"My aim is to create a multi-million-person community of supporters that can respond to any conservation emergency anywhere swiftly and efficiently. I call this online community a virtual endowment, a vast community of people ready to respond when called upon in a time of crisis, for example to save a forest from being felled, a park from poachers, or a disease from wiping out the last mountain gorillas. Imagine the power of just one single dollar, if one million people each gave this amount!"- Dr. Richard Leakey, Chairman of WildlifeDirect.

WildlifeDirect, a non-profit led by Dr. Richard Leakey, is using the internet to create a global, conservation-driven community. A series of online diaries and blogs on the WildlifeDirect website allow individual donors to learn about conservation projects taking place around the world, to communicate directly with conservationists working in the field, and to see how their dollars are being invested. These connections, according to Leakey, create "real time transparency and accountability."

One of the projects highlighted on the WildlifeDirect website is called "Lion Guardians." The greatest threat to the survival of lions in Kenya's Maasailand is the Maasai themselves, who kill lions in retaliation for slain livestock or in traditional spearing by Maasai warriors. Now, to save lions, a group of Maasai warriors are working as Lion Guardians, tracking lions for their protection, helping ranchers minimize conflict with lions, and educating their fellow Maasai about the value of conservation. Since the project began in 2006, the Guardians have directly stopped ten hunting parties from killing lions.

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