Baraza

For those who have been visiting WildlifeDirect.org in recent months you will have noticed a tremendous growth in blogs – from 17 in August last year to 63 today, and from 2 countries to 17 countries in Africa and beyond. We have seen a massive rise in visitation from less than 20,000 per month last June to 70,000 per month today. We have raised $25,000 in February for 30 blogs. We are feeling mighty proud of this achievement and the truth is that this is all thanks to you, our supporters.

Many of our visitors ask how they can help. I hope that this post will be attractive to some of you.

1. We need experienced bloggers to help us in networking more effectively. We need to spread the word and promote the work of our bloggers to get more attention and interest. This can be done from anywhere in the world with good internet access.

2. We are appealing to anyone who is interested in training to help with the production of training materials in a variety of languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Kiswahili for our bloggers. We are thinking of producing a blogging manual for WildlifeDirect bloggers. This can e done anywhere in the world.

3. As you know, all funds raised on blogs are earmarked entirely for those blogs. WildlifeDirect costs are raised separately. We need help in raising funds for the core team to support the bloggers in the field. Ideas for foundations, organizations, companies or other sources of funds would be much appreciated.

4. We are interested in expanding further through Africa, Asia and South America. If you know of any potential projects, connect us.. put us in touch.

5. We have heard that university students may be interested in participating in WildlifeDirect through conservation groups. We would be very interested in coordinating with anyone who is willing to raise awareness about WildlifeDirect and our blogs through universities or other institutions. Later this year (September) we will be holding some events in New York, Atlanta, and Washington DC and I could potentially meet with organized groups at these times.

I am in the United states until mid April and would be very interested in following up directly with those interested. Please write to  paula at wildlifedirect.org or leave a comment on this blog.

I look forward to hearing from you! Paula Kahumbu, Consevation Partnerships Director