Hello everyone,
I wanted to reach out to this community to see if anyone might have suggestions or leads for potential funding partners for a project I am currently developing: the Elephant Resource Centre (ERC).
The ERC is an initiative of Elephants Alive and Transfrontier Africa in South Africa and aims to become an open-access global knowledge and collaboration platform dedicated to elephant conservation.
The Elephant Resource Centre (ERC) is an initiative of Elephants Alive and Transfrontier Africa in South Africa. The aim of the ERC is to create a central, open-access platform that brings together key knowledge and resources related to elephant conservation. This includes scientific literature, conservation reports, field manuals, protocols, policy documents, and technical guidelines that are often scattered across different organisations and institutions. By consolidating these materials in one place, the ERC hopes to make it easier for researchers, conservation practitioners, students, and decision-makers to access reliable information relevant to elephant conservation.
In addition to functioning as a digital knowledge hub, the ERC also aims to develop into a collaborative platform where elephant specialists, researchers, conservation organisations, and field practitioners can connect and share knowledge. In the longer term, the platform will support communication and collaboration between experts through discussions, workshops, webinars, and other opportunities for professional exchange, helping to strengthen the global community working to protect elephants.
We are currently in the early development phase and actively building partnerships with organisations, researchers, and universities. The response so far from specialists in the field has been very encouraging, and there is clearly a need for a centralised platform like this.
At the moment, I am exploring potential funding partners (foundations, organisations, zoos, conservation funds, etc.) that may be interested in supporting the development of the ERC.
If anyone in this community has suggestions, contacts, or experience with organisations that support knowledge platforms, conservation collaboration initiatives, or elephant conservation projects, I would be incredibly grateful for any leads.
Thank you very much in advance for any ideas or connections.
Warm regards,
Leonie Hofstra
Wildlife conservationist with over a decade of experience. Particular interest in wildlife crime and anti-poaching. Almost a decade of experience in African rhino conservation and management.
Especially interested in animal welfare and human-wildlife conflict as well as engaging local communities in the fight against wildlife crime and environmental degradation. Passionate about integrating women into conservation and the ranger force.
Keen on meeting other conservationists and sharing ideas and making contacts. Always keen to learn from others around the world working on different subjects.
Please sign in or register for FREE
If you are a registered user on WildHub, please sign in
Thank you for sharing this initiative, it sounds like a really valuable project for global elephant conservation! The ERC could become an essential hub for researchers and practitioners alike.🐘
I don’t have direct funding leads myself, but you might consider reaching out to international conservation funds like the Wildlife Conservation Network, Elephant Crisis Fund, or Save the Elephants. Universities with strong wildlife or conservation programs may also be interested in supporting collaborative knowledge platforms - for example, in the UK, the University of Nottingham runs the Elephant Welfare Project, researching cognitive enrichment and welfare, including projects like the “Elephant Jukebox".
Also, if you type ‘elephant’ in the search bar at the top of this page, you’ll be able to find past posts, resources, and people working in elephant conservation, which could help with networking and gathering ideas.
Wishing you the best with developing the ERC, I’m excited to see it come to life!