We are the leaders in Lion Conservation and have numerous successes and ongoing projects to support this cause. For an in-depth listing of our efforts, click here.

Click here to read about the Role of Conservation Force in African Lion Conservation.

We are partnering with this evolving community-based conservation project in Tete Province including the development of a game guard infrastructure. We closely monitor all elephant conservation across Africa particularly in Mozambique, Cameroon, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, and Angola where we have ongoing projects. View the Mozambique Elephant Initiative brochure.

We are funding the Ministry's Eld's Deer Management and Implementation of Smithsonian's conservation plan in Burma in conjunction with the IUCN Deer Specialist Group and Smithsonian.

We are working on the conservation of Red Lechwe in Botswana and Zambia by game guarding and management strategy.

In 2004 Conservation Force expanded its Barasingha Project in India to cover the remaining populations. We are now providing most of the conservation and support for nearly all of these endangered deer in India, which is the largest remaining population in the world.

In February 2004 Dr. James Teer field-inspected the three largest remaining Barasingha reserves in India. Conservation Force then expanded its program to the full limit of all remaining populations in partnership with the Wildlife Society of India with funds from Conservation Force's Ranching for Restoration Program in Texas. This has brought the conservation benefits of hunting of listed exotics in Texas to an all time high. No one is doing more to save Barasingha. Texas ranchers are virtually paying the whole conservation bill for the survival of the species through Conservation Force's program. The program is the definitive example of ex situ hunting enhancing the in situ survival of an endangered species. Conservation Force's Ranching for Restoration Program is also timely helping shield hunting of listed exotic game from anti-hunting litigation that has been threatened.

1. Conservation Force and its partners completed the construction of the Veterinary Clinic in Ethiopia in April 2004. The purpose of the clinic is the protection of the largest remaining reserve of Mountain Nyala from livestock diseases and to reward and incentivize the adjacent community in the Hanto/Dinsho Locality, Bale Zone Oromia Administrative Region. Phase 2 of the project included important conservation training and education of the local people. Contributors included Bert Klineburger of Conservation Force's Board, who initiated the project, Rocky Valley Hunting Safaris that oversaw it, and the Alamo Chapter of SCI, Mike Benben (Sr. and Jr.), Sheldon Brooks, Daniel Y. Butler, Dan Duncan, Gary Hansen, Greg Kitchens, Lee Lipscomb, Sherwin Scott, Renee and Paul Snider, Thornton Snider, the Louis Stumberg Family, the Stan Studer Family, Felix Widlacki, Co. Negussie Eshete, Bill and Ingrid Poole, and Conservation Force itself in memory of Dr. Bart O'Gara, deceased Conservation Force Board Member.

2. Wildlife Management Plan for the Galama Mountains, Ethopia: Year One We have participated in both short and long term projects crucial to the overall purpose of the Galama Mountains Conservation Fund. Click here to view the fund's brochure.

3. Conservation Force partners with and supports the Murulle Foundation in Ethiopia.

We are helping establish a national strategy, conservation plans and "conservancies" between large landowners in Paraguay to insure incentives and revenue for habitat and biodiversity preservation and the sustainable use of all wildlife.  We are developing and supporting jaguar conservation in four South American countries.

View the Faro Moro Jaguar Project brochure

View the 2002-2007 Faro Moro final report

We have initiated and are funding the first northeast and northern plains survey of Eld's deer of Cambodia, which is two-thirds of their range in Cambodia. We serve on the IUCN Deer Specialist Group's Eld's Deer Task Force and fund a special grant program for Eld's deer conservation within that Specialist Group.

We were involved the community-based wildlife management project in Chonnabuly District, Savannakhet Province by helping with the creation of a 93,000 hectare sanctuary for Elds Deer. The project also involved and in-depth focus on 1) Awareness and education, 2) Patrolling and enforcement, 3) Surveys and monitoring and, 4) Providing incentive to villagers for the protection of the deer. View the Conservation Force Eld's Deer Activities 2005 report.

We are participating in grizzly bear projects in Wyoming, British Columbia and Alaska.

We are working with the Yukon Outfitters Association and Canadian and Provincial Wildlife Authorities for the perpetuation and management of Wood bison. View the Wood Bison Initiative brochure.

We continue to participate in Black and White rhino conservation to help establish the appropriate long term conservation strategy.

We are spearheading the effort to perpetuate the survival of Namibia's Black-Faced
impala and prevent their hybridization. View the Black-Faced Impala brochure.

