Mount Elgon Foundation

Help protect Mount Elgon's extraordinary elephants, forests and communities

Mount Elgon's elephants are extraordinary. Famous for travelling deep underground to mine mineral-rich rock, they are now also the subject of fascinating new scientific findings suggesting they may self-medicate using plants with pharmacologically active properties. But these remarkable elephants face serious threats to their survival.

When Chemukung was caught in a log snare (pictured above), her life was in danger - but she was not alone. Thanks to the efforts of the East African Wild Life Society - Mount Elgon Elephant Project (EAWLS - MEEP) scouts and partner organisations, she was rescued. What’s more, because Chemukung was pregnant, saving her meant saving not one life, but two which has become three as she has gone on to have a second calf.

Chemukung's story is a powerful reminder of the threats facing Mount Elgon's small and vulnerable elephant population. Snares, habitat loss, illegal activities and human–elephant conflict put these remarkable animals at risk. Your donation can help protect elephants like Chemukung, their high-altitude forest home and the communities living alongside them.

Straddling the border between Kenya and Uganda, Mount Elgon is home to a rich diversity of wildlife and communities whose livelihoods depend on its forests and natural resources. Deforestation, habitat loss and growing pressure on the landscape threaten both wildlife and local livelihoods. Protecting Mount Elgon means addressing these challenges together.

The Mount Elgon Foundation supports practical, locally delivered work to:

• Protect elephants and other wildlife through more than 8,000 km of foot patrols each year, often at altitudes above 10,000 feet, alongside wildlife monitoring and conservation partnerships.
• Reduce human–elephant conflict through beehive fences that use suspended beehives to help protect farmers' crops, alongside community engagement and other practical crop-protection measures.
• Protect and restore forests through reforestation and community forestry initiatives.
• Support sustainable livelihoods through seedling production, beekeeping and honey production, helping communities develop alternative sources of income while living alongside wildlife.
• Preserve Mount Elgon's cultural heritage through archaeological work and collaboration with local communities.

Through EAWLS - MEEP and our wider community, forestry and cultural heritage partnerships, we are working to secure a better future for the mountain's wildlife and people. We are also developing conservation collaboration across the border into Uganda, recognising that elephants and ecosystems do not stop at national boundaries.

Every donation helps us continue this vital work. Please give today and help protect Mount Elgon's elephants, forests and communities for future generations.

Find out more at www.mountelgonfoundation.org.uk.