Tusk was incredibly fortunate to have been one of the three charities supported over the past few months by The Times and The Sunday Times Christmas Appeal, and honoured to have been selected alongside Fareshare and Sported. Journalists from the two newspapers visited and spoke to a number of projects and conservationists supported by Tusk across Africa, with their articles appearing across the digital and printed editions of The Times and The Sunday Times from late November until the end of January.
The Appeal helped demonstrate the very diverse range of conservation initiatives that we support, as well as the great challenges that they are confronting, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The collapse in tourism and the overall economy has had a devastating impact on rural livelihoods and conservation efforts, threatening to undo years of conservation progress across the entire African continent. With little chance of local economies or tourism recovering for a long time, there are fears that 2021 could be even tougher.
The Appeal was therefore very timely, and we are incredibly grateful to the readers of The Times and The Sunday Times for their great generosity, which is helping us throw a critical lifeline to our many projects across Africa, protecting livelihoods and keeping men and women on the frontline of conservation.
We are also extremely grateful to The Nick Maughan Foundation, which has generously matched all donations up to a total of £150,000, doubling their impact, and to Matthew Moulding who donated £300,000 to the Appeal to be split equally between the three charities.
We would also like to say thank you to the reporters and journalists from The Times and The Sunday Times for their incredible support and for bringing our work to life through the Appeal.