Giraffe are now an Official Supporter of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

In February, you may remember that our Valentine’s Day campaign was a little different to most. We made a conscious decision in the office that given the ridiculous amounts of money spent on Valentine’s gifts each year, we’d try and encourage our audience to donate a small percentage of that amount to charity. We directed you all to donate that money to a charity that is close to our hearts, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The campaign was a big success, with lots of people hearing our message and agreeing. We were over the moon with the feedback.

Days after our blog post, we were contacted by one of the incredible staff from GCF (Giraffe Conservation Foundation), Stephanie Fennessy. Stephanie thanked us for thinking of them and helping them reach more people with their message. After a few emails, she offered us the opportunity to become an official supporter of the charity – an opportunity we grabbed with both hands. So we are extremely proud to announce that Giraffe Social Media is now an official supporter of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

Our support will begin in the form of helping GCF increase their reach, by spreading their message to our audience, as well as assisting them with expert social media advice. We will also be looking to create some campaigns/events that will help raise funding for them in the near future. We’d like to begin sharing their message today, with some information about the work that they do to protect beautiful Giraffes all over Africa.

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF)

“The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) supports giraffe projects throughout their natural range which have strong conservation and management links. Due to a lack of understanding of much of giraffe’s natural history, key research which provides baseline for conservation and management is missing to answer the bigger questions.

Throughout their range, giraffe face numerous threats which are ever increasing; however giraffe have not appeared high up on the conservation agenda of many countries or NGOs, and it is now timely to promote their conservation at a time when real impacts on their numbers and range are happening.

Therefore, with a need to understand so much more about giraffe, the GCF seeks to provide targeted support to projects that will provide a better understand of the science and issues, and as such provide essential conservation and management solutions for the species’ long-term sustainability.

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation mission is to:

Promote the importance and profile of giraffe conservation on the international stage.
Secure viable, and protect existing, habitat for giraffe and other wildlife.
Support dedicated and innovative research to better understand giraffe ecology, conservation and management.
Establish the current status of all giraffe populations and (sub)species to support and inform their conservation and management.
Identify key threats to giraffe and innovative ways to mitigate these.
Develop a world class network of individuals and organisations dedicated to securing the future of giraffe.
Provide a platform and forum for giraffe related research, conservation and management discussion.
Increase awareness about the plight of giraffe.
Promote and support giraffe conservation initiatives and work collaboratively with local communities to develop a sustainable future for both people and wildlife.
Establish GCF as the key focal organisation for giraffe conservation and management.
Maintain a close working relationship with the IGWG to provide comprehensive educational and technical support.
To be the leading international organisation for giraffe conservation and management.