Anti-Poaching Environmental Studies and Education
The Eshkesh Conservation Fund is a nonprofit organization founded in 2013 by Eshkesh Safari Ltd and is the primary contributor to ECF
The majority of all the hunting concessions in Tanzania have a high human population along their boundaries. These communities are, for the most part, subsistence farmers or pastoral herders living on the poverty line who view the wilderness areas on their doorsteps as their only resource base.
These areas are protected by legislation, preventing it’s utilization by the local communities. A conflict of interest develops between the communities and conservationists, which includes hunting companies. This is emphasized by the fact that the considerable revenue generated from tourist hunting is absorbed by the central government and used countrywide. Little of this money reaches the communities where the revenue was originally generated.
Community Development
The management of our area includes different projects in the villages adjoining our concession area. It is very important to make clear that carefully managed hunting in the concession area is far more profitable for the people as well as for the environment than any other form of land use. We continue to build the trust of the people in the neighboring villages.
Direct assistance managed and implemented on behalf of Eshkesh conservation fund ensures that the whole community benefits as opposed to individuals in the community. Communities must submit a formal written proposal requesting specific projects to Eshkesh Conservation Fund for consideration.
Once approved, ECF will use their contractor, under direct supervision, to complete the approved project on the villager’s behalf. We have built and continue to build schools, churches, dispensaries, administration buildings and dams to support the local communities.
We also finance ongoing projects like providing schools with school supplies, furniture to Government administration buildings and dispensaries with medical supplies, along with famine relief throughout the concession area.
Environmental Studies &Education
Environmental Studies and Education ECF now has a certified environmental officer on staff who is involved in ongoing environmental impact assessments of all land types within our concession area. He is assisting with environmental education within the neighboring villages together with participating in many ongoing projects such as: mapping and digitizing through GIS (Geographic Information System) data capturing The information collected by our environmental officer so far has been very important and has brought to light what further management can be carried out in the concession area.
ANTI-POACHING
A crucial element of conservation is obviously the need for anti-poaching. Each and every day, the local population encroaches into Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), Game Controlled Areas (GCA) and Game Reserves (GR), looking to earn a living. This is a result of the ever increasing population of the local towns and villages. ECF spends an incredible amount of resources on patrolling this area, with a year-round presence. This will ensure that our children can still enjoy what we and our forefathers have enjoyed.
It also helps not only to protect the animals, but to protect the natural habitat such as forest ecosystems, that disappear at an alarming rate due to charcoal burning or illegal logging. The patrol units go on routine patrols looking for signs of any type of poaching which might be taking place in our concession area. Meat and hide poaching is illegal to take place in any concession area and when poachers are caught there is a case immediately opened against them.
The most common way of capturing animals are the non-selective methods used such as snares which cause a slow and painful death to any animal which might venture into it’s path. Snares are 100 % successful in its work. Woodcutting, charcoal making, honey gathering and fishing are only allowed to be practiced with a valid permit in a GCA for a set time limit. Our anti-poaching teams have numerous obstacles that lie ahead. We have been able to witness that all of our anti-poaching teams are dedicated to conserving our concession area that we have the privilege and honor of managing for the country of Tanzania.