## **Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

Company number 04270425 Charity Number 1120705 



## **THE AFRICAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION** 

## **REGISTERED ADDRESS** 

20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU 

## **TRUSTEES & DIRECTORS** 

The following served as trustees during the period: 

Caroline Bault David Elliott David Fox Arend de Haas Teresa Harnwell Laurence Morgan Louis Nkembi 

## **COMPANY SECRETARY** 

Arend de Haas 

## **BANKERS** 

The Co-operative Bank PO Box 250 Skelmersdale WN8 6WT 

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## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] JANUARY 2022** 

The Trustees of The African Conservation Foundation present their Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st January 2022 

## **Governing Document** 

The African Conservation Foundation is a registered charitable company (Registered Charity No. 1120705 and Company No. 4270425) limited by guarantee and governed by its Memorandum and Articles and Constitution dated 21 August 2007. The members of the Board of Trustees, here after referred to as 'the Board', are set out above. For the purposes of company law, Arend de Haas, Teresa Harnwell and David Elliott are both Trustees and Directors of the Company. 

## **Organisation** 

The Board of Trustees administers the charity. The Trustees have appointed a Chief Executive Officer. To facilitate effective operations, the Chief Executive has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the trustees, for operational matters including finance, employment and field projects activities. Since the geographical focus of the charity's operations is Africa, and in order to contain operational costs, the organisation is sharing offices and facilities with local partners in the countries where programmes and project activities are conducted. 

## **Relationship with other charities** 

The African Conservation Foundation co-operates on various matters including field projects, education and evaluation with the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), a Cameroonian based non-profit organisation dedicated to wildlife conservation and protection of fragile environments in the region. 

## **Objectives and Activities** 

The charity’s objects are the conservation, protection and restoration for the public benefit of the natural resources and biological diversity including animal and plant life in Africa and to promote education and the advancement of knowledge about conservation in Africa through: 

- promoting, linking and supporting conservation initiatives throughout Africa; 

- providing training, support and technical assistance to conservation initiatives, in particular grassroots projects, in Africa; 

- offering capacity support for sustainable community projects linked with conservation; 

- serving as an educational resource centre in Africa and the world; and 

- conducting on-the-ground research and conservation projects. 

## **Achievements & Performance** 

In the year to 31 January 2022 the African Conservation Foundation continued its capacity development activities and community-based conservation projects. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on the African Conservation Foundation’s fundraising, cash flows and project implementation. The charity supported project activities in Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique - as well as in other African countries through remote solutions - supporting local organisations to develop and implement collaborative biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration programmes effectively and sustainably. 

The charity’s main activities in 2021 focussed on the following: 

- Relaunch research and biomonitoring program in the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary seeking to reintegrate the community rangers into a functional economy capable of supporting their families and provide up to date information on the status and distribution of Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzees and Cross River gorilla. 

- Community Rangers and government Ecoguards trained on the use of the GPS, compass and camera traps, and protocols of handling the tools. The community rangers were trained and equipped to effectively conduct research and biomonitoring. 

- Developing, preparing and validating a management plan for the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (THWS) in South West Cameroon. 

- The project has a strong results-based and community-oriented approach to wildlife conservation 

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and poverty reduction. Project activities resulted in illegal activities – logging, agricultural encroachment, poaching and bushmeat trade – being detected and a reduction in their prevalence and severity (deterrent effect), which will ultimately have a positive impact on numbers of Cross River gorillas and other wildlife, and the protection of their habitat, in the project areas. Involving local communities in the development of Community Forests’ Management Plans has given them a vested interest in protecting biodiversity and realizing the potential of the forests in a sustainable way. 

- Protection of the Tofala-Mone East Corridor of over 60,000 ha through the creation of four community forests and consolidation of the FMU11002 forest concession. 

- Further development of a programme that will lead to the conservation of the Bayang-Mbo-TofalaMone landscape for the conservation of endangered species of fauna and flora including elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas, drills, birds, reptiles and plants in the landscape. 

- Expanding field operations and developing landscape scale conservation programmes protecting large mammals and their habitat in west central Africa. This includes the establishment of new great ape and rainforest reserves, field conservation and research, running and developing a volunteer programme and conducting an environmental education programme for primary schools in the region. 

- Technical support and mentoring of young conservationists in DR Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

- Support for eco-volunteer projects in Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana including marketing and capacity building. 

- Participation in international wildlife campaigns and activities, using our extensive social media reach channels. 

## **Public benefit statement** 

In planning our activities for the year, the trustees kept in mind the guidance issued on public benefit at our trustee meetings and when setting the objectives. 

## **Reserves policy** 

At 31 January 2022, the Charity had total funds of £12,764 (2021: £11,931), of which £7,761 was unrestricted (2021: £3,464). These are central to the African Conservation Foundation’s charitable activities and these funds are available for meeting day-to-day expenditure, to invest in organisational development and buffer for contingencies should they arise.  The Charity aims to hold, as a minimum, unrestricted funds equivalent to three months’ operating expenditure. 

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## **Trustees' responsibilities in respect of the trustees' report and the financial statements of the African Conservation Foundation** 

The trustees of the African Conservation Foundation are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. The African Conservation Foundation has been formed as a company limited by guarantee. 

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial period. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law. 

The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees have: 

- [selected suitable accounting policies and applied them consistently; ] 

- [made judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; ] 

- [followed applicable UK Accounting Standards, subject to additional disclosures made in the notes ] to the financial statements. 

The trustees accept responsibility for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. 

## **Small company provisions** 

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 applicable 

This report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf. 


