Simien Mountains

To help build a corps of future conservation leaders and strengthen our relationship with the community we rebuilt the dilapidated Adisge Primary School, which now enrolls students in Grades one to eight. This revitalization included solar-panel installation to provide a reliable energy source that also benefits the Adisge community, as well as the construction of teacher residences. (Modern housing helps attract qualified teachers.)

Our sustainable land management program pays community members to rehabilitate damaged forests, build new earth banks, and check dams and contour ridges to prevent soil erosion. During the COVID pandemic, we helped Simien Mountains communities struggling due to tourism closures by starting a cash-for-work program. In return for cash, participants helped to restore park trails, clean campsites, and remove invasive species.

In Addis Ababa, we hold workshops to educate officers, prosecutors, and judges about wildlife crime laws through our wildlife judicial and prosecutorial assistance training program. We also provide training to help officials investigate crimes, work crime scenes, store and manage evidence, and testify effectively in court. Additionally, we monitor court case trends and support wildlife authorities in deploying canine detection units to help intercept illegal wildlife products at key transit hubs.

Ethiopia has suffered severe wildfires in recent years. To help manage the threat in the Simien Mountains, we partnered with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority to develop a fire management strategy, provide park managers with technical skills and fire-control equipment, increase ranger patrols, implement a satellite-based fire-detection system, and raise community awareness about wildfires. Hundreds of rangers and community members have been trained as part of this project.