• Ford Wildlife Foundation was founded in 2014, starting with 15 wildlife and environmental projects that are still supported today
• FWF currently supports 29 permanent environmental and wildlife conservation, research and education projects plus one seasonal project, helping preserve threatened species and habitats for future generations
• From leopards to cheetahs, penguins to vultures, turtles to whales, and grasslands to drylands, the FWF-supported projects reach far and wide and encompass South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and other Southern African countries

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, 29 November 2024 – Ford’s stated objectives are to create a better world by providing customers with innovative products and services, enhancing peoples’ lives, and making a difference in the regions in which it operates. The latter two goals are especially true of its wide range of community empowerment and upliftment initiatives, as well as its far-reaching environmental conservation programmes.

Ford South Africa’s support for wildlife and ecosystem conservation spans more than three decades, but it was the formation of the Ford Wildlife Foundation (FWF) in 2014 that truly accelerated and broadened its commitment to protecting the region’s threatened species and natural habitats, and preserving them for future generations.

Having started with 15 initial projects a decade ago – all of which continue to be supported by the foundation today – the FWF has doubled its scope and now has 17 full-time wildlife and ecosystem conservation projects, seven research projects and five education projects within its portfolio. Its reach extends across the whole of South Africa as well as the coastlines of Namibia and Mozambique. It also provides a short-term loan vehicle each year to the seasonal Southern Mozambique Sea Turtle Research Project.

“The Ford Wildlife Foundation was formed in 2014 to empower conservation organisations and help them preserve the crucial biodiversity of our environment,” says Lynda du Plessis, FWF manager. “The concept was to provide the projects with capable and reliable transport that would allow them to do more, enabling them to direct their limited resources towards their far-reaching conservation, research and education initiatives instead of paying for the costs of a vehicle.”

When the FWF kicked off in 2014, funded by Ford South Africa and supported by the nationwide network of Ford dealers, the Ranger bakkie was the obvious choice of vehicle thanks to its proven toughness and capabilities in even the most arduous environments. A total of 12 Rangers were donated to the initial projects, supplemented by two Ford Ikon sedans, and one Ranger was provided on loan.

The vehicle concept was changed in 2017 to a loan arrangement for a period of two years, which could then be renewed. “This new approach ensured more hands-on and interactive engagement with the projects on a regular basis, while also equipping them with our latest-generation products for each new loan cycle, with commensurate benefits in terms of comfort, safety, technology, performance and fuel efficiency,” Du Plessis says. “The benefit of having access to a new vehicle every two years is massive, considering the tough environments many of these projects work in, and the vast distances some of them cover each year.”

Since 2017, 92 Ford Rangers have been loaned to partner organisations, with 23 projects currently on their third or fourth loan cycle. Such is the value placed on these trusted workhorses that around half of the loan vehicles have subsequently been purchased by the projects to further expand their crucial work.

One of the first projects supported, which remains part of the FWF family today, is the Black Rhino Range Expansion Programme (BBREP) run by the World Wildlife Fund-South Africa (WWF-SA). This project has been instrumental in protecting critically endangered black rhino populations and relocating them to different areas across the country to increase breeding potential and viability. The goal is to achieve a growth rate of five percent per year, and increase the rhino population to 3 000 from the estimated 2 065 remaining in 2023. The project has effectively secured over 350 000 hectares of habitat on 17 new sites across South Africa, with an accumulative population of more than 350 black rhino.

Dehorning has been a vital tool in tackling the poaching crisis. To date, the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project has dehorned 1 057 rhinos, resulting in the poaching rate decreasing by an average of 80 percent.

“Over the years, we have had so many Rangers from Ford and not one of them has disappointed, though of course, they get better and better each time,” says Dr Jacques Flamand, Range Expansion manager for WWF-SA. “Thank you to the Ford Wildlife Foundation for the ongoing support provided to the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project.

“The provision of ‘fit-for-purpose vehicles’ has been instrumental in giving the project the ability to achieve the significant gains it has made throughout the last two decades,” Dr Flamand says. “This has helped us create and maintain a stable and productive conservation mechanism that has ensured that the species has been able to grow, despite witnessing the worst poaching pandemic in recent memory, which is a true conservation success story.”

