Our in-situ conservation partners help animals in their natural habitat.
As well as the conservation work we do locally and through our breeding programmes, we partner with several conservation organisations and charities to help the wild cousins of our animals and their habitats. Since 2006 we have raised £73,000 for these partners.
It’s not just about raising money, although we do that too. It’s about raising awareness amongst you, our visitors, about the threats facing animals and what you can do to help. Here’s some of the organisations we’re partnered with across the globe.
Registered charity number: 1109670
Wildlife Vets International is a long standing partner we’ve worked with for nearly 20 years. WVI runs a wide variety of wildlife health projects around the globe. These include disease monitoring, training programmes, conservation translocations, rehabilitation support and diagnostic tool development.
We have previously contributed to many of their campaigns including an Amur leopard reintroduction project. The money we raised helped air travel for zoo vets and bought vital equipment to health check the wild population.
In 2003 we helped fund the training of a Nepalese wildlife vet named Amir. At the time he had access to one of the only anaethesia machines for wildlife in the country, so extra training helped him to refine his skills.
Recent funding we have raised;
2023 – £737 towards veterinary training
2024 – £1000 towards veterinary training
2025 – £1000 unrestricted donation
Registered charity number: 1188719
We’ve been supporting BMAC’s work in Morocco for a number of years. The Barbary macaque, which you can see at Folly Farm, is at risk of extinction in the wild. The biggest threat facing them is being illegally taken from the wild for the exotic pet trade.
All of our macaques were illegally taken from the wild and kept as pets before joining us as part of a rehoming project from a sanctuary in the Netherlands. Sian Waters is the volunteer executive director for BMAC and she’s from South Wales. Sian and her team carry out vital work with children in Morocco to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the macaque and not accepting money to steal them.
Previous funding has helped to fund the ‘Monkey Bus’ which goes around schools and communities to spread the conservation message and their vital field surveys to monitor the wild population of macaques.
In 2022 wildfires broke out in the Bouhachem Forest which is home to many macaque families. An emergency appeal was launched to help the local communities evacuate. Once the fires had been extinguished it left the macaques with very little food. The following years funds were raised to provide supplementary acorns.
Recent funding we have raised;
2023 – £736.85 towards supplementary acorn feeding
2024 – £1100 towards firefighting equipment
2025 – £1000 unrestricted donation
Registered charity number: 1172709
We’re helping the Safina Lion Conservation Fund to raise awareness of, and funds for, lion conservation. Safina works with several conservation organisations working to protect lions in the wild. It’s first project was working with Lion Guardians. The Lion Guardians approach involves recruiting young, traditionalist Maasai and other pastoralist warriors to learn the skills needed to effectively mitigate conflict between people and wildlife, monitor lion populations and help their own communities live with lions.
Safina has previously designated the funds we’ve raised to sponsor one of these warriors. The Lion Guardian we supported was Kuya Kipampa.
More recently, we have raised funds for Safina’s Future Kings Project, which saw a lion GPS tracking collar fitted to a lion named Ole Cook. Over two years, the collar provided vital data, like where he travelled and when. This meant that herders could be alerted and protect their livestock; this then protects this young lion from conflict with humans.
Our current fundraising efforts are towards the ‘Better Bomas’ campaign. A boma is a traditional wooden enclosure where livestock can be kept overnight to protect them from lions. Safina has worked with Kopelion to improve these structures which helps prevents conflict, enabling lasting coexistence between people and lions. You can learn all about bomas, and even see one, in our lion house!
Recent funding we have raised;
2023 – £1062.05 towards Lion Guardians programme
2024 – £949.10 towards lion GPS tracking collar
2025 – £500 towards Better Bomas campaign
Photo credit: John Merishi for Lion Guardians – Kuya Kipampa is sponsored by Safina through the Lion Guardians project.
Registered charity number: 261103671
Helping the wild cousins of our red panda is an important part of our conservation work. We’ve partnered with the Red Panda Network to raise awareness of, and money for, the vital work they do to monitor and protect the declining population of wild red pandas.
We’re proud to have previously sponsored a ‘Forest Guardian’, who are employed by the Red Panda Network to monitor and protect red panda habitats, as well as educate communities on red panda conservation.
Funding raised in 2024 supported the local community who depend on red panda habitat. A high-quality herders tent was purchased, replacing wooden sheds and reducing timber demand.
