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“We can’t achieve sustainable conservation without involving the local communities. We can’t.”
Full of heartstopping moments, tender understanding, and unending passion for protecting wildlife, the wildlife rangers of Tsavo Trust’s Tembo Team Three devote their lives to being a force for good within Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.
The park, whose area totals roughly the size of Switzerland, is home to Kenya’s single largest population of elephants, as well as nurtures species including lions, rhinos, antelope, buffalo, leopards, over 600 species of birds, and much more. With such an abundance of biodiversity, however, the work of the nine Tsavo Trust ranger teams is critical to not only protecting wildlife and the habitats that support them, but also involves creating a culture for conservation education within local communities.
By following Tembo Team Three on their daily foot and vehicle patrols; monitoring and tracking wildlife; mitigating human-wildlife conflict; and checking in with one of Tsavo’s neighbouring community conservancies, the film reveals the immense responsibility that stopping poaching and bushmeat hunting is, while also sharing the uplifting growth of understanding and compassion for conservation work from the neighbouring Kamungi Conservancy.
A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
VIDA VERT SUSTAINABLE FILM FESTIVAL 2022
Created to tell the diverse and impactful stories of the climate movement, the Vida Vert Sustainable Film Festival brings together filmmakers, creatives, and activists for the purpose of sharing lived experiences, the challenges we face as a planet, and the organisations and solutions working to save us all.
OUR PARTNERS
Heart of the Wild would not have been possible without the time, talents, and contributions of our incredible partners. Learn more about their impactful work below.
Tsavo Trust is an organisation that works directly in the field to protect wildlife from both long-term and imminent threats, with the help of networks of wildlife rangers employed both by the Kenyan Wildlife Service and Tsavo Trust. It also empowers local communities to be self-governing, community-led wildlife conservancies.
Tusk Trust is an international organisation supporting the work of wildlife rangers across Africa. In 2020, Tusk and its partners organised the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, an international effort in which 100 ranger teams from 15 African nations mentally and physically compete in challenges aimed at raising funds in support of their work.
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The Nick Maughan Foundation is a key donor supporting both Tsavo Trust and the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, and aids in Tusk’s amplification of the impact of conservation initiatives across Africa. These include tackling poaching, combating habitat loss, and limiting human-wildlife conflict across the continent.