The African Wildlife Foundation, together with the people of Africa, works to ensure the wildlife and wild lands of Africa will endure forever.Founded in 1961 at the height of the African independence movement, AWF (then known at the African Wildlife Leadership Foundation) was created to help newly independent African nations and people conserve their own wildlife. AWF's first approach was to train and educate African conservation professionals. AWF helped establish the College of African Wildlife Management, wildlife clubs in a number of African countries, and has sponsored dozens of African scholars in their pursuit of Master's and Doctoral degrees in conservation.For more than 50 years, AWF has been a key player in African conservation and sustainable development. AWF has defined large conservation landscapes that are essential to securing the future of Africa's wildlife. Within these landscapes, AWF employs an integrated approach to conservation including land use planning, education and capacity building, development of conservation enterprise to improve livelihoods, and applied research.