Since 2014, we are supporting wildlife conservation and community projects, in several countries but primarily in South Africa.
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Our Purpose The purpose of the On Track Foundation is to promote wildlife conservation and engage with projects that protect endangered and threatened species, whilst also focusing on supporting local communities. The purpose of the On Track Foundation is to promote wildlife conservation and engage with projects that protect endangered and threatened species, whilst also focusing on supporting local communities. This purpose engages a holistic approach to wildlife conservation that includes provision of many elements of conservation practice to address local wildlife management issues. This holistic approach needs to focus on the root cause of such issues, for example human conflict and habitation loss, to focus on how OF can act as a catalyst to change human behaviours; thus avoiding and reducing conflict with wildlife. To change human behaviours and make wildlife conservation more resilient. OTF's vision is to advance the understanding and engagement of wildlife conservation by working collaboratively with local communities.
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Principle actions The Foundation has three main actions required to fulfil our purpose:
Research - Protect endangered and or vulnerable wildlife species by providing funds and advice
Community support - including but not limited to schools and orphanage
To win hearts and minds
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Our Achievements
Stakeholder Perceptions of Success in Human-Carnivore Coexistence Interventions Chloe Lucas, C. Abell, J., Bremner-Harrison, S., & Whitehouse-Tedd,
Success in Human-Carnivore Coexistence Interventions Chloe Lucas 1*, Jackie Abell 2, Samantha Bremner-Harrison1 and Katherine Whitehouse-Tedd1 1 School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Southwell, United Kingdom, 2 Research Centre for Agroecology, Water & Resilience, Coventry University, West Midlands, United Kingdom Human-carnivore coexistence (HCC) on agricultural lands affects wildlife and human communities around the world, whereby a lack of HCC is a central concern for conservation and farmer livelihoods alike. For intervention strategies aimed at facilitating HCC to achieve their desired goals it is essential to understand how interventions and their success are perceived by different stakeholders. Using a grounded theory approach, interviews (n=31) were conducted with key stakeholders (commercial livestock farmers, conservationists and protected area managers) involved in HCC scenarios in Limpopo, South Africa. Interviews explored perceptions of successful intervention strategies (aimed at increasing HCC), factors that contribute to perceptions of strategy effectiveness and whether coexistence was a concept that stakeholders considered achievable. The use of grounded theory emphasised the individual nature and previously unexplored facets to HCC experiences. The majority of stakeholders based their measures of success on changes in livestock loss. Concern has been raised over the subjectivity and reliance on recall that this measure involves, potentially reducing its reliability as an indicator of functional effectiveness. However, it was relied on heavily by users of HCC interventions in our study and is therefore likely influential in subsequent behaviour and decision-making regarding the intervention. Nonetheless, perceptions of success were not just shaped by livestock loss but influenced by various social, cultural, economic and political factors emphasising the challenges of defining and achieving HCC goals. Perceptions of coexistence varied; some stakeholders considered farmer-carnivore coexistence to be impossible, but most indicated it was feasible with certain caveats. An important element of inter-stakeholder misunderstanding became apparent, especially regarding the respective perceptions of coexistence and responsibility for its achievement. Without fully understanding these perceptions and their underpinning factors, interventions may be restricted in their capacity to meet the expectations of all interested parties. The study highlights the need to understand and explore the perceptions of all stakeholders when implementing intervention strategies in order to properly define and evaluate the achievement of HCC goals.
Community Education support Providing wildlife training to rural schools in South Africa. Providing infrastructure building to rural schools and orphanages in South Africa
Three year report (2012-2015) on Leopards living in the Thai Tholo Wilderness Reserve and surrounding area. T. Pirie
Us The board of trustees is made up from a diversity of professionals whose collective skills and experience provide a balanced managerial team.
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Mr Will Fox - Chairman
Will founded the On Track Foundation in 2014, having worked in support of wildlife conservation projects in several countries, primarily in South Africa, where he founded the INGWE Leopard Research program in 2004. This has lead to an in-depth understanding of the specific needs for charitable support to back small-scale conservation projects. He is also the CEO of On Track Safaris, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a visiting Research Fellow with Reading University UK
MSc - Conservation and restoration of biodiversity - University of Antwerp, Belgium Project development and management of research and conservation projects in four countries (Greece, Philippines, South Africa and Botswana) across three different biomes - the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the African savanna. Publication as first author in a ???