We monitor the population status of black bear across N. America and are working on recovery and other projects. View the America's Black Bears are Thriving report.

We have helped study Saiga status, planned, developed and funded a range nation workshop of all CIS authorities to manage and restore the antelope populations.

We are cooperatively taking pro-active steps to conserve, manage and restore Asian sheep and goat by holding workshops to establish management plans and strategies, then implement them and establish models for all to follow.

We are spearheading the development of Markhor conservation strategies across Pakistan. View the Pakistan Markhor Initiative brochure.

Important Development in Markhor Conservation

Update on Kashmir Markhor

1. Gulf of Boothia-We are actively working to establish a co-management agreement for polar bear between Greenland and Nunavut, reviewing the status of polar bear in the McClintock Channel population, petitioning for the sustainable use of Polar Bear in the Gulf of Boothia and much more.

2. Listing Position-We are by far, the foremost effective Polar Bear conservationists. Click here to view our comprehensive library of legal and literary documents on Polar Bear issues and projects.

We Support Desert Sheep Conservation in Mexico and Arizona.

We continue to spearhead the implementation of the Namibian Cheetah Strategic Management Plan, particularly private landowner and conservancy compacts. View the Namibian Cheetah Initiative brochure.

We Support and partner with the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust.

The Conservation Fund has formed an impressive coalition of local groups, landowners, guides and lodges and major foundations united around a simple idea: purchase land or conservation agreements from willing local landowners to affect landscape-scale conservation of intact habitats used by abundant wild salmon, trout, bear, caribou, moose and migratory waterfowl. In health terms, this is classic preventive medicine. more

This program helps ranchers obtain the two necessary permits needed to breed and cull exotic endangered game species. The USF&WS permits breeding and culling of listed exotics, proved that 10% of the trophy fees are directed to "enhancement" of the listed species. Read more

We partner with The Murulle Foundation and are involved in their efforts to protect the unique natural resources of Ethiopia by establishing projects that incorporate both scientific research and community development. Read more about the foundation and donation options.

We partner with and support the Safari Hunting Partnerships for Conservation - Building Bridges of Support to Hunting Areas in Zambia, a unique program for funding wildlife conservation - keeping safari hunting a lasting tradition in Africa and a viable land use option for rural communities in Zambia

We are leading the effort to re-establish Iran's full wildlife conservation base.

We are spearheading the establishment of model habitat conservation plans on private lands to reduce fragmentation and preserve the countries biodiversity.

We are deeply involved in the development of Norms and Standards for improved conservation practices in South Africa.

Our African newsletter is African Indaba, which is circulated widely and covers a broad array of conservation issues. It is edited by CF Board Member, Gerhard Damm and circulated to more than 12,000 readers as a free public service.
 

We participate in wetland restoration and perpetuation, hold conservation easements, serve on the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation Board, Louisiana Black Bear Committee, Louisiana Wildlife Federation Board, etc.

We publish educational material, maintain a reference library, provide keynote speakers, produce films, publish newsletters and issue alerts and press releases to further our exempt purposes.

Concern for human-wildlife conflict has increased in Africa in the last few years. The focus on conflict provides a different prospective for problem solving. The survival of ecosystems as a whole and wildlife in particular are vitally dependent upon the coexistence of local people with wildlife. The conflicts threaten the very existence of wildlife. Those conflicts take many forms. Three forms have recently been studied in the Masai Mara area of Kenya. They provide interesting insight to those that care about Africa, its people and its wildlife. more

We are partners in the vocational re-training of those identified to be the most active poachers into alternative occupational vocations as well as serve on the ADMADE College Advisory Panel.  more

We are a land trust. We are establishing conservation easements to maintain wild places for wildlife on private lands for their perpetual sustainable use in their natural condition. View the Conservation Easements brochure.

                                (Click on a thumbnail to view a larger map of each easement.)

  La Petite Riviere Easement                   Marshall Easement                  Tangipahoa River Island & Shoreline

Dugas Waterfrontage Easement         Zachary Mitigation Bank

Conservation Force continues to develop its land trust division. More private landowners are considering donation of conservation easements to Conservation Force. We can also serve as a land trust for organizations that support us and desire or need to partner to save habitat. In August 2008, the Delta Land Trust added to that growth by making a $10,000 contribution to Conservation Force in a ceremony at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Delta Land Trust is a long-established easement bank in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana where Conservation Force's land holdings and easements presently exist, though we hope to expand into other states throughout the country and in foreign lands that have legal provisions for conservation easements. The easements are created by donating development rights on private land to a non-profit, public, charitable foundation such as Conservation Force. It is a tax-deductible, charitable contribution for the landowner and serves wildlife conservation and the public good by preserving and/or restoring the land to its wild state forever. To date, many of Conservation Force's land and easement holdings are on rivers, streams and waterways. That fits well with the Scenic River Act of Congress that was designed to help preserve valuable river borders, and with recovery efforts for the "threatened" listed Louisiana black bear. Conservation Force has long been a member and partner of the Louisiana black Bear Conservation Committee, which was selected and cited as a model at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. Water frontage appraises higher because of its potential as frontage lots for developments. Consequently, easement donors get higher tax deductions for their creation.

