ifaw partners with the for-purpose venture EarthToday to help protect wildlife and communities

IFAW is proud to announce that it has partnered with the purpose-driven platform EarthToday to help protect wildlife habitats and drive awareness for the issues facing our planet, such as climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity. Visitors to the EarthToday platform will be able to explore IFAW curated stories, interviews, images and videos from our global projects that span wildlife crime prevention, landscape conservation, wildlife rescue and marine research.

From in-depth interviews, roundtables to op-eds, the platform allows audiences who are passionate about conservation to find out about the actions we can all take to make a difference. 

As well as increasing awareness among its audience, EarthToday is also helping to secure vital wildlife habitats. EarthToday is working towards the goal of protecting 50% of our planet by 2050 under the #NatureNeedsHalf global campaign.

To do this, EarthToday and IFAW are empowering visitors to take action. For €1.20 ($2.14 AUD) they can protect 1m2 of land that is protected and managed by one of their NGO partners, including IFAW. And receive a digital certification of protection registered to their name. The money raised by EarthToday is then reinvested back into the organisations. This allows them to continue their work to protect and restore more landscapes that animals and people call home.

As a founding partner of EarthToday, visitors can help protect their own square metre in IFAW’s ‘Kitenden Corridor’ project. 

How our work helps endangered African elephants and local communities thrive

In Amboseli National Park and its neighbouring community lands, habitat loss and degradation from the effects of climate change and urbanisation threatens both elephants and the local Maasai community. As elephants search for food and water, they destroy crops planted along their migratory routes. This can lead to fatal incidents of human-wildlife conflict.  

In 2013, IFAW signed an agreement with the local Maasai communities in the Olgulului/Ololarashi Group Ranch (OOGR). This agreement secured 26,000 acres of land providing a safe migratory route and dispersal area of elephants in this region to roam.

In return, we work with local community members to facilitate peaceful coexistence between people and animals within the habitats they share and ensure community needs are met. To date, we’ve provided scholarships for community rangers and students to further their education. We’ve trained female landowners and community rangers. Promoted elephant tourism in the region to create a new stream of revenue for communities. We’ve developed the Kitenden Wildlife Conservancy into a community-owned income-generated conservancy which helped over 80% of landowners open a bank account for the first time. 

And now, by protecting 1m2 at a time, EarthToday users can help us continue this vital work in Kenya. Ensuring both animals and people have the opportunity to thrive. For example, by providing safer and securer housing for the rangers that protect wildlife in the OOGR. Or securing first-time employment for local Maasai women.

Together, we know we can make a difference. 

How you can help

Click to learn more about our work to protect elephants in Amboseli.

Visitors who protect a square metre of the Kitenden Corridor project can see updates on their protected landscape on IFAW’s EarthToday deck. Find out more about our partner EarthToday and the important work they are doing to protect our planet.