Elephant conservation and community development

The mission of Wildlife Connection is to simultaneously improve human livelihoods and promote the conservation of natural resources, particularly of elephants, in Tanzania.

We do this by:

-Ensuring people are aware of the benefits their communities currently receive from protecting elephants.

-Creating additional benefits to local people of protecting elephants.

-Improving human livelihoods in ways that are linked to elephant conservation.

-Reduce elephant crop-raiding behavior.

Currently, we are recruiting volunteers to work with us in Tanzania between January – April 2015, but we will accept applications year-round. Responsibilities vary according to shifting program needs but will include a combination of the following (please note that all necessary training will be provided):

-Working with local farmers to build, erect, monitor and maintain beehive fences, which are used to protect crops from elephant crop-raiding.

-Develop and maintain relationships with local farmers who are using beehive fences; help measure and improve the effectiveness of the fences.

-Help develop a cooperative among the local farmers to process, bottle, label, distribute and sell the “elephant safe” honey produced with the beehive fences.

-Help to organize environmental education video evenings in villages bordering Ruaha National Park.

-Work with Tanzanian staff to develop basic computer skills (ie: using the internet, and working with excel).

-Help with outreach and fundraising activities, such as the organization of the International --March for Elephants in Iringa.

-Help with teaching environmental education to children both in schools, and in informal outdoor settings.

-Map elephant corridors and human elephant conflict events using GPS.

-Help to develop a growing network of libraries in local villages.

-Monitor and identify elephants residing inside the park and in the Wildlife Management area; this growing database will allow us to monitor the local elephant population over time.

Volunteers will also have the opportunity to participate in game drives as well as elephant monitoring inside Ruaha National Park, for an additional fee. Ruaha is the largest park in Tanzania and represents one of the country’s most biologically rich and ecologically important regions. You can expect to closely observe elephant, lion, hippo, giraffe, zebra, impala, and sometimes also cheetah and leopard, as well as a great variety of birds and other small mammals.

To learn more about the position and how to apply, please visit our website: http://thewildlifeconnection.org/how-you-can-help/volunteering/.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with us!