Endangered Wildlife Trust

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has also been a cornerstone of the FWF-backed environmental initiatives from the outset. This includes the Drylands Conservation Programme, and the SA Cranes, Wetlands and Communities Project – both of which have evolved and expanded over the past decade.

EWT also runs the Carnivore Range Expansion Project, which aims to conserve endangered carnivores, mainly wild dogs and cheetahs, to restore populations that have been lost. Its largest and longest relocation to date was conducted in 2023, moving 16 African wild dogs more than 1 200km from the northern border of the North West Province to KwaZulu-Natal.

One of the FWF Rangers allocated to this project covered approximately 240 000km in a mere two and a half years relocating cheetahs across the country and into Southern Africa. This has helped increase the 217 cheetahs located in 41 metapopulation reserves in 2011 to more than 548 individuals spread across 70 reserves in South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi by early 2024.

“The EWT is extremely grateful for the road that the FWF has driven with us over the years. By supporting our carnivore, amphibian, roads, drylands, crane and community work Ford has enabled us to achieve conservation success which would not have been possible without your reliable, practical and beautiful Ford Rangers,” says Tammy Baker, Donor Relations officer at EWT. “From the lush terrain of KwaZulu-Natal to the rugged mountains of the Soutpansberg and the drylands of the Karoo, our Rangers are with us every step of the way. The Endangered Wildlife Trust thanks you, conservation thanks you.”

The Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Project was created from the Overberg Lowlands Conservation Trust, which has been a FWF beneficiary since 2014. The project works closely with farmers in the Overberg region of the Western Cape to secure ecologically viable remnants of the Renosterveld which are impacted by fragmentation and mismanagement, and are at high risk of extinction.

Oceanographic Research Institute’s Coral Reef Programme is another project that has been part of the FWF since 2014. It monitors coral reef systems along the South African coastline to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how reefs are affected by local and climate change pressures.

WESSA

Similarly, FWF has long supported the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) with three vehicles for its various projects. In the Eastern Cape, a WESSA team runs three projects: the Green Coast Programme which provides grassroots coastal conservation initiatives; the Eco-Schools Programme which supports environmental-based educational trips and teacher workshops for 10 schools in Motherwell, Gqeberha, to help create a more sustainable future; and the Cape Parrot LEAF Project which contributes to the establishment of biodiversity gardens in schools.

“The Ford Ranger has proven to be an invaluable asset to WESSA's environmental initiatives, enabling efficient project implementation, logistical support, and enhancing the organization's visibility. The continued support of the Ford Wildlife Foundation has significantly contributed to the success and impact of WESSA's conservation and education programmes in the Eastern Cape,” says Kerry Mclean, WESSA Senior Programme Manager: Coastal Programmes.

WESSA also operates the Tourism Blue Flag coastal management programme in South Africa which accredits beaches that meet standards of excellence in water quality, environmental management, education and safety. In Gauteng, WESSA runs the International Schools Programme consisting of three projects: Eco-Schools; Learning About Forests; and Young Reporters for the Environment. Through project-based learning, the organisation helps educate learners, parents, teachers and broader communities about the important relationship between people and nature.

Sea Search and Research was one of the first projects to receive a loan Ford Ranger when this phase of the Ford Wildlife Foundation kicked off in 2017. The organisation conducts marine mammal research on Cape fur seals and killer whales along the Southern African coastline encompassing Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.

It was joined at the same time by the Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) which strives to conserve leopard populations and increase connectivity between their habitats within the Cape Fold Mountains and surrounding areas in the Western Cape. This is achieved through a comprehensive range of research, conservation, education and human-wildlife conflict mitigation efforts. The organisation currently has one current FWF Ranger on loan, and has purchased two previous vehicles once their cycles were completed.

