Protecting Wildlife, Supporting Communities, Promoting Education

The poaching crisis in Tanzania has put many of Africa’s treasured wildlife under great threat. In the past three years alone, nearly 800 African rhinos have been killed for their horns, which are thought to have medicinal purposes in some Asian countries. Unfortunately this crisis is nothing new for African wildlife. Tusk Trust, an organization committed to investing in Africa, was launched in 1990 as a way to halt the drastic poaching crisis. Today, Tusk Trust has expanded its original mission to support forty projects in seventeen African countries, all which promote sustainable rural development to eliminate poverty, protect wildlife, and promote education. ARC is proud to be one of Tusk Trust’s important projects!

As a recipient of a Tusk Trust grant, ARC is able to support a conservation project in the Ruvu South Forest Reserve, which is located just outside of the urban hub of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This grant is being used to strengthen community-based institutions for natural resource managment with our field partner the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG). Since 1999, TFCG has been working with local communities in this area to promote Joint Forest Management (JFM), a system where local communities learn how to become stewards of their forest habitats in partnership with other stakeholders as a means towards conservation. The Ruvu South Forest Reserve is threatened primarily by illegal logging and charcoal production. JFM seeks to replace these descrutive practices with sustainable ones that are helping to rebuild the forests in this region.

Tusk Trust was founded on the principle that it is important to invest in Africa’s natural heritage and to protect that heritage so that wildlife, natural resources, and local communities can all exist harmoniously today and in the future.  ARC is committed to this same mission, which makes it partnership with Tusk Trust so special.

Learn more about ARC’s partnership with Tusk Trust 
Tusk Trust website 
Tusk Trust on Facebook