Mr Arend de Haas Secretary 27 October 2022 

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## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT** 

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 January 2022. 

## **Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and the Independent Examiner** 

The charity’s trustees (and the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”). 

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the charity are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”).  In carrying out my examination, I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. 

## **Basis of the Independent Examiner's Report** 

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that: 

- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or 

- the accounts do not accord with such records; or 

- the accounts do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or 

- the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102). 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 


Guy Mitchell ICAEW membership number: 4752223 27 October 2022 

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## **Statement of Financial Activities** 

## **Year ended 31 January 2022** 

||**Note**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|
|||||**2022**|**2021**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Incoming Resources**||||||
|Donations||3,436|-|3,436|4,175|
|Grants|2|2,512|29,749|32,260|8,467|
|Activities forgeneratingfunds||1,157|-|1,157|920|
|**Total incoming resources**||**7,104**|**29,749**|**36,853**|**13,562**|
|**Resources Expended**||||||
|Costs of generating funds||(2,764)|-|(2,764)|(8,217)|
|Charitable expenditure:||||||
|Charitable activities|4|-|(33,213)|(33,213)|(2,794)|
|Governance|3|(43)|-|(43)|-|
|**Total resources expended**||**(2,807)**|**(33,213)**|**(36,020)**|**(11,012)**|
|**Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the**||**4,297**|**(3,464)**|**833**|**2,550**|
|**year**||||||
|Balances brought forward||3,464|8,467|11,931|9,381|
|**Balances carried forward**||**7,761**|**5,003**|**12,764**|**11,931**|



The notes on pages 8 and 9 form part of these financial statements 

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## **Balance Sheet As at 31 January 2022** 

||**Note**|**2022**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**Current Assets**||||
|Cash at bank||12,199|11,730|
|Balance on Paypal account||565|201|
|||**12,764**|**11,931**|
|**Current Liabilities**||||
|Accrued expenses||-|-|
|**Total net assets**||**12,764**|**11,931**|
|**Funds**||||
|Restricted|6|5,003|8,467|
|Unrestricted||7,761|3,464|
|||**12,764**|**11,931**|



For the financial year ended 31 January 2022, the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 Companies Act 2006. No member of the charity has deposited a notice, pursuant to section 476, requiring an audit of these financial statements under the requirement of the Companies Act 2006. 

Approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 27 October 2022 and signed on its behalf by: 

## Arend De Haas 


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## **Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **1 Accounting policies** 

## **Accounting conventions** 

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of investments and in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Companies Act 2006 and the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities'. The provisions of Schedule 4 of the Companies Act have been adopted and the Companies Act accounting formats adapted to reflect the special nature of the charitable company's activities. 

## **Grants** 

Grants are recognised as income when the entitlement to the grant is certain. Grants made towards the costs of specific activities and services are classified as restricted income. Where services are not fully delivered in the period the restricted income was received, the balance of the grant is held in restricted funds. Grants towards the cost of acquiring assets are classified as restricted income when received. The restricted fund created is charged with the depreciation of the assets so that the restricted fund balance is equivalent to the written down value of the assets. Grants that provide core funding or a general contribution to the charity are included in voluntary income 

## **Voluntary income** 

Voluntary income includes donations from individuals, trusts and companies, unrestricted grants and legacies 

## **Donations** 

Donations are recognised in the accounting period in which they are received. 

## **Fund accounting** 

Restricted funds are subject to restrictions imposed by the donor or by the specific terms of the charity appeal. These are accounted for separately from unrestricted funds. Details of restricted funds are shown at Note 9. Unrestricted funds are those which are not subject to restrictions. Any surpluses are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. Designated funds form part of the unrestricted funds and represent amounts earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes. 

## **Expenditure** 

Costs apportioned to activities include costs of staff time spent on each area of activity, costs directly incurred in order to deliver the activity, and support costs apportioned according to the ratio of staff time on the area of activity to total staff time. 

## **VAT** 

Expenditure includes VAT which cannot be recovered from HM Revenue and Customs. 

## **Liabilities** 

The accruals concept is applied. Liabilities are recognised as soon as a legal or constructive obligation arises. 

## **Tax status** 

The company is a registered charity and is not liable to Corporation Tax on its current activities. 

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## **Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

|**2**|**Grants**|**2022**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Cross-River Gorilla Project|8,204<br>|8,467|
||Community Ranger Programme|13,886|-|
||Chimpanzee Conservation|6,659|-|
||Friends of Africa|2,511|-|
||Trees4Moz (Mozambique)|1,000|-|
|||**32,260**|**8,467**|
|**3**|**Governance**|**2022**|**202**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Meetingexpenses|43|-|
|||**43**|**-**|
|**4**|**Charitable activities**|**2022**|**2021**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Cross River Gorilla Project and Community Ranger Programme|32,213|1,288|
||Other projects|-|1,506|
||Trees4Moz(Mozambique)|1,000|-|
|||**33,213**|**2,794**|



## **5 Transactions with trustees** 

One trustee, Arend de Haas, received £3,074 (2021 - £1,506) during the year for project support and reimbursed administration expenses. 

## **6 Restricted Funds** 

|**Restricted Funds**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Balance**|||**Balance**|
||**1 February**|**Incoming**|**Resources**|**31 January**|
||**2021**|**resources**|**expended**|**2022**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Cross River Gorilla Project|8,467|8,204|(11,668)|5,003|
|Community Ranger Programme|-|13,886|(13,886)|-|
|Chimpanzee Conservation|-|6,659|(6,659)|-|
|Trees4Moz|-|1,000|(1,000)|-|
||**8,467**|**29,749**|**(33,213)**|**5,003**|



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