About ALERT  (Download our About ALERT pdf here)

"Across the boundless savannahs of Africa to the depths of its darkest forest; in the precious waters of her lakes and on the slopes of her dramatic mountains, Africa‘s wild heritage is under threat.

From the most iconic of species, the African lion, to the humble grasses of Africa's great plains, the animals and plants of the continent are facing an ever-increasing fight for survival.  Wildlife populations are tumbling across every habitat as the footprint of humanity spreads across Africa’s fragile ecosystems.

As habitats are over-utilized or destroyed the natural processes that offer resources to sustain Africa's human and wildlife communities are being lost.  

Simply putting a halt to social and economic development to save what is left of Africa’s wild areas is neither desirable not possible.

What we need is responsible development. To look into the future and deliver the progress needed in a way that is compatible with life support systems, ecosystems and natural services. Decision making should not be a trade off between economic development and environmental planning. This is a false choice. Decisions have to take into account both – conservation must be at the centre of how our economies and our countries work.

This change in thinking will not happen overnight. Even if we were to start today to integrate a more holistic management of Africa’s resources into policy making it will already be too late for many species.

Faced with this huge challenge it is up to our generation to take action now. We can immediately initiate a variety of programs to protect what is left as well as determine the means to restore areas to their former glory when protection of those areas is possible. If we fail today to take the opportunity offered to us to unite and face these challenges together we will be the most vilified generation to ever live on this continent."

Andrew Conolly
Chairman and Founder of ALERT

A Responsible Development Approach

We believe that the challenges facing Africa can best be met by uniting community and policy makers with conservation leaders, researchers and business leaders in order to make the best decisions for Africa’s people, its environment and its wildlife.  Such a union will ensure that both present and future generations are able to enjoy the benefits of Africa’s environmental services by integrating the protection of those natural processes with economic and social development.

Decision making is not a trade off between economic development and environmental planning.  Decisions have to take into account both – conservation must be at the centre of how our economies and our countries work.

By acting collectively the stakeholders of Africa can combine expertise, knowledge and funding to generate real, long-lasting, cost efficient and responsible solutions that are reflected in policy from national governments all the way through the structure of society to the actions of the individual.

Local solutions…  Responsible development promotes the implementation of locally conceived solutions that benefit from the experience and knowledge of schemes that have been successfully implemented elsewhere.

Cooperative solutions…  Responsible development promotes the evaluation of locally conceived conservation solutions in the context of relationships within the local system as well as with the wider system within which the local system functions. 

Relevant solutions…  Responsible development promotes community involvement in all aspects of conservation from design and implementation to ongoing reviews of the success of the program – an element often given little heed. 

Long term solutions…  Responsible development seeks to appreciate the need for long term solutions in a short-term world.

While Africa has always undergone changes and extinctions, such changes are occurring at an unprecedented rate.  

Ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic, on our continent are being rapidly altered and undergoing a dramatic loss of biodiversity.  If we continue to lose species, what we are saying is that the underlying fabric of nature is tearing with huge repercussions for the people of Africa. We need biodiversity to satisfy basic needs like food, drinking water, fuel, shelter and medicine. 

Illegal logging and the trade in wood products coupled with the conversion of forest areas to agriculture has wide ranging effects on the environment of Africa through climate change, the reduction of food, shelter and protection for the animals that inhabit forest areas as well as changing the natural cycles that affect water and soil.

Widespread poaching, unsustainable hunting practices and the wildlife trade, as well as the spread of disease from domestic animals to wild species, are all having increasingly negative effects on the wildlife of Africa.  

When their environment degrades communities are unable to meet some of their most basic needs, such as the need for firewood, for clean water, or the need for nutritious food.  When people understand that these basic needs can easily be met by the resources in the environment then they are going to be more willing to work towards utilising those resources in a more sustainable manner.  

Through careful and considered partnership we can encourage social and economic development by engaging local communities in good natural resource management; providing people with tangible benefits to enhance community participation in environmental protection.

Holistic Approach

In alignment with our holistic ethos our efforts are channelled through three entities: 

Building Partnerships

ALERT seeks to develop cooperative partnerships to: reflect the strength of unions forged between Africa’s diverse stakeholders; to provide a forum to generate innovative conservation solutions in tandem with responsible development programs, to leverage funding and develop a culture of sharing of expertise between partners to meet the most pressing conservation and development needs across the continent.

ALERT believes that conservation programs dependent on donor funding alone are unsustainable.  As such, we seek to work with commercial operators and local communities to build financially sustainable business models using responsible development ideals around as many of our programs as possible to ensure financial sustainability.

Ambassador for Africa

The African lion is an iconic symbol of Africa; a powerful image that can draw attention not just to this keystone species, but can also raise awareness of the challenges facing lesser appreciated species, its environment and the people who live alongside it. The African lion - an ambassador for all of Africa’s wildlife and its people.

“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” Wendell Berry