Elephants are a species whose lifespan mirrors our own: With health and luck on their side, an elephant can walk the earth for upwards of 70 years. Just as we think about the world we want to create for our children, we must also think about a long-term viable future for elephants.

Having raised hundreds of orphaned elephants over the years, many now forging wild lives, saving habitats and securing a future for Africa’s giants is very much at the forefront of our mission. And that is where our Saving Habitats Project comes in. In the last decade, we have embarked on ambitious plans to secure and manage key wildernesses across Kenya. Many of these critical habitats border existing National Parks and protected lands, thereby securing and creating vital buffer zones and wildlife corridors that link up ecosystems and Conservation Areas across Kenya. Others are in threatened areas that would otherwise be lost forever. While Saving Habitats is a long-term endeavour, its effect is immediate.

With your help, we have the opportunity to increase our conservation footprint: The generous matching fund of $250,000 has been offered to the Trust in support of our Saving Habitats initiatives, so that we can protect a greater space for wildlife, now and into the future. Any donation you choose to make through this campaign will be doubled, significantly enhancing the impact of your gift at a field level.

Rescuing orphaned elephants is only the start of a long-term investment we make in these animals and their lives. The time they spend in our care, while formative, is but a brief chapter in a life that spans well over half a century. As we nurture today’s orphans, and so many others like them through their vulnerable, milk-dependent years, we are always looking ahead. One day, they will be nurturing their own families, and we must ensure they have the safe space they need for generations to come. Already, 38 calves have been born to orphans we rescued, raised and reintegrated back into the wild, and our baby boom is growing exponentially.

And that is where our Saving Habitats Project comes in. In the last decade, we have embarked on ambitious plans to secure and manage key wildernesses across Kenya. Many of these critical habitats border existing National Parks and protected lands, including Tsavo East and West National Parks – the future home of many of the orphans in our care. Thereby securing and creating vital buffer zones and wildlife corridors that link up ecosystems and Conservation Areas across Kenya. Others are in threatened areas that would otherwise be lost forever. While Saving Habitats is a long-term endeavour, its effect is immediate.

We have already accomplished a great deal, but still there remain important opportunities to grasp — some of which were brought about by the challenges of the past year. So far in 2021, we have been afforded a rare opportunity to secure an additional 120,000 acres of wilderness. We will be uniquely positioned to fortify these areas — much like we have the ones below — and further protect and secure a vast wilderness.

Once we become the stewards of an area, we must implement the infrastructure to ensure it remains a viable habitat. We invest a great deal of time and resources to ensure our approach solves the real challenges facing each unique place, be it securing borders through electric fencelines, implementing daily anti-poaching patrols, rehabilitating degraded landscapes, and more. These conservation measures also serve local communities, providing employment, protecting their livelihoods from marauding elephants, and reducing potentially lethal instances of human-wildlife conflict. When habitats are secured, everyone benefits.

With your support, and through this most generous matched giving fund, we can further invest in our Saving Habitats footprint to help ensure that Kenya’s wildlife survives our rapidly changing world.