Off to rescue elephants

A HEATHFIELD graduate is hoping to use her expertise to save herds of African elephants from being killed.

Joanna Howitt, of Maynards Green, has been selected to go to a remote part of Tanzania with a small group of volunteers in January.

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The 23-year-old former pupil of St Leonards School, Mayfield, has even begun to learn Swahili.

However, Joanna who this summer graduated from Kingston University with a degree in Earth Science first needs to raise 4,000 in sponsorship to pay for her training, equipment and research.

Joanna said she hoped the trip would help farmers in Tanzania learn to live with the elephants instead of culling them. She will be working with international conservation group Frontier to help local communities to continue farming but with conservation in mind. I have been learning Swahili so I can communicate with the ordinary people who are in the front line of conservation problems, she said. I want to show them that they can benefit by preserving the wild animals as well as farm land.

Elephants travel from area to area using the same routes so-called elephant trails. Joanna and the other volunteers hope to persuade local farmers from growing crops on these trails.

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Although this is a journey of a lifetime, said Joanna, it will be no holiday. It will be hard but worthwhile work that can change the world.

Although elephants are top of the list of problems for these farmers, Joanna will also be helping with endangered species such as black rhino, wild dogs, hippos and crocodiles.

Readers who would like to help Joanna may contact her via Brian Pollard at the Sussex Express.

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