The Rapid Response Facility is an emergency grant fund that raises money for conservation crises. We are raising money to protect Sumatran elephants from the July poaching crisis that is happening RIGHT NOW.

Goal: To safeguard the Sumatran elephant in the Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra and prevent the July poaching crisis. 

There are only 500 elephants remaining in the Leuser Ecosystem with an estimated 40 killed in the last two years alone, this number continues to drop dramatically.

The threat:

The Sumatran elephant is in danger. In just a single generation, almost 70% of elephant habitat in Aceh has been lost and elephant population size has fallen by at least 80%.

Unconstrained poaching of the elephants will result in the extinction of this majestic animal in the Leuser Ecosystem.

In 2013, local conservation group HAkA found and destroyed 127 snares set to kill elephants and other wildlife in the area. In the first four months of 2014, the rate has tripled with teams already finding and destroying 139 snares by the end of April – more than the whole of last year.

Field data shows that in the dry season poaching and snare-setting increases dramatically. This means that poaching looks set to get worse very soon. The critical period for deploying more ranger protection patrols begins on 30 June. 

You can help

Local Sumatran conservation group HAkA has stepped in to try and protect this charismatic species.  Without their dedication many endangered animals – such as the Sumatran elephant – face extinction. 

HAkA rangers are working with local communities and the local authorities to prevent poaching in the Leuser Ecosystem. But as small conservation groups with limited resources, they face a huge task.

By donating to our emergency appeal, you can help HAkA ranger teams to increase patrolling intensity during the upcoming hunting period in July. These patrols will both deter poachers and remove snares.

Your help is urgently needed to protect the Leuser Ecosystem’s Sumatran elephants in their time of greatest need.

Here are a few examples of how your support can help:

ü  £5 could sponsor a community ranger on patrol for one day

ü  £20 could buy a uniform for a ranger

ü £100 could equip a ranger with jungle boots, raincoat, rucksack and rations needed for a week-long trip to remote parts of the forest to remove snares and elephant traps

ü  £300 could sponsor the rations of a HAkA ranger team on patrol for one month to begin the replanting of one hectare of degraded tropical rainforest and help restore a critical elephant migration corridor

By donating today, you can help save the tropical giants of Sumatra. Thank you for your help.

This appeal is supported by the Rapid Response Facility

www.rapid-response.org

You can follow the progress of the appeal on twitter:

twitter.com/the_RRF

Add your voice to the campaign:

#elephantemergency 

and follow the great work of HAkA:

www.thelastplaceonearth.org