MCCDF ORIGIN & DEVELOPMENT

MCCDF was set up in 2008 as a separate non-profit organisation by the owner of Mihingo Lodge Ralph Schenk. During the building of the lodge an entire clan of spotted hyenas were poisoned in the Park highlighting the need for a project focusing on the communities and the wildlife living beyondits borders.

The aim of MCCDF is to preserve the wildlife outside the Park, reduce human-wildlife conflict and link the community to the benefits of having wildlife on their land.

To date MCCDF has focused on a compensation programme for livestock killed by Park predators,channelled donations of equipment to two local primary schools, started a sponsorship scheme for students to secondary school and begun identifying leopards of the area. MCCDF is currently looking to initiate multiple projects in the area to tackle a range of issues.

Some new future projects include:

• Kraal strengthening & anti-predator measures
• Removal of invasive species & production of
• sustainable green energy briquettes
• Conservation education
• Community based wildlife research
• Support for giraffe introduction
• Enterprise development