AWF Launches UK Operations

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) hosted its inaugural event in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2018 at the Royal Geographical Society. 100 guests from the government, media, private sector, individual donors, and other groups took part in an evening highlighting the beginning of AWF operations in the U.K.

AWF’s U.K. Director Kirstin Johnson was joined by Vice President of Species Protection Philip Muruthi to discuss AWF’s holistic landscape approach to conservation, work with communities on human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and critical engagement on advocacy with African decision makers.

One notable aspect of AWF’s conservation plan is the use of sniffer dogs that detect illegal wildlife parts at strategic airports and shipping ports throughout the continent. A brief video highlighted various ways that the dogs have helped curb trafficking in countries such as Uganda and Kenya.

“Thanks to everyone who supported me to make the U.K.’s inaugural event at the RGS such a success,” said Johnson. “It was wonderful to see people from conservation, the media, trusts and foundations, the business and corporate sector, the U.K. government and, of course, some long-standing individual donors in the U.K., as well as our U.K.-based current and former trustees all come together to hear about AWF’s work on species protection and the illegal wildlife trade.”

The event was a successful beginning to what will undoubtedly be a collaborative and fruitful expansion for AWF into Europe.