Why do we do this? For the same reason we are a conservation organization. We are saving land for hunters now and in the future. Hunting cannot be saved, much less game to hunt, without saving the habitat necessary for both. It is the root of all biodiversity.

Conservation Force's Ranching for Restoration Program helps provide habitat for all wildlife, not just those species at risk that are the intended direct beneficiaries.

Conservation Force's participation in Communal-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) in developing countries around the world is designed to give habitat value in its wild state through alternative uses that maintain that status.

Our partnership with conservancies is a form of CBNRM and is also designed to expand and restore wild habitat.

We serve on the CITES Standing Committee's Livelihoods Working Group.

Conservation Force's Doorways to Waterways Program is designed to complement the Scenic River Act, maintain waterways and shorelines for recreational use as well as navigable streams for their fish, waterfowl and recreational value.  This includes enhancing recreation use by installation of private navigational aids, removal of navigation hazards and costal restoration.  Many of Conservation Force's easement holdings are on waterways and habitat bordering waterways.

We serve on the Robin Hurt Wildlife Foundation Board as Trustee and Treasurer to help support and direct its projects in Tanzania and we are its U.S.A. funding partner. John J. Jackson, III serves as its Treasurer. more

We serve on and support this foundation in Tanzania for anti-poaching and community development. In 2006, CF co-hosted a large gala dinner in Gaylord, Texas and raised more than $300,000 for WCFT.

We are providing professional and technical services in the support of special wildlife educational displays at the foundation headquarters in St. George, Utah.

John Jackson of Conservation Force is the President of the Sustainable Use Commission of CIC, Vice President of its Tropical Game Commission, and a member of CIC's Executive Committee. Shane Mahoney is the Vice President of the Sustainable Use Commission. Gerhard Damm is the Vice President of the Sustainable Use Commission and The Tropical Game Commission. more

We serve on five committees, including the Sustainable Use Committee, Legal Committee, Endangered Species Committee, International Affairs Committee, and the Wildlife Policy Committee. more

We serve on all commissions and attend all World Congresses. We support many IUCN projects. more

We are a CITES International Observer NGO that participates and contributes to all conferences of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species to conserve species threatened or endangered by trade. more

Conservation Force funded and participated in the Sustainable Use Specialist Group Symposium & Workshop. Among several important issues, the workshop held identify Strong Links Between Recreational Hunting, Conservation & Rural Livelihoods. Read more here.

We are helping establish Comprehensive Conservation Plans on 94 million areas of the NWR System.

We are part of international team developing practical solutions that address complex factors which balance conservation with human population growth. The research team will conduct a series of interrelated projects in Tanzania and Botswana by summer of 2006. more

We continue to lead the effort to have the ESA administered properly and successfully
by incorporating positive incentives and flexibility for modern management practices.

We helped found and have served on the nominating and steering committee of the AWCP - America's 42 leading sportsmen's conservation organizations.

We have partnered with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission's Wildlife Research Institute and others to utilize DNA samples in lieu of tags to track and study tarpon in Louisiana and throughout the range of tarpon. We have local offices in Metairie and Venice and distribute the DNA sampling kits, later collecting and mailing them for testing free of charge.

The kit contains a small, abrasive sponge that is used to scrape the outside of the silver jaw plate. The silver, not the slime, is needed for a DNA sample. The sponge is then placed in the vial of harmless solution until delivery to Conservation Force. The date, place (coordinates preferred), fisherman and length of the fish should also be provided. We do the rest.

More than 1,800 tarpon samples were analyzed in 2006 and 2007. Unlike regular tags, the DNA samples don't fall off and they last forever. Those that want the periodic reports only need to give their email address to Conservation Force. The kits are available at its two offices or at club meetings.

Conservation Force is a long time supporter, member and partner member of the BBCC Coalition to save "threatened" listed black bear in Louisiana. The program extends to Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.

