Endangered Wildlife Trust

The Endangered Wildlife Trust is a South African conservation organisation dedicated to conserving threatened species and ecosystems in southern Africa.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust was founded in 1973 with the vision of a healthy planet and an equitable world that values and sustains the diversity of life. The organisation runs over 80 projects across 12 conservation programmes addressing a diverse range of issues, from African cranes and drylands conservation, to wildlife and transport, and wildlife and energy, as a few examples.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust started its Threatened Amphibian Programme in 2012, and it remains the only South African non-governmental organisation to include amphibians as a specific conservation focus.

South Africa is home to an incredible diversity of amphibians, 30 per cent of which are threatened with extinction. The Threatened Amphibian Programme aims to strategically address the key threats facing southern African amphibian species by using threatened frog species as flagships for habitat conservation.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust aims to use this approach to facilitate habitat restoration and protection, investment in long-term monitoring and the development of national level species conservation action plans, development of ecotourism initiatives, and community engagement with local threatened amphibian species. This contributes to the objectives of the IUCN’s Amphibian Conservation Action Plan, a global high-level strategy for amphibian conservation. Crucially, the Endangered Wildlife Trust aims to both elevate the conservation importance of frogs and their associated habitats, and bridge the gap between research and on-the-ground conservation action.

Synchronicity Earth’s Amphibian Programme is supporting the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Amphibian Programme to implement long term monitoring protocols for three threatened amphibians: the Endangered Pickersgill’s reed frog (Hyperolius pickersgilli) and kloof frog (Natalobatrachus bonebergi), and the Critically Endangered Table Mountain ghost frog (Heleophryne rosei).

Synchronicity Earth’s support will also be used to finalise a conservation action plan for the Table Mountain ghost frog and the Endangered western leopard toad (Sclerophrys pantherine), and to facilitate habitat management, restoration and protection at key sites for amphibian biodiversity. The Endangered Wildlife Trust will also be carrying out awareness and education campaigns at multiple levels, from events for school groups to developing amphibian-focused ecotourism.