Happy Bruno is a co-founder of the Bwindi Conservation for Generations Foundation, BCGF . BCGF is a registered non-profit in Uganda, its mission is to integrate conservation campaigns with civic enterprises that enrich the lives of humans and sustain the biodiversity of the Rift Valley region.

Happy, his family and his community live amidst the mist-laden mountains adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Carpeted by one of Uganda’s most ancient and most biologically diverse rainforests, the park is home to a full half of earth’s remaining mountain gorillas and a myriad species of fauna and flora. Surprisingly, a small number of elephants, both savannah elephants and forest elephants, inhabit the gorilla highlands.

Tragically, poaching continues in and around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. In 2020, Rafiki, a beloved silverback and the leader of the Nkuringo gorilla family was killed by a poacher hunting for bush pig within the boundaries of the park; a profoundly disorienting experience for Happy and his community.

Happy believes that engaging local communities in meaningful conservation-driven initiatives can lead poachers away from poaching and restore the dignity of both humans and non-humans. GMFER, Happy and BCGF are in the process of finalizing the details for multiple such campaigns; please see “Happy Bruno’s Uganda”

Recently Happy Bruno was elected to the office of councilor (LCIII) for Kashija ward, Rubuguri Town Council, Kisoro District. #GMFER is unabashedly pleased with the outcome.

Mizu Eco-care is one of the most effective environmental conservation organizations based in Zambia. Their mission: Protecting the Environment and Enriching Human Life through Agency

Timothy Phiri is the director of Mizu Eco-care and serves on GMFER’s board. Timothy is known affectionately as “TK” to his friends. In the spring of 2023, with GMFER’s help, TK and his team documented the plastic pollution along the Ngwerere stream in Zambia.

Originating in the capital city of Lusaka, the Ngwerere is one of two tributaries of the Chongwe River. Water from the Ngwerere underpins local economies and ecologies, making the stream socially and environmentally significant. The Ngwerere feeds the Chongwe, the Chongwe river drains into the mighty Zambezi which meets the vast slate of the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.

The Ngwerere has experienced plastic pollution for over a decade. Mounds of garbage inhibit the tributary’s waters from reaching the Chongwe dam; the water itself is undrinkable. In response to the extent of contamination, GMFER and Mizu Eco-care envisioned and organized a collaborative project to clean-up the Ngwerere. The pilot event for the project took place on World Environment Day, June 5, 2023.

The pilot cleanup project was a joint effort engaging many enthusiastic volunteers, college students, the Chongwe Municipal Council, the Lusaka City Council, and the Honorable Collins Nzovu, Zambian Minister for Green Economy and the Environment.

Cleanup of the Ngwerere stream continued in several phases across the remaining months of 2023.

Mizu Eco-care and GMFER plan to broaden the scope of the project, extending the initiative to Beat Plastic Pollution in other tributaries and rivers of Zambia. The effort will demand substantial funding; grant proposals are currently being developed.

The Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit is the first all-female, all-indigenous anti-poaching unit in the world.

The all-women Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit patrols the boundaries of the Balule Nature Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger region in South Africa, home to some of Africa’s most iconic and endangered wildlife. Since their founding in 2013, the Mambas have achieved a 63% reduction in poaching incidents in their area of operation. Snaring, one of the worst threats to animals within the park, was drastically reduced almost overnight by their presence.

The award-winning Mambas are a success story on many levels. Patrolling unarmed, they have reduced animosity in surrounding communities by decreasing the Park’s reliance on armed guards. Much of the poaching problem in Kruger National Park comes from within these communities. The creation of the park itself in 1926 involved displacing indigenous people, many of whose descendants now live in the surrounding towns and feel little connection to Kruger and its wildlife. The Mambas serve as ambassadors to the schools within the towns, fostering greater understanding and engagement among the youngest community members. Many of these youngsters, including the children of the Black Mambas themselves, have never seen the iconic wildlife the Mambas protect.

GMFER works with the Black Mamba Anti Poaching Unit to disrupt the prevailing paradigm; one that keeps indigenous women and children estranged from Africa’s wild world and its wild heritage. For more about our alliance and collaborative work, please refer to “Mambas in the Park”.

The Wild Olive Tree Camp, is a community-run bush camp situated at the border of Kruger National Park within the lush and abundant Manyeleti Game Reserve.

“Whilst the elders are telling their stories around the campfire, you can hear the distant bells of the cattle returning home. This signals the end of the day. The night then awakens with the hyena calling and the King of Manyeleti, the lion starts roaring; telling you that the wilderness is alive.” The Wild Olive Tree Camp

GMFER is pleased and privileged to work in collaboration with the Wild Olive Tree Camp in Manyeleti to host “Mambas in the Park”. Mambas in the Park is a ~monthly event that dismantles historic conservation paradigms and amplifies the agency of indigenous voices in the conversation about conservation.

The Wild Olive Tree Camp (WOTC) is unique in that it is owned and operated -entirely- by the Mnisi community, a community with ancient ties to the land. Historically, the Mnisi were a hunter-gather community and sustained themselves predominantly through cattle farming.

Solar powered tent facilities, a dining area located on a dry-river bed, a lovely pool for swimming, warm and friendly staff and surroundings teeming with bird life in dense bush, all complete the picture of rustic eloquence at WOTC.

Visitors and guests to WOTC experience a different Africa, one that invokes stories of old and reimagines a different future for the wild children of Africa. A future that lives at the intersection of the old and the new, welcoming the voices of the indigenous on behalf of the survival of Africa’s wild heritage.

GMFER is grateful to WOTC for its willingness and enthusiasm in working with us to make “Mambas in the Park” a reality.

Magical jewel: from garbage dump to a vibrant green mini forest.

Note: GMFER’s involvement with this project has ended, the project is now sustained and maintained by local stakeholders and local interests, a win-win for all.

The idea to turn a garbage dump into a thriving mini-forest was formed by Samarrth Khanna, a young conservationist and a university student, who is keenly interested in re-wilding urban spaces and safeguarding ecosystems. Between the years of 2017-2020 and with the support of GMFER, Samarrth and his dedicated crew converted a wasteland into a habitat suitable for ‘city-wildlife’ in Faridabad.

When Samarrth walked by an informal landfill in Faridabad in 2017; he observed mounds of garbage and plastic waste strewn over several acres. The sight filled him with sadness, and he was determined to remedy the situation.

Samarrth gathered a small group of students together and organized weekly ‘cleanup drives’. With GMFER’s help, a total of 3500 kilograms of waste was cleared. After the waste was removed, the alliance of students together with Samarrth, adopted the land; an abandoned section in the middle of the city that had highly polluted soil, negligible vegetation and no signs of life.

Following the installation of an irrigation system and thousands of hours of dedication and hard work over a two-year period, this barren wasteland evolved into a vibrant green landscape sustaining life.

The Mini-Forest is now replete with multiple bionetworks, representing diverse habitats and ecosystems; grasslands, a native deciduous forest and a wetland are some of these. It is now a self-sufficient and self-sustaining entity supported by local interests and stakeholders.

GMFER is pleased to have worked with the Mini-Forest in the past and privileged to call the organization a friend.