Ivory Black Foundation is a smart, agile, private wildlife foundation dedicated to help saving the African elephant. We believe in the power of reducing public demand for ivory through non-traditional, hard-hitting campaigns. IBF grew out of two people’s numerous, first hand experiences of having seen countless herds of elephants slaughtered by poachers in the African bush, and realizing that the number of wild elephants is now going down more rapidly than ever.
There are less than 450,000 African elephants living in the wild today. This may sound like a fairly high number, but not when you know that around 30,000 are poached every year. That is one every 15 minutes. In some countries and areas, the elephant population has collapsed already. Since 2010 the killing has been happening at such a speed that your children may never get the chance to see African elephants in the wild.
Why do we have a clue?
Ivory Black Foundation is based on the personal experiences of co-founders Natasha Illum Berg and Torben Wind.
Natasha has lived and worked in the bush in Tanzania for a quarter of a century. The down to earth facts and reality of the matter is what burns her eyes and surrounds her home. Natasha walks where the elephants walk. She knows from how far you can smell a carcass. And she has lost friends to the bullets of poachers.
Torben has spent many months travelling and exploring the African bush. His engagement is caused by his close encounters with reality, rather than mere empathy. In his professional life, Torben also has a lot of experience in turning good ideas into solid results.
Having dealt directly with poachers, conservation and game departments inside Africa, we conclude that the fast track to stop the poaching is by halting the demand for ivory. We truly believe it can be done. But we have to act now.