The mission of the BBCC is to restore the Louisiana black bear to its historic range through education, research and management of habitat and populations. The BBCC will accomplish its mission through partnerships among stakeholders, credible science-driven management, cooperation, and a genuine commitment to bear restoration. The organization believes that a healthy bear population can be an asset to the community and bears can coexist with other land use objectives. Since its founding in 1990, the BBCC has been reversing those factors that brought about the decline of the Louisiana black bear. Without the support of the general public, and the private landowner in particular, the Louisiana black bear will not recover. By working together, the BBCC believes they can help restore a truly unique and magnificent component of our natural heritage.

Conservation Force holds and administers conservation easements/servitudes in the heart of the "primary" as well as the "secondary" recovery areas. The recovery of the black bear crosses over into our Habitat Program. more

Thanks to Conservation Force Board of Advisors member Wayne Lau, we are partnering in a new project in Cameroon. Its name stands for Cameroon Natural Resources, which is a communal-based natural resource management program (CBNRM). CAMNARES is a new Cameroon wildlife conservation NGO. It was formed to use trophy hunting as a force for wildlife conservation and for rural development. Of course, the object of the rural development is to improve the quality of the lives of the rural residents.

Already the project has provided the people of the Kong Valley access to clean water. Wayne Lau reports, "I first thought I was working with CAMNARES to do a chasse libre, or "free chase" hunt for bongo antelope. It turned out to be much bigger, including the rebuilding of water wells for people living in the hunting area. I was surprised that even a Prince for the village was studying wildlife conservation in South Africa and my hunting, at least initially, was part of a grand strategy."

CAMNARES CEO Armand Biko'o explains, "In our chasse libre hunts, foreign trophy hunters work directly with trackers and porters recruited from villages in hunting areas rather than professional hunting guides. This provides local communities with a much needed source of direct income by way of salaries and trophy fees. Most importantly, it shows villagers that thriving wildlife is more valuable than bush meat, encouraging conservation."

Lau was the third hunter CAMNARES arranged to hunt in the transition forests of Kong. Upon his arrival at Kong, he discovered that the Kong village water pumps were broken and over 2,000 inhabitants were without clean water and at risk of water-borne diseases. CAMNARES and Wayne, through Conservation Force, decided to jointly fund the building of three water wells with labor contributed by the villagers. Under CAMNARES' management, the purchase of materials and well construction were completed within one month.

CAMNARES started as a non-profit, non-government organization (NGO) by Biko'o and Maliki Birosse Wardjomto, Cameroon's first two Master Degree students studying Nature Conservation at Tshwane University in South Africa. Their studies are supported by scholarships from international conservation groups, particularly Shikar Safari Club International, which also funded the first two years of the education of the Prince of Kong. With the help of CAMNARES and Wayne, Conservation Force is funding the Prince's third year at Tshwane University in Pretoria. CAMNARES may well turn out to be another of Shikar Safari Club International and Conservation Force's success stories.

In the 2008 season, chasse libre bongo hunts in Kong are being organized for CAMNARES by Eugene Yap from Southpoint Safaris, Safari Club International Outfitter of the Year in 2004. More projects may be coming. As CAMNARES Deputy CEO Wardjomto foresees, "We are planning pilot conservation community hunts with villages in Cameroon's northern savannah areas as well as in the southeastern forests."

Conservation Force is acting as a fiduciary-funding partner to the project, but has been asked to play an even greater role in the development of the conservation strategy. We are fortunate that Wayne has graciously agreed to fund part of the development and to be our man on the ground.

Conservation Force has had a long-term commitment to conserving argali and perpetuating argali hunting. In 2008 we are renewing and reinitiating those efforts with additional partners and resolve. Tentatively, this new program is to be called Sheep-Force. It will be operated as a program, not just a project of Conservation Force, for it will cover at least five different countries and multiple species of sheep and mountain species.

One of the first steps was to do an up-to-date Freedom of Information Act request to the USF&WS’s International Division for a copy of their internal determinations underlying argali trophy imports over the past three years (2005, 2006 and 2007) from Mongolia, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyz, Kyrgyzia and Kyrgyzstan). We filed the FOIA request in November, but did not receive the data until mid-February. There are two separate determinations made by separate parts of the Division of Management Authority (DMA) for each of the three countries. An ENHANCEMENT EVALUATION is made by Senior Biologist Mike Carpenter each year for each country. It analyzes all available data, confirms whether or not the respective country’s argali quota is supportable and, most importantly, determines whether or not the imports that are biologically supportable “will provide enhancement to the species and its habitat” in that respective country.

