MENTOR Fellowship Program

Illegal hunting for the bushmeat trade in Eastern Africa is becoming as formidable a direct threat to wildlife as it has historically been in Western and Central Africa. To combat this threat, the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders (WWB) program, and the College of African Wildlife Management in Mweka, Tanzania sponsored 8 highly qualified fellows to complete a graduate curriculum in bushmeat mitigation at Mweka College. The creators of this MENTOR (Mentoring for ENvironmental Training in Outreach and Resource conservation) Fellowship Program wished to incorporate adaptive management principles and training in their initiative from its inception. FOS worked closely with the program in its initial stages to develop a strategic plan. Once the program was up and running, FOS led a 5-day course in adaptive management for the fellows, who continued to use the Open Standards and Miradi for their individual projects. Since completing the program, the 8 graduates and their advisors have formed the Bushmeat-free Eastern Africa Network (BEAN) in order to better harness their skills and leadership in bushmeat mitigation work in eastern Africa.