Our philosophy
Connecting the protection of nature with the reduction of poverty
Our mission is to dedicate our skills and expertise to the safeguarding of endangered animal species and the ecosystems that shelter them, whilst working towards building a better future for the villagers. We place these men and women at the very centre of our actions for biodiversity. Our team members are from local communities and establish solid, trusting relationships both with groups actively concerned with the disappearance of wild animals and the destruction of their habitat, and with villagers whose daily lives suffer the negative effects of living closely with these animals.
This strong community involvement and the research and evaluation that we carry out for each programme enables us to maximise the effectiveness of our actions and make the best possible use of funding. In addition, we share our information with financial partners, donors, and other organisations working with us, combining our efforts wherever possible in order to protect wild animals and reduce poverty.
One of the defining characteristics of Awely is our “multipartner” approach. We work with local communities, certainly, but also with other associations — both within each programme and internationally. For us, collaborating with a wide range of partners ensures even greater success in achieving our goals.
Finally, whilst providing the rapid responses needed for some situations we encounter, we prefer to go directly to the problem's root and work on it holistically, even though this often requires more time. For example, in areas where gorillas are hunted for their meat, we know that building a school can be the best place to start changing attitudes towards hunting wildlife. In this way, we create an alternative situation for young boys reaching an age when they would normally start to hunt gorillas.