Defend

Who we are

Defend partners with governments to resuscitate Africa’s most threatened national parks and the wildlife they protect. We design and implement operations that restore habitats on the brink of collapse. We multiply resources, embrace local communities, and terminate rampant poaching.

Unlike typical ‘donate and forget’ charities, we are an implementer, not a donor. We are the teams actually on the ground, transforming life for wildlife and people on the frontlines. We take on the difficult parks, knowing that our operations can make a major impact where others have given up, ensuring that no park, and no animal, need be left behind.

Our culture and values

The conservation sector has been dominated by big charities - well-meaning but oblivious to complex systems of corruption, and typically working far from the frontlines where poachers operate. These traditional efforts have proved ineffective against complex corruption and professional poachers, leaving wildlife and habitats on the brink of collapse. 

By combining military management structures with the very latest developments in technology, Defend is revolutionising the way parks are managed. We combine the efficiency and professionalism of traditional paramiliatary conservation methods with cutting-edge electronic management systems to transform national parks and secure these vital habitats for the wildlife within. 

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Defend is an equal-opportunity employer. We run a highly streamlined organisation, staffed and run (almost exclusively) by people from villages local to our operations. This gives our donors the extremely-rare experience of seeing nearly every cent they donate make it to our frontline teams, put to work on lean, focused, impactful operations helping wildlife under fire, collapsing habitats and forgotten communities.