The Hunter Legacy 100 Fund (HLF 100 Fund) recently awarded Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) a grant of $50,000 to secure the long-term future of the African Wildlife Consultative Forum (AWCF).
The HLF 100 Fund endowment was created in support of approved SCIF projects in the areas of world-wide conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian projects. Since 2006, over $5,659,733 has been distributed through 109 projects.
The AWCF has been bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders including senior government officials, professional hunting association leadership, community-based support organizations, international policy experts and wildlife biologists from across Africa since 2002 to discuss sustainable use wildlife conservation issues.
“With a 20-year history of leadership in Africa, maintaining and growing the AWCF is a critical component of the SCIF conservation program and our overall mission,” said Joe Goergen, SCIF Conservation Manager and organizer of the annual AWCF event. “We can’t thank the HLF enough for this support and helping us continue to expand the scale of this important function.”
Recent years have also illustrated the importance of AWCF for international affairs activity, sharing the African voice in trophy import ban proposals, and other priorities. This year, November 8-12, the 19th AWCF will be held in Kasane, Botswana. We look forward to finally hosting AWCF in-person again after a virtual event in 2020 and celebrating Botswana’s community-based wildlife reform and reopening of tourist hunting.
The Hunter Legacy Fund has also helped start up SCIF’s conservation strategies focused on leopards, chronic wasting disease (CWD), and grizzly bears, with project proposals nearing completion and field work being prepared for 2022.
For more information on or questions about the AWCF, visit www.awcfinfo.org or contact Joseph Goergen, SCIF Conservation Manager at jgoergen@scifirstforhunters.org