All too often, communities that live around wildlife reserves are ostracized from conservation areas. When rural communities are not helped to sustain themselves, or given adequate conservation education, we cannot expect these communities to do anything but look to protected areas for resources as a means of survival.

Our "boots on the ground" anti-poaching team have patrols that are deployed daily in vehicles, on foot and by bicycles.

While anti-poaching rescue efforts are crucial to the immediate fight, the war on poaching will be won in the end through education. When communities that live side by side with the wildlife understand why they need to be conserved, how they can benefit from their conservation and why poaching is unsustainable, a buffer zone of friendly forces is created around the wildlife population, making poaching less and less likely, until one day poaching is a thing of the past. Woodlands Community Reserve has set up an education and scholarship program to assist in the education processes.

Poverty is also a driving force behind poaching. Poachers are almost always unemployed men who do it to put food on the table and for the money. Communities need to see the economic benefit of conservation. Therefore we ensure that our conservation projects support local traders and every trip into Woodlands has a direct positive impact on the community. Woodlands Community Reserve has a policy of employing local first to ensure job creation and financial benefits to the community.