2022 Year End Newsletter

8th December 2022

Part of the Pack Year End Newsletter 2022

Sad loss of our executive director

DIANE SKINNER (8th Dec 1980 – 10th Aug 2022)

In August this year we suffered the tragic loss of our Executive Director, Diane Skinner. Today is Di’s Birthday; she would have been 42 years old. Despite her young age, Di had an impressive and impactful career in conservation. Working to save Africa’s threatened charismatic megafauna, including chimps, rhino, elephant, and the painted wolf, she brought ingenuity and vision to achieving win/win situations for both animals and people.

In 2018, she became a founding Trustee of the Painted Wolf Foundation. In 2020 Peter and Nick asked Di to become our Executive Director with the aim to develop PWF into a transformational force for the painted wolf.

Taking advantage of the Covid 19 lockdown, Di consulted with the entire painted wolf conservation community to develop a strategy for transformational change for the species. This effort led to our seminal report, “Securing the Future of the Painted Wolf,” of which she was the primary author.

The painted wolf, and other African wildlife, have lost a brilliant and steadfast advocate. However, Diane leaves us with a legacy – a strategy to save the painted wolf. It is one that we at the Painted Wolf Foundation are more determined than ever to implement.

Your support in helping us achieve Di’s vision is more appreciated than ever.

R.I.P Di and Happy Birthday!

Click to read Obituary

Preparing To Grant

Our report “Securing the Future of the Painted Wolf” outlines a clear strategy to save the species and we are deeply grateful to all those that have supported our journey so far. We now have a significant sum to start our granting programme. 

In anticipation of this, Diane Skinner and Nicholas Dyer spent much of this year speaking with and visiting potential grantees across Africa, looking for our most pressing inaugural grantees.

In November, we held our first Granting Committee Meeting. In the New Year, we will announce details of the projects we intend to invest in. Each grant is designed to bring transformational change to threatened painted wolf populations as we work towards our goal of doubling their numbers over the next 30 years.

This is an exciting beginning of a long journey to save the painted wolf.

Powerful Partners

The Painted Wolf Foundation is evolving into a significant force in the conservation of the painted wolf as we begin our strategy to reverse the downward trajectory of the species. This requires a powerful and efficient infrastructure and strong governance.
 
We continue to develop our partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), whose significant experience in supporting wildlife conservation worldwide has guided us in our development.
 
We have also recently appointed the WS Society based in Edinburgh to provide us a full range of support, including administration, governance, accounting, legal and marketing. This also means that we have secured a prestigious address in the centre of Edinburgh and now have the magnificent Signet Library as our offices and to host events. 
 
Of course our critical path to success is fund raising and more than ever we need your support.

Joining Our Pack

Mike Cuthbert

We are delighted to have appointed Mike Cuthbert as a new Trustee. Mike lives in the Eastern Cairngorm mountains in Scotland and has had a lifelong interest in the natural world and conservation projects. His love of Africa came after serving with the British army in Kenya in 1978. His Scottish wife Ali was brought up in Scotland and West Africa, and together they have undertaken many riding/walking safaris in Africa over the last 35 years. Mike has enjoyed a successful career in finance in the City of London and has been breeding working dogs in the UK for 30 years. His passion for African wild dogs started when tracking them in Zimbabwe in 2013. He is determined to help this endangered species, raising awareness of its plight wherever he can.

Ronit Walther

Ronit has joined the PWF team as Project Co-ordinator.  She has a BA in Genetics and Microbiology and MSc in Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health. With a lifelong passion for wildlife conservation and photography, she has worked with conservation projects around the world, from large carnivores in Africa to loons in her home in northwest Montana. Originally from the U.S, she has lived abroad for the past 13 years in Kenya, Kazakhstan, Malawi, and now currently Zimbabwe, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Save A Date

Nicholas Dyer will be coming to the UK to do a number of talks on the incredible painted wolf. He will be speaking about his time photographing the packs on foot in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe and the transformational projects the Painted Wolf Foundation is now supporting across Africa. Two evening events booked so far are:
 
Edinburgh:    22^nd March     The Signet Library, Parliament Square
 
London:         29^th March     Cavalry & Guards Club, Piccadilly
 
More details on these events and others to follow.

SOLD OUT!

“Painted Wolves: A Wild Dog’s Life” has sold out. All the money made from the 4,000 copies printed was donated to the Painted Wolf Foundation. It is this funding that allowed us to start the Foundation and was the catalyst that enabled us to get to where we are today.

Authors, Nicholas Dyer and Peter Blinston, would like to thank all of you who bought the book and making our vision possible.

Buy The PWF Report