Australian Point-of-Sale provider BitPOS and the International Anti Poaching Foundation (IAPF) have teamed up to offer bitcoin donations in the struggle to combat poaching in Africa’s wilderness.

Bitcoin is particularly beneficial for charitable organizations, particularly those doing work in remote locations where the infrastructure for the receipt of funds is lacking. Bitcoin donations have several advantages over traditional methods: the speed of transfer, a truly international reach, and the frictionless nature of donations means the IAPF is able to capture donations easily from all over the world.

Charitable giving is an obvious application that many in the space are aware of. Yet actual implementations are still quite rare.

The union came after meetings between Jason Williams, founder of BitPOS, and Ian Mackenzie-Ross, Managing director of the IAPF in Australia. They decided to join forces to accept bitcoin donations to help train Africa’s anti-poaching teams.

Jason notes that:

“I came across the IAPF online while browsing Reddit. I got in touch with Ian asking if there was some way BitPOS could help, and before I knew it, we were providing the means for bitcoin donations. The Bitcoin community is known for its generosity and the IAPF is doing great work, it’s a natural fit.”

With encouragement from the Bitcoin community the IAPF decided that using a payment processor such as BitPOS would enable them to focus on their mission rather than the technicalities of bitcoin.

“The IAPF is delighted to have a new and cost effective means of sourcing funds […] The move to accept Bitcoin donations is very much in keeping with IAPF’s approach of adopting new and highly effective technologies on the front line of wildlife conservation. The idea that we can tap into donations from around the world via one collection point is ideal, it couldn’t be simpler.”

Ian notes:

Across much of Africa anti-poaching tactics have remained largely unchanged for decades. Small groups of under-trained and poorly equipped rangers are sent out for days on end to conduct patrols in remote and dangerous locations.

Modern-day poachers have evolved and routinely utilise military tactics and equipment to kill high-target species, such as elephants, rhinos and gorillas. In the cross-fire, rangers are also killed. Seeing this shortfall, the IAPF set out in 2009 to fill the gap.

All donations to the IAPF go into funding anti-poaching training and operations as well as technology and information systems for use in the areas in which it operates.

Given the early stage of the Bitcoin economy, the IAPF won’t be using them directly, but will use BitPOS to convert donations into traditional currency that will be used to fund anti-poaching activities in Africa.

BitPOS is Australia’s first bitcoin merchant services provider. Founded in 2013, BitPOS offers a simple solution for bricks and mortar businesses looking to accept Bitcoin. The company boasts a unique transaction authorisation and verification system for simple and secure processing of transactions on-line and in physical stores.

The IAPF is a reputable and registered charity doing good work. Interested parties are encouraged to visit the website, learn more about the organisation and, if possible, donate.