About Amara
We work to conserve unique wildlife and critical habitats and promote sustainable livelihoods through environmental education and capacity building working with rural communities in East Africa.
Our guiding value is the autonomy of indigenous communities; our awareness that each community is unique and must find its own solutions to the problem of sustainability. Amara’s role is to provide information, alternatives, and opportunities in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and cooperation among stakeholders based on trust and creativity.
Amara believes in the power of information. A healthy environment benefits humans and wildlife equally, and for one to thrive the other need not suffer.
What We Do
Amara Conservation started its work in Kenya over 10 years ago supporting the activities of other non-profits and by setting up the first Mobile Film Unit showing the films of the African Environmental Film Foundation.
We found in our work in the communities and schools around Kenya that there was significant desire and need for people to have more information on the wildlife and environment.
In 2005, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) asked us to organize and facilitate Bushmeat Awareness Campaign meetings. Through so doing, we saw with our own eyes clearly the positive reaction people had to the provision of a forum for discussion and dissemination of information, and we realized that it was important to include these workshops (barazas) in our work.
We focus our efforts in the Tsavo Conservation Area. This area (including Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills) covers over 60,000 sq. km and is the largest National Park in Kenya well as one of the largest in the world. It is home to the largest population of elephants in Kenya, and the largest protected area for breeding populations of the black rhino. The Tsavo area is an ecosystem at extreme risk from human encroachment, drought, and illegal activities that are difficult to address due to it’s size. The people living in the surrounding areas are a group that is very much at risk from human wildlife conflict and food insecurity due to the lack of water and decent soil for agriculture and grazing.
Other groups in Kenya address poaching issues directly – primarily the KWS. There are teams who do the critical work of removing snares set for bushmeat.
History
Amara Conservation was incorporated in April 2001. We received US 501 (c)(3) status and also formed the Amara Conservation (UK) Trust in November 2001.
We originally supported the work of others in anti-poaching and rural school support. We quickly identified other projects that we are currently implementing to impact areas where the need is great. We hope to act as a bridge from this most special place, with its seriously endangered species and communities that are struggling to survive, to those individuals and entities in the western world who have the ability and will to help make a difference.
Amara Conservation is an organization dedicated not only to preserving the wildlife, but perhaps more importantly, devoted to helping the rural people improve their future by providing educational and community assistance.
Amara is a small organization. We work efficiently as a tight unit on the ground in Kenya. We have two Land Rovers, thanks to the generous support of Land Rover Corporation.
A lot of people are donating their time and knowledge to help Amara succeed. Thank You!
Educating the local population as to solutions for human-wildlife conflict, and to stop the poachers from hunting on their land has proven tremendously successful. Often a 
Educating the local population as to solutions for human-wildlife conflict, and to stop the poachers from hunting on their land has proven tremendously successful. Often a 
