our contributions

how we've supported conservation and the Gambian economy

fundraising throughout the pandemic

Gambian bird guides, conservationists and drivers have really suffered from the close-down of tourism and there's no safety net in The Gambia. They are the eyes and ears of conservation in The Gambia and need support in these difficult times.

Project Wild Gambia have continued to support our Gambian team and was able to pay everyone again, the day before Tobaski (Gambia's Christmas for those who don't know). We've had some lovely messages from our team and they're all having a great time.

We have set up this appeal in response to people asking if they could donate to help support Gambia conservationists. A basic wage is only £30 per month and we are looking for people to donate that amount to help us support key Gambians until things return to normal. Apart from the support, we will use any extra funds to help our new bushbaby reserve (the first in West Africa) and our tree nursery.

If you would like to make a donation, please click here, and if you can't make a contribution right now, please share our fundraiser page for others to see!

Thanks for any contribution you can make (it goes a very long way in The Gambia) and Eid Mubarak to all of our friends wherever they are!

Conservation successes

Project Wild Gambia works with participants and scientists to address critical issues that diminish local wildlife populations. We have rediscovered several species, increased the known population of a Critically Endangered (CR) primate by 24% and contributed to numerous significant scientific publishings. We have numerous ground-breaking conservation projects that you can get involved in and read about here. We are also working on some new projects to hopefully make more exciting discoveries for wildlife conservation. We can't wait to share these projects with you shortly!

Our major contributions to the Gambian wildlife do not come without cost as we must be aware of the global implications of our trips. To counteract this we will offset our carbon footprint (read more here) from transport by planting 10,000 trees in the next 10 years! This also works to create new and improved habitats in this extremely overexploited country.

locals and economy

Besides our massive contributions to wildlife, we have significantly boosted the eco-tourism sector of the Gambian economy. In the last 20 years, trips led by our staff have bought 10,000 bed nights in The Gambia. In accommodation costs alone, that’s more than 550 years of the average wage in The Gambia! We spend at least twice as much again on other things such as local drivers' wages, park admissions, guide fees etc. With our commitment to using local-owned businesses (where possible) we are benefiting locals in an abundance of ways, and plan to keep it up!

The sight of our participants at wildlife sites helps highlight to locals that there is more value in preserving the forests than over-exploiting them. Rural communities directly benefit from the income generated by the tourist entry fees at these reserves. We work to improve and expand these forests and encourage the sustainable use of forest products in order to attract and conserve more threatened wildlife while boosting the local villages.

fundraising for local schools

We also fundraise to put long term solutions in place to support education and conservation while increasing the quality of life where possible. Project Wild Gambia raised £870, part of which allowed the Young Wildlife Conservation Group at Tallinding school to take part in educational trips (see photos below). These trips teach students how to identify and conserve their local wildlife, for example, by planting tree nurseries. This provides students with valuable skills that can be applied to a range of jobs, expands fragmented forests and gives students the opportunity to travel inland as a needed break away.