World Wildlife Fund

Places

Earth Hour

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change. Learn more

The Wild Things

Listen to the story of how WWF helped a masked bandit return to the prairie, in the newest edition of WWF's podcast series "The Wild Things." Learn more.

Take Action

Take Action on Climate Change

Tell your member of Congress to vote YES on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Take Action

Travel

Travel With WWF

Visit our travel section and choose from many amazing trips! Learn more

Adopt a Mountain Gorilla

Make a symbolic Mountain Gorilla adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts. Adopt Now!

Support WWF

Show your love of the panda with the WWF Visa Signature^® credit card from Bank of America. Bank of America will contribute $100 to WWF for each new qualifying account.*

* See application for details.

Expedition Diary - Congo Basin

Education for Nature

Judith Mashinya
© WWF

Conserving the Congo: Education for Nature

For almost 15 years, WWF’s Education for Nature (EFN) Program has been equipping conservation leaders with the training and practical experience to take on challenges in their home countries. Follow Judith Mashinya of WWF’s EFN Program as she travels through the Congo Basin to visit conservationists supported by WWF. Along the way, she travels across lagoons teeming with crocodiles and learns how to avoid a buffalo attack.

Chantal is from the DRC and works as an assistant conservation researcher with Kahuzi-Biega National Park. She received an EFN grant to attend protected area management training at the University of Montana.
© Chanthal Ndukura

Part 12: Local Leaders

My schedule in the DRC was packed with meetings. My time with representatives of various non-governmental organizations was most instructive. They reiterated that the DRC is a large country with many natural resources and very little capacity to manage them. They explained that the dearth of local capacity is why most - if not all - conservation programs in the country are led by expatriates.

In a later meeting with several women from conservation-related government departments, I was asked to explain the EFN requirements for grant recipients. I mentioned the need for a bank account in the grant recipient’s own name to which WWF would electronically transfer grant funds. I was touched when one woman said that most of them could not afford to open bank accounts. With salaries of around $100 per month, they had no realistic chance to save money and no way to pay bank fees.

For a moment I did not know how to respond, I just felt very sympathetic. I know people in Africa are poor but this is something one never gets used to. It is hard to believe that government employees with important work to do for the nation could be so poorly paid. Given the high costs of living in Central Africa, I could not fathom how they lived day to day. I return to the U.S. with more resolve than ever to help these dedicated women be the best they can be so they can fully contribute their skills and knowledge to the conservation of the Congo Basin.