles by road....

Click to expand...

I actually saw how close I was to you guys when I was there almost 20 years ago.

Thanks again of the info.

sandman you will see a big difference compared to 20 years ago, some for the better and some for the worse.............

Just saw PHASA is doing an auction to fund raise for a conservation program. Not sure if it is pure anti poaching though.

BRICKBURN said:

Just saw PHASA is doing an auction to fund raise for a conservation program. Not sure if it is pure anti poaching though.

Click to expand...

Saw that as well.....

Interesting thread Sandman because I've been looking at similar type organizations to donate too. The best way to combat poaching in probably to pick an outfit that is doing good anti-poaching work and hunt with them and support their efforts that way but donating to the right people is worthwhile as well. An outfit I've been looking at for donation is Zambezi Delta safaris in Moz. Craig Boddington endorses them and it looks like they have really have improved their area big time. They say it costs $200 a day to run their patrols and you can donate to cover a particular day or week,etc. Worth a look on their web site.

H50 said:

Interesting thread Sandman because I've been looking at similar type organizations to donate too. The best way to combat poaching in probably to pick an outfit that is doing good anti-poaching work and hunt with them and support their efforts that way but donating to the right people is worthwhile as well. An outfit I've been looking at for donation is Zambezi Delta safaris in Moz. Craig Boddington endorses them and it looks like they have really have improved their area big time. They say it costs $200 a day to run their patrols and you can donate to cover a particular day or week,etc. Worth a look on their web site.

Click to expand...

H50,

It's funny because I just received a newsletter from the H.O.P.E. organization I inquired about as well as I signed up for their newsletters. It appears they have partnered with both Zambezi Delta Safaris and their anti-poaching efforts in Moz, as well as the Charlton and McCollum safaris to support DAPU, which I asked about above as well. There's also links to a couple of interesting articles at the bottom of their newsletter that are worth reading.

http://saveivory.org/?wysija-page=1...&email_id=1&wysijap=subscriptions&user_id=128