Wildlife ACT Fund Trust

Wildlife ACT Fund Trust, commonly known as Wildlife ACT, is a South African non-profit conservation organisation founded in 2008 by Johan Maree, Chris Kelly and Dr Simon Morgan. It was established to address a gap in African wildlife management: many game reserves lack the funds or capacity to run effective monitoring programmes, even though monitoring is essential for informed management. Wildlife ACT's model is to initiate, implement and manage wildlife monitoring projects on reserves that have no existing programmes, or to take over projects that reserves can no longer fund or manage, providing these services free of charge. The organisation is headquartered in South Africa and operates primarily in Zululand, with additional marine and terrestrial conservation volunteering in the Seychelles. Its field teams monitor and protect endangered species such as African Wild Dogs, Black Rhinos, Cheetahs and Vultures, as well as priority species including Elephants, Lions and Leopards. Wildlife ACT also supports habitat protection, range expansion, species translocations, reintroductions and post-release monitoring, and works with communities around protected areas to promote human-wildlife coexistence. Wildlife ACT funds its conservation work largely through its volunteer programme, which it describes as Africa's only WWF-partnered conservation programme dedicated to ethical conservation and ecosystem restoration. Volunteers join small teams of no more than six people and assist with daily tracking and monitoring. The organisation has received multiple awards for its conservation work and positions itself as a science-led, field-based conservation organisation driven by a vision of Thriving Wildlife, Resilient Ecosystems and Empowered People. As a non-profit trust, Wildlife ACT is not a listed company and does not have publicly traded shares. Its operations are supported by volunteer contributions, partnerships and donations. The organisation continues to focus on endangered wildlife monitoring, emergency response, habitat protection and community engagement in Southern Africa.

Wildlife ACT Fund Trust was co-founded in 2008 by Johan Maree, Chris Kelly and Dr Simon Morgan. The founders were determined to find a way of ensuring sustainable, long-term monitoring and conservation projects. They recognised that many African game reserves do not have the funds or capacity to run effective wildlife monitoring projects, despite monitoring being an essential part of wildlife management. Wildlife ACT was created to assist these game reserves by providing tracking and monitoring services free of charge. From the beginning, Wildlife ACT pioneered a model that combined professional wildlife monitoring, strategic partnerships and sustainable funding mechanisms to deliver real conservation outcomes. By establishing long-term monitoring projects inside protected areas, the organisation provided critical data to inform management decisions, enhance anti-poaching efforts, and guide species recovery strategies and promote human-wildlife coexistence. Over the years, Wildlife ACT expanded its focus to include not only the monitoring of key species such as African Wild Dogs, Black Rhinos, Cheetahs and Vultures, but also active support for species translocations, reintroductions and post-release monitoring. In 2010, Wildlife ACT became a WWF-partnered conservation programme, according to its volunteer page, which describes it as Africa's only WWF-partnered conservation program dedicated to ethical conservation and ecosystem restoration. The organisation is unique in that it actively advances conservation by initiating, implementing and managing monitoring projects on reserves which do not have existing monitoring programmes in place, or by taking over existing monitoring projects on reserves that can no longer fund or manage them. To fund its monitoring projects, Wildlife ACT runs a wildlife volunteer programme. Volunteers who join in important conservation work get both a wildlife experience and make a contribution to conservation through their time, efforts and funds. Wildlife ACT is currently focused in Zululand and is 100% reliant on the support of its conservation volunteers, who assist its monitors in their daily tracking and monitoring of endangered wildlife species such as African Wild Dogs, Cheetah and Black Rhino, as well as priority species such as Elephant, Lion, Leopard and many more. The organisation also operates marine conservation volunteering in the Seychelles and vulture conservation volunteering in the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site. Wildlife ACT has received multiple awards for its conservation work and describes itself as a multi-award-winning non-profit dedicated to saving Africa's endangered species through urgent, on-the-ground conservation and free professional wildlife monitoring for under-resourced nature reserves. Its vision is Thriving Wildlife, Resilient Ecosystems, Empowered People.

• 2010

  Wildlife ACT became a WWF-partnered conservation programme.

• 2008

  Wildlife ACT co-founded by Johan Maree, Chris Kelly and Dr Simon Morgan.

Science-led, field-based conservation organisation providing free professional wildlife monitoring to under-resourced reserves, funded by award-winning volunteer programmes.

• Zululand Endangered Species Monitoring Volunteer Programme

  Volunteer programme in Zululand, South Africa, working with Black Rhinos, Cheetahs, Wild Dogs, Lions, Elephants and more.

• Marine Conservation Volunteering in Seychelles

  Marine and terrestrial conservation work including turtle monitoring and species protection on North Island, Seychelles.

• Vulture Conservation Volunteering in Maloti-Drakensberg Park

  Volunteer programme focused on Bearded and Cape Vultures, nest monitoring and vulture-safe feeding sites.

• African Wildlife Conservation and Habitat Management Course

  Course offered by Wildlife ACT.

1. 1Saving Endangered African Wildlife and their Ecosystemswildlifeact.com
2. 2About Us - Wildlife ACT - Real Africa. Real Wildlife Conservation.wildlifeact.com
3. 3Join Africa’s Award-Winning Wildlife Volunteer Programwildlifeact.com
4. 4About Wildlife ACT | Wildlife Conservation Projects | Wildlife ACTwildlifeact.com
5. 5Wikidatawikidata.org