“FWF continues to provide much-needed support to our field teams. The three Ford Rangers in the CLT fleet are essential for fieldwork (camera trap deployment and servicing, as well as social science projects), community outreach, farm visits, snare patrols, workshop delivery, meetings with partners, equipment transport and conference attendance. The Rangers reliably and comfortably handle tar and dirt roads, exuding professionalism and safety,” says Dr Katy Williams, Research & Conservation director at Cape Leopard Trust. “We sincerely thank Ford Wildlife Foundation for the long-standing support of our work. It is a privilege to be ambassadors for FWF in this valuable partnership to ensure the long-term survival of leopards in the Cape and to protect the critical landscapes upon which they and us depend.”

SANCCOB

Another species that is under severe pressure with dwindling populations is the African penguin, which was recently upgraded to ‘Critically Endangered’. The FWF provides vehicles to the two Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) centres, located in Cape Town and Gqeberha.

SANCCOB rescues and rehabilitates penguins and other endangered seabirds with the goal of returning them to their natural habitats to contribute to the sustainability of these crucial species. In the past year alone, SANCCOB admitted 1 716 African penguins, Cape gannets, Hartlaubs gulls, Cape cormorants and Kelp gulls to its two centres for treatment, with 1 059 being rehabilitated and subsequently released during this period.

The Landscape Conservation Programme at BirdLife South Africa is dedicated to preserving South Africa's most vulnerable terrestrial birds and ecosystems through comprehensive conservation initiatives. This approach transcends traditional conservation methods by adopting a holistic and collaborative strategy that considers the intricate ecological, cultural, and social interactions within large, interconnected landscapes. Unlike conventional conservation approaches that typically focus on protecting individual species or specific habitats, landscape conservation embraces a broader, more integrated perspective. It recognises that ecosystems are complex networks where environmental elements are deeply interconnected and cannot be effectively protected in isolation.

Ernst Retief, who manages the Landscape Conservation Programme, highlights the critical role of the Ford Wildlife Foundation in supporting their work. The foundation's vehicle donation has been transformative, enabling programme staff to reach remote landowners in challenging terrain. "Without this vehicle, we simply cannot access many of the areas where our conservation efforts are most needed," Retief explains.

The vehicle has proven especially valuable during difficult field conditions. Retief appreciates not having to worry about transportation when navigating poorly maintained roads or facing harsh weather. An interesting additional benefit is the vehicle's growing recognition among local farmers, who now readily identify the Ford Wildlife Foundation logo and actively communicate about the programme's presence in their region.

This support exemplifies how strategic partnerships can significantly enhance conservation efforts, providing the practical resources necessary to conduct critical environmental research and preservation work across South Africa's diverse landscapes.

The Lapalala Wilderness School in Limpopo was taken on board in 2018, followed by the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project that joined the FWF a year later. They were joined by the Freshwater Research Centre with its Fynbos Fish Revival, Somkhanda Wildlife ACT Emergency Response, hippo and vulture research projects led by the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Life Sciences, and the Mozambique Wildlife Alliance which provides veterinary care and wildlife conflict mitigation interventions.

Some of the most recent additions to the Ford Wildlife Foundation include WWF-SA’s North Eastern Cape Grasslands National Park Project which the FWF has supported since its inception. And there’s the University of Mpumalanga’s Anguillid Eels Project, along with the vulture conservation project run by VulPro – both of which joined the FWF family in 2023.

Each one of these FWF partner organisations and their dedicated, extremely hard-working teams, continue to make significant and lasting impacts on their respective species, habitats and ecosystems, as well as the communities around them – for which we should all be extremely grateful.

“The Ford Wildlife Foundation is exceptionally proud to be associated with every one of our conservation, research and education partners, and we are delighted to be the driving force behind their success as we work together to build a better future for the next generation by preserving the essential natural environment that surrounds us,” FWF’s Lynda du Plessis says.

For over 30 years, Ford South Africa has actively participated in wildlife and ecosystem conservation efforts in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Ford Wildlife Foundation was established in 2014, and currently supports 28 projects across South Africa and one project in Mozambique. This comprises 17 conservation projects, seven research projects and five environmental education projects. For more information on the Ford Wildlife Foundation and its supported conservation projects, please click here: https://www.ford.co.za/about-ford/wildlife-foundation/