East African Wildlife Society

East African Wildlife Society
AbbreviationEAWLS
PredecessorKenyan Wildlife Society
Tanzanian Wildlife Society
Formation1956
TypeNonprofit organization
PurposeWildlife conservation
HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
Location
  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
Locations
  • Uganda
Region served
East Africa
Services
  • Conservation membership
  • Professional partnership
  • Political engagement
  • Interaction with local stakeholders
Main organ
SWARA magazine
Publication
African Journal of Ecology
Websiteeawildlife.org/index.php

The East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS) is a membership-based non-governmental conservation organization. It was "Established in 1956 through a merger of the Kenyan and Tanzanian wildlife societies and wildlife enthusiasts from Uganda".[1] EAWLS has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya but also has an office in Kampala, Uganda. Its operations take place at relevant locations across East Africa. Individual members gain benefits from supporting wildlife conservation across East Africa, as well as access to the Society's magazine SWARA which reports on conservation activities across the region.[2] The cost of individual membership is adjusted according to the country of membership, corporate membership is also available.[3] For example, an article in SWARA magazine lists the Society's bronze level corporate members in 2018.[4]

Mission

The mission of the Society is to promote the conservation and wise use of the environment, especially in the context of wildlife conservation, by advocating rational policies and appropriate resource management regimes, in conjunction with promoting best practice and good governance. This means that the Society works with

  • government representatives
  • local stakeholders
  • other NGOs
  • academic researchers

at relevant locations as required across the countries it covers.

Examples are given in the activities section below.

Activities

Partnership

The East African Wildlife Society works in partnership with other organisations, both in the region in East Africa and further afield.[5] These include in East Africa: the Kenya Wildlife Service; Kenya Forest Service; Maliasili[6] and the West Indian Ocean Congress (WIO-C),[a][7] to name but a few. The EAWLS Society partners webpage gives more examples.[5]

The Society also works in partnership with global wildlife conservation organisations such as BirdLife International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),[8] and Flora and Fauna International.[9]

Partnerships of EAWLS leads to work with other organisations in East Africa that have common aims, for example, with the Kenya Wildlife Service, in seeking to conserve national parks and the wildlife within them.[10] It also results in the Society being invited to conferences bringing together many different parties involved in conservation, in order to contribute to conservation policy development.[11]

That conference involved not just the two NGOs involved in completing the report and EAWLS, but government representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources and the Kenya Wildlife Service, as well also international delegates from IUCN and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and participants from other organisations.[11]: 2 

Marine conservation

Wildlife conservation includes marine protected areas, where EAWLS supported Coastal Oceans Research and Development Indian Ocean (CORDIO),[12] the Wildlife Conservation Society[13] and the Nature Conservancy[14] in the development of managed marine areas in Kenyan territorial waters.[15]

EAWLS worked with local stakeholders to change marine protected areas from being centrally-managed at government level to being locally-managed tengefus (tengefu :Swahili to separate) along with the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) and external researchers in order to demonstrate the benefits of these changes. [16]

Forestry conservation

Another example from Kenya involved collaboration between the Kenyan government, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF),[b][17] as well as EAWLS, the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE),[18] and researchers from the National Museums of Kenya and the universities of Antwerp, Ghent and Helsinki.[19] The involvement of the EAWLS in forestry conservation in this region of Kenya (the Taita Hills) had previously been mentioned in a review of forest conservation projects across Kenya and Zambia.[20]

EAWLS worked with the Tanzanian Natural Resources Forum[21] in reporting on the trade in forest products between Kenya and Tanzania in order to support the FAO Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Support Programme[c] for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries.[22]

Visibility of conservation

EAWLS works with organisations outside East Africa to make environmental issues in the region more visible. For example, the head of Drusillas Wildlife Park[23] in East Sussex, England, travelled to Kenya in order to learn about the activities of EAWLS so as to be able to discuss them with children visiting his wildlife park.[24]

Publications

EAWLS publishes several publications. SWARA is a wildlife conservation magazine.[2] The African Journal of Ecology is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on topics relevant to the Society, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. on behalf of the Society.[25] The Society also publishes a bimonthly newsletter distributed by email.[26] In order to make its conservation activities more accessible, the Society makes reports on its activities available through its website.[27]

Relevance

Wildlife conservation in East Africa will continue to be important in the future. The land and water in which wildlife live is shared with an increasing human population which also needs resources. EAWLS membership fees and partnership with other organizations will continue to enable it to contribute to conservation activities.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Full name "The Consortium for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean", see link to website following.
  2. ^ An international investor in biodiversity projects.
  3. ^ Sic. As referred to in the following publication. Do not edit to American English.

