Save the Lions - In Memory of Cecil

In Memory of Cecil - SAVE THE LIONS

www.CecilTheLion.org

Mark and Pamela Robison were filming and photographing on safari in Zimbabwe in August, 2014. Like so many others, they became entranced by the amazingly and majestic Cecil The Lion. Their video of Cecil, posted on YouTube in September, 2014 has become the most internationally recognized film of Cecil having been featured on every major news network in the US, as well as numerous other networks around the world.

The global outrage surrounding Cecil’s killing inspired Mark and Pamela to launch www.CecilTheLion.org to bring awareness to the issues of trophy hunting in Zimbabwe and in particular the wild life of Hwange National Park. In addition to the website, they created THE Cecil the Lion Facebook page, which has attracted over 31,000 dedicated and energized members. This Facebook community working diligently to bring about an end to trophy hunting and promote the replacing of hunting with tourism wherever animals are threatened and endangered.

In order to make an impact on Zimbabwe and take serious steps towards conservation for Lions, the friends of www.CecilTheLion.org- “In Memory of Cecil - SAVE THE LIONS" has been established. The purpose is to help fund groups involved in caring for, researching conservation and protecting Africa’s lions. As these animals habitats are reduced due to development and human population growth, the promotion of tourism and conservation aimed at protecting them becomes more vitally important. We hope you will join this community in the efforts to protect beautiful creatures like Cecil and help to maintain Cecil's pride's home; Hwange National Park. IN that regard, the funds raised from this campaign will directly benefit the Friends of Hwange Trust (“FOH”)

FOH was formed on the back of the extreme drought of 2005 that severely affected Hwange National Park. The National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe, plagued by lack of funding and a decrease in tourist arrivals, did not have the funds to keep enough borehole pumps going. As a result, only a handful of waterholes had water and countless animals died.

Hwange National Park has no perennial rivers and very little natural surface water. Most of the water has to be pumped from underground sources to surface pans so that the wildlife can drink. This involves raising funds to purchase diesel to run Lister engines, and materials to repair and maintain the engines, boreholes and drinking troughs.


FOH Mission Statement

~To develop and maintain water resources in Hwange National Park for the benefit of its wildlife, in collaboration with the Authorities responsible for the Park;

~To develop and maintain opportunities for the conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources in the Park so that it will be enjoyed by the generations to come;

~To assist in the attainment of national objectives for wildlife conservation, with particular reference to Hwange National Park.


Aims

~Crisis management: To ensure that FOH does every thing in its power to prevent animal deaths owing to lack of water or poaching activities.

~To assist National Parks in carrying out their duties in terms of deployment of rangers on anti-poaching patrols.

~To maintain roads and fireguards in the park.

~To work towards a situation where there are sufficient well-distributed waterholes in Hwange National Park that pump water through eco-friendly cost-effective means such as solar and wind power. This will remove pressure on areas of the park where animal (especially elephant) traffic is high which causes long-term destruction of grazing areas.

~To expand our efforts in conservation issues such as anti-poaching and research.

Wildlife: a Precious Resource

Hwange National Park is one of Zimbabwe’s most valuable resources. The tourism industry relies heavily on wildlife as a major attraction and revenue earner. During Zimbabwe’s tourism peak, Hwange and it's surrounding areas boasted up to 30 camps. These camps provided employment for 10 to 30 staff per camp as well as significant help with the supply of water to wildlife, anti-poaching, maintenance of roads and general upkeep of the park. Someday soon tourism will once again be Hwange National Park’s main source of funds, but in the mean time help from other sources is needed.


What We Do

In the beginning FOH was responsible for 10 key northern waterholes in Hwange National Park. Today we are responsible for all of the pans in and around the Main Camp area.

Owing to the expense of diesel (a single borehole engine uses around 500 litres a month) alternative methods of pumping water have been explored. Whilst windmills are robust and affordable, their pumping capacities are limited. Their function is to provide a head start for the waterholes so that they are as full as possible by the start of the long dry season, thereby reducing diesel requirements for the drier months. Solar systems drastically reduce diesel requirements but pump water during daylight hours only, and this is often insufficient to meet the demands of the wildlife

In the dry season (July – November) the demand for available water increases, mainly due to elephant pressure. The diesel engines are kept running continuously and the need for diesel is at its maximum.


The People of Friends of Hwange

Dave Dell, Beck Edwards, Barry Wolhuter, Ken Jenkins and Dave St Quintin are trustees of Friends of Hwange. Gary Cantle is our resident Hwange NP man on the ground.

All trustees are passionate about preserving Zimbabwe’s most precious resources for future generations despite the turbulence Zimbabwe has experienced in recent years. The trustees work on a voluntary basis, and receive no monetary compensation for their time. After many years, Gary finds himself living once again in the Park, he spent his early years growing up there when his father was a warden at Main Camp.



We hope you will agree, Hwange and its Lions are a global treasure and worthy of your generous support.


THANK YOU for becoming a Friend of Cecil The Lion and Hwange National Park.