The African Conservation Fund

Congratulations to Beth Pinson of Vancouver, WA - winner of the grand prize in our Adventure Raffle - a new Chaser Trailer, donated by America's finest builder of rugged camping trailers for off-highway use, Adventure Trailers topped off with an Eezi-Awn folding rooftop tent from Equipt Expedition Outfitters . You can watch the final drawing via webcast at:

www.OverlandJournal.com/HD

Click here for more about this exciting raffle, and about our great supporters:

 Sponsors: Adventure Trailer, Equipt Expedition Outfitters, Overland Journal
Supporters:  Expedition Exchange, Roemer Off-Road, Baja Overland Vehicle Expedition Equipment,  Utah 4-Wheel Drive Club, and DesertDude Films.

Many thanks to these great businesses and people.

When an individual or corporation invests funds in a startup enterprise, we call it venture capitalism.

African Conservation Fund and our partners in East Africa are investing in enterprises that promote both community and ecosystem health -  a strategy we're calling Venture Conservation.

Venture Conservation features exciting projects in which Venture Conservationists can invest dollars that not only directly save wildlife but some of which can also be linked to things like carbon offsets or a fabulous safari vacation.

We are pleased to announce a new partnership with Phillips Environmental Products, Inc., an innovative family-based company in Montana. Phillips has donated their outstanding PETT dry toilet systems for our new Adventure Safaris, which begin in 2008. These ingenious systems will allow us to operate our all-camping overland safaris safely for our participants (each vehicle will have its own private latrine shelter and PETT toilet, so we don't have to worry about people wandering off into the bush with the lions and elephants and buffaloes) as well as cleanly for the environment. A big thanks to this outstanding company, whose commitment to community and the environment shows in their products as well as their actions.

Dear Friends,

Many of you have called or written about your concerns for Kenya—what is happening to this country we all hold dear? Are the news reports accurate? And, what does it mean for the communities and the conservation and research projects we are supporting?

Many of our Kenyan friends and colleagues have been keeping us up to date, through email and phone calls.

First, all of our partners, the people working on projects we support, are safe. None of the rioting and reprisals has reached these areas. People were prepared with extra food and supplies, and were able to lie low during the worst of the violence.

We are pleased to announce an exciting new education opportunity in Kenya in 2008 - field courses with Earth Expeditions, a collaboration of Miami University Project Dragonfly and Cincinnati Zoo.

In 2006, African Conservation Fund began talks with Earth Expeditions, based at Miami University in Ohio, about starting a new course-offering in the South Rift program areas.

Earth Expeditions is a global conservation program offering university courses in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Through field and zoo expedition courses, their mission is to build an alliance of individuals with firsthand knowledge of inquiry-driven, community-based learning for the benefit of ecological communities, student achievement, and global understanding.