Program areas at IRF
Asia/indonesia:rhino range expansion:in early 2023, irf launched our new african Rhino range expansion fund, in partnership with The iucn/ssc african Rhino specialist group, to support Rhino range expansion by providing technical and financial support for Rhino reintroduction projects. To ensure that Rhino reintroduction programs have The best chance to succeed, we will fund independent feasibility studies assessing The full process of moving animals from one area to another including looking at genetics, characteristics and behavior of existing populations, climate, ecology, monitoring, security, and relationships with neighboring communities, among other factors. Indonesia - sumatra and java:at The sumatran Rhino sanctuary (srs), home to The world's only sumatran Rhino breeding program, female calf sedah mirah, The third Rhino born at The sanctuary, turned 2 years old in march and moved into her own paddock. Her mother, rosa, has now rejoined The breeding program. The two younger calves, anggi (female) and indra (male), are growing well and starting to explore their forest enclosures, still in The company of their mothers.now that The srs is full, with 10 rhinos, irf has begun working with our local partner yayasan badak indonesia (yabi), way kambas national park and The indonesian ministry of environment and forestry to design and raise funds for The next phase of The sanctuary's expansion. This third phase will include 5 semi-wild enclosures making room for 5 more rhinos. Site surveys have been conducted and a detailed engineering design, environmental assessment and community consultations are currently underway. Construction could begin as early as 2025, depending on funding availability.the lowland rainforest of indonesia's way kambas national park is home to some of The world's most endangered species, as well as The sumatran Rhino sanctuary. Surrounded by 38 villages, with no buffer zone, this critical habitat has shrunk significantly due to illegal hunting and logging, livestock grazing and fires. But our innovative government-ngo-community-university partnership is restoring habitat for threatened species and reducing pressure on The park through a locally-led reforestation program that provides income and economic benefits for local families.to date, local community members have planted over 166,000 seedlings at three different sites within way kambas. Animals that hadn't been seen for years are now returning to The formerly degraded sites. At The rawa bunder site, local university students conducting research on tropical rainforest biodiversity have counted 75 previously unrecorded bird species, including The malayan banded pitta. They've also discovered sumatran tiger footprints and sun bear scratches.irf also funds and supports The javan Rhino monitoring program operated by The ujung kulon national park (uknp) authority and local ngo alert. The goal of this program is to individually identify every javan Rhino in The park and to gather important demographic and population data.india:irf began working with The government of assam, india, wwf india and local ngo aaranyak in 2005 to increase The Rhino population in assam to 3,000 individuals by establishing populations in new areas by 2020. To date, we have successfully expanded The greater one-horned Rhino population in three protected areas, pobitora wildlife sanctuary, orang national park, and kaziranga national park, and established a new population (now numbering over 40 individuals) in manas national park.now, we are implementing a new strategy, indian Rhino vision 2.0 (irv2.0) to secure and manage a minimum of three meta-populations with a total population of 4,500 - 5,000 greater one-horned rhinos in assam by 2030. The program will include The creation of a new, safe habitat for greater one-horned rhinos in laokhowa and burhachapori wildlife sanctuaries, with adequate monitoring and security infrastructure, staff, strategies and equipment in place.india and nepal:irf has begun collaborating with our partner aaranyak and local community members on a five-year project to remove these plants from manas national park in india, where around one-third of The rhinos' grassland habitat has already been taken over by invasive species. Working with local community members, we plan to restore 250 acres during The pilot phase.in addition to expanding our habitat management program in manas, irf is working with a local ngo in nepal, The national trust for nature conservation (ntnc), to remove invasive species and restore Rhino habitat in chitwan national park, home to The second largest population of greater one-horned rhinos in The world.
South africa and eswatini (formerly swaziland):south africa is home to The world's largest Rhino population. It is also The epicenter of The Rhino poaching crisis, with at least one Rhino killed per day. The small country of eswatini, located within south africa, continues to do a remarkable job protecting its rhinos from poaching. While those dedicated to Rhino conservation in many of south africa and eswatini's reserves have had tremendous success, it comes at a price - The toll it takes on rangers and their families. Rangers put their lives at risk daily to protect rhinos. In south africa and eswatini, irf provides targeted security grants to reserves, providing financial and technical support for innovative technologies and new methodologies to fight poachers and save rhinos. Key initiatives we are funding in The coming years include license plate recognition cameras, night operations equipment, ai-enabled Rhino trackers and monitoring technology, k9 units and intelligence and informant networks. We also fund ranger training and well-being programs. Through local ngo stop Rhino poaching (srp), irf has funded training for more than 1,000 rangers and purchased specialized equipment for Rhino reserves in eight of The nine provinces in south africa and in eswatini. Upcoming training priorities include tactical first aid, advanced anti-poaching tactics, human tracking, night operations, intelligence gathering and technology best practices and our innovative legal training and assistance program. Namibia:namibia holds one-third of The remaining black rhinos on The planet and despite a recent poaching surge, The population is still increasing, growing by 10% over The past decade. For The population to continue expanding, securing more rangeland where rhinos can be reintroduced is important. The nyae nyae conservancy, a communal conservancy in The remote northeast of namibia, is a key Rhino reintroduction site. The nyae nyae conservancy is managed by The ju/'hoansi ethnic group, one of The most marginalized groups in namibia. Irf's partner, save The Rhino trust (srt), has expanded its proven community Rhino ranger incentive program into The conservancy.with support from irf, srt has hired, trained and equipped 6 rangers and 1 data analyst from communities, using local skills and knowledge to improve Rhino monitoring while providing income from Rhino conservation. Over The next year, we will continue to fund community rangers, while also helping srt expand its rural women in conservation initiative to recruit and train more female staff.
Zimbabwe: irf and The lowveld Rhino trust (lrt) helped translocate The first rhinos into zimbabwe's bubye valley conservancy 22 years ago. Since then, we have supported The conservancy's Rhino management and monitoring program and successfully helped bubye's black Rhino population grow into The second largest in The world. We work with communities to protect rhinos while ensuring that conservation generates benefits for local people.irf and lrt hire and train community members as Rhino monitors. These teams work tirelessly to identify and track every Rhino in The area. Keeping close track of individual rhinos allows for early detection of poaching spikes, so The conservancy can respond quickly to poaching threats and reduce Rhino deaths. Our unique education program helps incentivize local communities to support Rhino conservation by providing school repair kits, textbooks, workbooks and other supplies to schools to reinforce The communities' understanding of rhinos and their conservation needs. The annual inputs are calibrated to The rate of Rhino population growth in The adjoining conservancy, with a baseline level of support of $25,000 per year, and a bonus of $1,000 added for every percentage of annual Rhino population growth above 0%.
Other african regions
Other programs