Tikki Hywood Trust
“Tikki Hywood was my dad. A man who inspired me, someone who I not only admired but looked up to and wanted to be like one day. My dad made me smile; he loved life and what nature freely offered to each and everyone of us. He was my hero. So it was only right that after his death, I did something to honour his memory and to make him smile! That was to establish the Tikki Hywood Trust”. Lisa Hywood.
The Tikki Hywood Trust is a non-profit charitable organisation offering a fresh and positive contribution to Zimbabwean conservation. The Tikki Hywood Trust fills a niche that is often overlooked in wildlife conservation, and that is the preservation of species that lack the charisma and appeal of the larger, more publicised rare animals. Through the formation of the Trust, the smaller, lesser known and often more endangered, wild species of animals are given a voice. Little is known about the life patterns of these smaller animals, as there have been few or no studies on these species, leaving us in a very fragile position to ensure their survival.
The Trust strives to bring awareness to these species and their plight through captive breeding and release programs set up throughout Zimbabwe. The lack of focus and information on these species makes the pioneering work that the Tikki Hywood Trust undertakes, to study and breed some of the most endangered animals in Southern Africa extremely critical. It is also vital that the information gained in researching these species is shared and the project supported now so that theyare saved!
The Tikki Hywood Trust has an expansive view of conservation and preservation of all species and therefore also ardently campaigns the cause of animal welfare and conservation worldwide. Furthermore, in order to create a national consciousness about the importance ofwildlife and its protection, the Trust utilizes education to empower the local people and their children, together with developing workshops for training personal such as the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Authorities. However, there is one area of conservation that is often the last to be addressed and ironically is one of the most important, and that is legislation. Due to the current economic turmoil that Zimbabwe is in, it has come to the attention of the Trust that the principles of conservation are often let down by the law of the day. In other words, the penalties for committing a crime against nature in the form of poaching and deforestation were so negligent that they did not deter the would-be criminal.
It was due to these circumstances of perpetrators getting off with absurdly low fines and or sentences that the Tikki Hywood Trust started working together with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority resolved to address this issue. To date we are proud to declare that the Tikki Hywood Trust has been instrumental in raising the poaching fines of all species, both endangered and otherwise to morally acceptable levels.
