OUR PROJECTS
Here at the Safina Lion Conservation Fund we concentrate all of our work towards our Conservation Projects or our Education and Awareness Projects. Please find out more about our projects by clicking the links below. Unlike much larger wildlife conservation that may be able to fund their own conservation projects and initiatives we do not have such funds available to do work on such a large scale. At the Safina Lion Conservation Fund we use the funds that we have to assist conservation projects that are already working in situ to protect lions. Trustees have created a Donation Checklist to ensure that any conservation project we assist fits our charitable objects. Generally we find it best to help smaller projects on the ground who work and employ local people to conduct research and protection work. We also try to donate towards tangible objects or money that goes towards the local people rather than contributing to the administration costs of larger charities. We want to know that all the money raised by the public makes as big an impact as it possibly can. Here at the Safina Lion Conservation Fund we are proud to work with three different conservation partners in two different countries that work to protect and monitor lions in the wild.
OUR CONSERVATION PROJECTS
LION GUARDIANS
Since December 2017 we have sponsored a Lion Guardian. Founded in 2007 Lion Guardians has trained and supported communities at seven different sites to successfully protect wild lions. We sponsor a guardian in their core site just outside the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya.
MARA PREDATOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMME
The MPCP works in the Maasai Mara ecosystem. After nearly two years of planning in 2019 we made a donation to go towards their 'Collars for Conservation' project.
KOPE LION
In 2019 we made a donation to cover the cost of a GPS collar and the first year data transmission fee on a young male lion. Kope Lion are based in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. The collar has now been fitted on a young male named Laipangwa.
Picture above shows our current sponsored Guardian Kuya Kipampa .
Photo credit: Lion Guardian
Picture above shows Niels Mogensen of the MPCP and SLCF trustee James Welch.
Photo credit: Wild Arena Ltd
Picture above shows a member of the Kope Lion team with our sponsored collar.
Photo credit: Kope Lion
FUTURE KINGS PROJECT
Our collaring sponsorships with Kope Lion and the Mara Predator Conservation Programme have been grouped together as part of our new Future Kings Project. Working in line with our conservation strategy this project will see us able to work with more conservation partners towards the same goal of protecting and monitoring young sub adult male lions. To learn more about this project you can read our Future Kings Project Strategy if you look at the PDF link to the right.
OUR EDUCATION AND AWARENESS PROJECTS
We believe that educating the public about the plight of lions is incredibly important. Many people are completely unaware of their plight and without this realisation it is hard for projects to gain proper funding. We want people to realise the state of one of the World's most iconic animals. The way to do this is by spreading awareness and we believe that there is one very easy way that we can help spread this message - by working with zoos. Both of these projects work hand in hand together working through collaboration with zoos.
LEARN ABOUT
LIONS
This project sees us combine the free educational material on our website and our links with zoos all over the country. Our website currently hosts several pages of information about lion conservation, behaviour and husbandry as well as blogs of real life lion sightings. We also give out free educational leaflets to our zoo partners and have carried out educational talks.
AMBASSADORS FOR THE WILD
It has always been our intention to work with zoos, the name of our charity is after-all after a lioness born at a UK zoo. We believe that good zoos are a brilliant place to inspire the public to take an interest in the plight of their wild cousins and that their lions can be a very important resource to inspire and educate their visitors. This is why and how we work with zoos.