APW Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Save African Lions Through Environmental Scholarships

Maasai Steppe, Tanzania, April 7, 2015 (Newswire.com) - In this sweeping, rural landscape, most families cannot afford to educate their children beyond Tanzania's free educational limits (up to grade 6).  The African People & Wildlife Fund (APW) gives the brightest rural Tanzanians who are living side-by-side with wild predators (such as the highly threatened African Lion) the chance to receive a private secondary school education.

APW’s goal is to raise $1,000 per scholar to support the current class of scholars at a private school – that’s a total of $25,000 ($10,550 has already been raised through other sources and current contributions to the campaign). The campaign is at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-2015-noloholo-scholarship-fund

In Northern Tanzania, the majority of remaining wildlife habitat is on community-held land. Therefore, the survival of its most iconic wildlife – African lion, elephants, leopard, cheetah, and herds of prey animals such as zebra, wildebeest and giraffe – rely on the cooperation of rural communities. APW works to create successful opportunities for people and wildlife to live in harmony with each other. By supporting young conservation leaders via educational opportunities, APW helps ensure a brighter future for both.

Young adult scholars earn their 6-year full-ride scholarships (grades 7-12) through significant participation in APW’s conservation education after-school programs and environmental summer camps, as well as being the top students out of national and environmental science exams and interviews. They have demonstrated a commitment to their community and to the natural world.

Perks from the campaign include a connection to the scholar each donor has supported. At the highest levels, donors receive a book of African watercolors by artist Alison Nicholls, and can travel to the project site in Tanzania and learn about our conservation efforts from executive director, Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld.