KARIBA ANIMAL WELFARE FUND TRUST- appeal for
donations – small or big
The Kariba Animal Welfare Fund Trust (KAWFT) is a registered trust and was
formed in 2010, by a group of conservation minded Kariba residents who were
concerned about the numbers of snared and injured animals that were being found
in the Kariba area. They realised that Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife
Authority manpower and resources were limited, so they formed an alliance with this regulatory body to assist them in
the protection of the wild life in the Kariba area.
Over the years, the operation has grown to the point where a team
consisting of 2 KAWFT "Scouts" and 1 ZIMPARKS ranger are out on
patrol 5 days a week in various areas in and around Kariba, looking for and
removing snares, as well as seeking to curtail any illegal wildlife activities
or environmental degradation, such as illegal tree cutting. It was this team
that discovered the recent snared lion.They also now have equipment that allows
the teams to do 2 and 3 night overnight patrols in such places as Zebra and
Antelope Island.
Because KAWFT now have a local resident licensed professional guide who
has a Dangerous Drugs License for darting wild animals, the ZIMPARKS have come
to rely on KAWFT whenever they have a snared or injured animal, and this has
even covered such instances as far afield as Mana Pools. They also have an
arrangement with Harare based wild life experienced veterinarians who are on
call to attend whenever necessary.
There is no doubt that their efforts have been successful as they have
removed many hundreds of snares and been involved in the saving of many snared
animals including elephants, buffalo,zebra, hyena and the odd lion and smaller
antelope. Also the numbers of snared animal incidents has decreased, and the
numbers of game around Kariba, and on the foreshore, has increased both in
numbers and variety.
KAWFT activities are now wide ranging, as they also get involved in
anything else that will protect the animals and environment, such as clean up
and collection of road side garbage, and this year undertook a major project,
namely the complete diamond mesh and electric fencing around the Kariba
Municipal rubbish dump. This was necessary as the elephants and other game were
foraging and ingesting plastic and other toxic materials, from which some of
them unfortunately died.This fence was funded buy a few donors but the majority
was from a German Aid Agency.
While all the management and control is undertaken by volunteers, there are always of expenses! These include wages, rations and uniforms for the game scouts,
vehicle operating costs including fuel, insurance and repairs and maintenance,
cell phone airtime and internet, 2 way radios and licenses, rations donation to
ZIMPARKS, publicity material, etc etc. At present this is mainly funded by a
few regular private donors in small amounts, by a number of 'one off' donations
both cash and kind, and by fund raising events, all of this, while greatly
appreciated, unfortunately makes the cash flow irregular; this makes
current operations difficult and future planning problematic. At this time,
their one and only vehicle is off the road and in need of major repairs, so the
deployment of game scouts etc., is being undertaken by volunteers in their
private vehicles.
KAWFT's funds are strictly and transparently controlled. What is
needed is a regular and reliable
source of funding, and this is the
reason for this appeal. I am soliciting
regular donations, either monthly, quarterly, 6 monthly or annually in an
amount of your choosing but no amount will be to small, (regularity of
payment is more important than the amount), from anyone who has an interest
in Kariba, or a general interest in preserving the wild life around Kariba, or
purely because this is a just cause that is worthy of philanthropic support.
Derek Adamson
Kariba Resident Fundraiser.
Cell 0779410914
DONATION PAYMENT OPTIONS
ECO CASH REGISTERED NUMBERS for donations below
Sonya Mc Master
(Registered Name – Stroebel) 0772 874 352
Debbie Ottman 0773 996 487
CABS PAYMENTS:
CABS KARIBA
ACC NAME – KARIBA ANIMAL WELFARE FUND TRUST
ACC No: 100 265 7636
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