References

  1. ^ "The East African Wildlife Society". EAWLS - EAWLS. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b "SWARA: the Voice of Conservation in East Africa". Home - SWARA Magazine. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Register Here". EAWLS Members Portal. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  4. ^ "East African Wildlife Society Corporate Bronze Members". SWARA. 43 (4): 18. 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Our Partners". Our Partners - EAWLS. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Maliasili: Investing in People for Nature". Home: Maliasili. Maliasili. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  7. ^ "WIO-C". Consortium for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean. The WIO-C. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  8. ^ "The International Union for Conservation of Nature". IUCN. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Flora & Fauna: Saving Nature Together". Flora & Fauna International. Flora and Fauna International. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  10. ^ Holden, Constance (7 October 2005). "Kenya National Park Transfer Under Fire". Science News. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  11. ^ a b African Centre for Technology Studies; African Conservation Centre (2010). Towards a National Biodiversity Conservation Framework: Key Findings and Policy Recommendations. Proceedings of the International Conference on Biodiversity, Land-use and Climate Change (Report). Nairobi, Kenya: African Centre for Technology Studies. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  12. ^ "CORDIO". CORDIOEA - Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean. CORDIOEA. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  13. ^ "Wildlife Conservation Society". Saving Wildlife and Wild Places - WCS.org. The Wildlife Conservation Society. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  14. ^ "The Nature Conservancy". The Nature Conservancy: A World Where People and Nature Thrive. The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  15. ^ Kawaka, Joan A.; Samoilys, Melita A.; Murunga, Michael; Church, Julie; Abunge, Carolyne; Maina, George Waweru (2017). "Developing locally managed marine areas: Lessons learnt from Kenya". Ocean & Coastal Management. 135: 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.10.013.
  16. ^ Mahajan, Shauna L.; Daw, Tim (2016). "Perceptions of ecosystem services and benefits to human well-being from community-based marine protected areas in Kenya". Marine Policy. 74: 108–119. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2016.09.005.
  17. ^ "Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund". CEPF: Protecting biodiversity by empowering people. CEPF. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  18. ^ "icipie - The TROpical Insect Science Research Institute". Home: icipie - International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology. ICIPIE. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  19. ^ Githiru, Mwangi; Lens, Luc; Adriaensen, Frank; Mwang'Ombe, James; Matthysen, Erik (2011). "Using science to guide conservation: From landscape modelling to increased connectivity in the Taita Hills, SE Kenya". Journal for Nature Conservation. 19 (5): 263–268. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2011.03.002.
  20. ^ Gibbon, H; Mbithi, D; Mugo, E N; Phiri, M (2005). "Forest and woodland management in East and Central Africa: emerging models for improvement in livelihoods and natural resource management in Kenya and Zambia". International Forestry Review. 7 (3): 193–207. doi:10.1505/ifor.2005.7.3.193.
  21. ^ "Tanzania Natural Resource Forum". Jumioko la Maliasili Tanazania. TNRF. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  22. ^ Schaafsma, Marije; Burgess, Neil D.; Swetnam, Ruth D.; Ngaga, Yonika M.; Kerry Turner, R.; Treue, Thorsten (2014). "Market Signals of Unsustainable and Inequitable Forest Extraction: Assessing the Value of Illegal Timber Trade in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania". World Development. 62: 155–168. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.05.011.
  23. ^ "Drusillas Park". Best Zoo in South East and Sussex. Drusillas Wildlife Park. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  24. ^ Morton, Katy (27 November 2008). "Animal education from Sussex to Kenya". Nursery World.
  25. ^ "African Journal of Ecology". African Journal of Ecology: Ecology Journal: Wiley Online Library. John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  26. ^ "Newsletters". Newsletters - EAWLS. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  27. ^ "Reports & Policy Briefs". Reports & Policy Briefs - EAWLS. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  28. ^ "Conservation Focus Areas". Conservation Focus Areas - EAWLS. East African Wildlife Society. Retrieved 25 February 2026.


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