Here in the Shimba Hills, fenced in and surrounded by a growing human population, the growing elephant population has become a threat not only to people but to their habitat. AFEW's second project was to establish the first educational nature sanctury in independent Africa. Last year AFEW brought over 40,000 African school children to the center free of charge to teach them how to conserve their animal heritage.
Children now overflow the center, so more classroom space is needed.
They can't afford a car or the entrance fees to go into game parks. Now they are able to see and feed the giraffe and warthogs and walk through AFEW's primeval forest with an educational officer who teaches them about environmental protection matters. STE approaches conservation from an elephant's perspective. They believe elephants deserve special respect from Humanity because they are sensate beings with a higher order conciousness and they intend to safeguard their future in an increasingly insecure world. STE focus on research, education, grass-roots conservation, monitoring and protection.