MICHAEL Keigwin, of Masham, and his wife, Veronica, attended a gala dinner at Windsor Castle to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Tusk Trust, in the presence of the Duke of Cambridge.

Mr Keigwin founded the Uganda Conservation Foundation in 2000 following many years of working with elephants and the recovery of regions affected by conflict on the Uganda-Congo border. Since then, UCF has grown as an organisation and now has branches in the UK, US and, of course, Uganda; UCF also represents Tusk Trust in Uganda.

Like elsewhere in Africa, Uganda has experienced a serious upsurge in elephant poaching. UCF has been on the frontline, raising funds to support the rangers and the Uganda Wildlife Authority to regain control and protect their wildlife for future generations.

Mr Keigwin and his UCF team have worked closely with the UWA and their efforts have led to the building of ten ranger posts in key inaccessible elephant habitats. He has also led the development of marine anti-poaching units to cover the River Nile and the series of lakes in the Rift Valley which now have seven marine ranger stations, nine patrol boats and 80 rangers trained by UK servicemen to carry out anti-poaching operations and rescue services.

These measures have led to great reductions in poaching by cutting off poaching and smuggling routes in and out of the parks.

He has also been instrumental in creating a veterinary response unit to treat animals injured, often by traps and snares in the park. In recent years, elephants have had their trunks cut off by snares and until two years ago, there was no way to save them.

Mr Keigwin said: “I am really delighted that our frontline efforts in conservation in Uganda over the past 13 years or so have been recognised, especially by the Duke of Cambridge, who is himself so committed to conservation.”