In 2025 we supported the ‘Plant a Red Panda Home’ campaign which helps reverse habitat loss by employ local people to restore Nepal’s forests. Help plant trees, reconnect habitats, and protect red pandas and wildlife.
Recent funding we have raised:
2023 – £736.85 unrestricted donation
2024 – £550 towards a traditional herders tent
2025 – £400 towards Planting a Red Panda Home
Photo: Menuka Bhattarai, working to protect red pandas in the wild
Registered charity number: 269442
The Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) is a national charity working across the UK to safeguard the future of rare and native livestock and equine breeds. It aims to reverse the decline of all livestock breeds listed on their watchlist and to have all the breeds on the watchlist in a stable position by 2028.
In 2023, Folly Farm was accredited by the RBST as a rare breed farm collection, the first, and currently only, Welsh farm park to be so. Our farm houses a variety of breeds that are listed on the watchlist including traditional Welsh breeds like the Badgerface and Balwen sheep. Donations help to support their vital work, like the formation of the watchlist to inform breeding recommendations and their ‘Gene Bank’ project that aims to preserve genes of these ancient breeds.
Recent funding we have raised:
2023 – £736.75 unrestricted donation
2024 – £500 unrestricted donation
2025 – £200 unrestricted donation
Formed in 2008 by eight European zoos, Sphenisco is a non-profit organisation which works with scientists and activists in Chile and Peru to save the Humboldt penguin from extinction, while also raising awareness about the threats they face.
The Humboldt penguin is considered vulnerable to extinction due to many factors including overfishing, entanglement in fishing gear, development on their coastal breeding sites, guano harvesting (harvesting of their faeces for crop fertiliser) and climate change.
Folly Farm is supporting Sphenisco’s projects in Chile, where they monitor and protect the breeding colonies and campaign for the creation of marine protected areas. Sphenisco are also working with Chilean universities and partner organisations to conduct important research in order to understand the breeding habits of this species.
Recent funding we have raised:
2023 – £736.75 unrestricted donation
2024 – £500 unrestricted donation
2025 – £200 unrestricted donation
Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy (MKWC) is a non-profit trust dedicated to preserving the environment and the wildlife within. The conservancy is located at the foot of the scenic Mount Kenya Forest ecosystem – a UNESCO World Heritage site and region of significant biodiversity.
The conservancy’s three main programmes include a breeding and rewilding programme for the critically endangered Mountain Bongo antelope, an animal orphanage, and a conservation education programme.
Folly Farm supports MKWC due to its commitment to conserving the Mountain Bongo, of which there are fewer than 100 left in the wild. Funds that you help us raise, are being allocated to the monitoring of bongo that have been bred and reintroduced to a 776-acre reserve known as the Mawingu Mountain Bongo Sanctuary. Monitoring equipment such as smartphones have been purchased to help rangers communicate with one another and record bongo sightings.
In 2023 our Conservation Officer Jack helped track endangered bongo antelope in Africa. You can read his story here.
Recent funding we have raised:
2024 – £1174 towards smart phones
2025 – £1000 towards additional monitoring equipment
Registered charity number: 1175762
Helping Rhinos is a UK-based charity working to protect endangered rhinos by creating secure habitats in Africa. Their mission focuses on anti-poaching efforts, habitat restoration, and community engagement through education and support programs. They fund rhino orphanages, support ranger units like the Black Mambas, and use technology such as drones to safeguard rhinos and their ecosystems.
Folly Farm supports their rhino orphanage work at the Zululand Rhino Orphanage. When a rhino mother is killed, the calves are frequently left grieving by their side. Without their mother’s milk and guidance, these orphans would starve and be taken by predators.
In response, specialist orphanages have been set up across South Africa to care for these calves. Helping Rhinos supports the Zululand Rhino Orphanage in providing 24-hour care to rhino and hippo orphans. When the calves are ready, they are slowly reintroduced back into the wild. This dedicated rescue and rehabilitation centre is critical to saving the lives of as many rhinos as possible.
Recent funding we have raised:
New partner
Other partners we have supported over the years:
Pembrokeshire Hogspital
2024 – £604.98
Giraffe Conservation Foundation
2014-2018 – £3,379.39
World Land Trust
2017-2023 – £6,159.56
Neptunes Army of Rubbish Cleaners
2015-2023 – £6,459.56
Save the Rhino International
2016-2019 – £2,697.86
Bongo Surveillance Project
2017-2020 – £1,231.01