Endangered Wildlife Trust
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of the oldest and largest conservation NGOs in Southern Africa, founded in 1973. With over 100 staff working on 100 different projects and a total budget of over R100 million, EWT has a proven track record of making a positive difference. Their focus is on conserving threatened ecosystems and species across the region.
Plum helps fund EWT’s vulture conservation program, called Eye in the Sky, an early detection and warning system for poisoning and poaching incidents.
THE Problem
The numbers of vultures, eagles, owls, and other birds of prey in Southern Africa have crashed and continue to fall due to poisoning, habitat loss, and poaching. Illegal wildlife trade has devastated populations, with thousands of vultures poisoned across Africa. Scavenging mammals, including lions, spotted hyenas, and leopards, are also severely impacted.
BIRDS OF PREY PROGRAMME
EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme aims to improve population trends of threatened raptors in Southern Africa by protecting key species and the habitats they rely on. The organisation creates and secures safe spaces where raptors can breed, feed, and flourish, guided by scientific monitoring to understand and mitigate threats.
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To tackle wildlife poisoning in Southern and East Africa, EWT uses vultures’ natural sentinel behaviour combined with GPS-tracking technology.
Eye in the Sky monitors behavioural signatures in GPS-tracked vultures to detect poison sources and feeding events associated with potentially poisoned or poached carcasses. This rapid detection system reduces response time to poisoning incidents, helping to significantly reduce wildlife deaths.
GENERAL SUPPORT SERVICES
Plum also supports EWT’s general support services, including head office staff who provide essential administrative, operational, and logistical support to field conservation teams.