A separate INTRA-SERVICE SECTION 7 BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION FORM is completed by the Division of Management Authority with the separate written concurrence of the Chief of the Branch of Permits of DMA and the Chief of the Branch of Consultation & Monitoring of the Division of Scientific Authority. They make a finding of the likelihood that the hunting will adversely affect the species which includes a review of the quota and its reduction to reduce the risk of possible adverse effects. That is three different biologists in two different divisions.

We originally requested the up-to-date determinations from the USF&WS to use at a meeting Conservation Force was invited to with the Mongolian authorities and WWF concerning the management of Mongolian argali. Readers may remember that Conservation Force successfully provided the legal representation of Mongolia in the suit the antis filed but lost to stop the importation of argali trophies several years ago. Because of that, we held the attention of the Mongolian officials at the meeting, but did not receive the FOIA return in time to use it there to give them a better understanding of the process and ability to deal with it. The materials have been forwarded on to WWF for Mongolia’s benefit since that meeting.

One thing that can be gleaned from the 68 pages of documents is the formula that is used by the Service to decide the number of imports it will allow. The Service does not allow the import of more than 2% of the estimated population and reduces that by a number equal to twice the legal quota established by the foreign wildlife authorities. An example is Mongolia in the 2006/2007 season. The estimated total population was more than 13,000, so the sustainable take of 2% was 260 animals. Mongolia’s quota was 60, so the Service deducted 140 to 150 animals estimated to be poached from the 260, leaving a balance of 110, thus concluding that the quota of 60 was within conservative range. The Service accepted the full number of Gobi permits Mongolia intended, 45, but not the number of Altai permits desired, 25. Because of specific issues with the Altai populations, the Service has limited that restricted area to 10 imports per year, at least until that area’s population is better known and verified.

Of some concern to us is the report that the Mongolian “Ministry indicates that they intend to conduct surveys of both Altai and Gobi populations beginning in July, 2008. That is the wrong time of the year to locate argali that can be expected to be widely dispersed. One has to wonder about the motive of surveying them when they can’t be found. We don’t know if such a survey was commenced, but do know it will not be comparable to earlier surveys in November. Regardless, Sheep-Force is intending greater participation itself to help take surveys that will be successful and be repeatable.

The promising news is that there is no apparent decrease in horn size for the better part of a decade in the three countries, all three countries are reported to now have management plans, most populations are stable or increasing, a great deal of habitat has been set aside for protection and the quotas are generally conservative.
 

Another project that Conservation Force partners in is COMACO (Community Markets for Conservation) in Zambia. This is a project that first identifies, then transforms poachers to alternative livelihoods at the cost of less than $700 per poacher. This conservation and development strategy was devised by Dale Lewis of WCS. It was initially funded by Conservation Force with the help of two of our donor partners, the International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife (Prince H.I.H. Abdorezza of Iran) and Kevin Malone. Today it is a much broader-reaching project than those early days and is funded by an assortment of partners.

In 2007 Conservation Force again stepped into the picture with the purpose of expanding the project into the habitat of the ESA "threatened" listed red lechwe. We did that with funds from our Ranching for Restoration Program in Texas which directs funds from participating ranches in Texas to enhancement projects for specific hunted exotics to on-the-ground projects around the world for those same select species. In 2007 the sum from Conservation Force was $10,000, which WCS was able to get others to match for a total of $20,000. In 2008 the sum from Conservation Force was again $10,000 which is being matched by hunting operators in Zambia and a tourist operator as well for a total of $30,000.

It's too early to analyze the population trend of red lechwe, but the results of the project in the existing areas are clear. Animal populations that had been declining are now documented to be increasing. Although all the populations were in decline before, no significant decrease can any longer be found. Many of the species are showing increases (see here).

By any measure, this is the foremost red lechwe conservation project in the world. It was initiated and is funded primarily by hunting and hunters. Conservation Force's other Ranching for Restoration projects include the Eld's deer and barasingha species. Those too are the foremost projects in the world for those ESA and CITES-listed species. We are building the ranch base in the United States and expanding the projects in the countries of the respective species' origin. It is truly a Conservation Force conservation invention that others have not yet managed to mimic.

Conservation Force is a supporter and partner of the WAKE Project in Kalahari regions of Botswana. Click here for a project description.

Conservation Force supports a project to increase the tiger population in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in northwest Thailand. The forest complex is estimated to have 720 tigers, but could carry as many as 2,000 with the proper prey base.

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