Conservation trips
Do you want a meaningful adventure?
Our devotion to conservation and the preservation of wildlife and their protected areas has always stood as a core goal in our company. As times have moved and grown, we as a company have grown too. Offering our clients the opportunity to get closer. Participate and do more. By giving our clients the chance to be on the front lines of conservation, with the best in their fields. To give back in any way they can.
We build and promote these conservation holidays, with the main goal focused on the project itself and build the trip around the event.
Different countries across Africa offer a wide variety of organisations and projects the support different regions and wildlife. As a company we have carefully selected organisations and projects to get involved with. We support these projects as they have the most impact in their fields. With men and women who strive for the best to save these animals and their environments.
DART Wildlife: DART was formed in 1999 by Paul de Montille , a Professional Wildlife Guide, to alleviate the suffering of animals caught in wire snares set by poachers. DART is a registered Wildlife Trust based in Hwange National Park that not only darts (immobilizes) and treats snared and injured wildlife, but for many years has also conducted snare patrols to search for and remove these horrific devices from the bush before they can do any harm. Over time DART expanded its operations to provide assistance and valuable logistical support including vehicles, fuel and equipment to Researchers & National Park Rangers in the field. DART is only able to operate and carry out its work and rescues, thanks to donations from people who share our passion and dedication to Wildlife Conservation. More info at www.dartwildlife.org
There are many great conservation projects, and this is an example of the important contribution projects like these have on animal and wildlife conservation. Below you will find other projects that we admire and follow closely, that hopefully will spark your interest even more. Get involved -it matters!
Zimbabwe project
botswana
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Botswana Predator Conservation
https://www.bpctrust.org
Tanzania
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STEP -Southern Tanzania Elephant
https://stzelephants.or.tz
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Ruaha Carnivore Prioject under the Lions Landscape program
https://www.lionlandscapes.org/ruaha-carnivore-project
South africa
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Provet Wildlife Services
-Dehorning and collaring projects
www.provetwildlife.com -
Marataba Conservation Reserve
- Dehorning and rhino research
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Elephants Alive
www.elephantsalive.org
namibia
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Desert Lion Conservation
https://www.desertlion.info
As conservationists at heart, and making a living out of showing off our amazing African nature, it is also our obligation as a safari operator to do what we can to ensure the wildlife and wildlife habitats are protected. African elephant habitat has declined by over 50% since 1979. Growing human-wildlife conflicts and an insatiable lust for ivory products in the Asian market makes the illegal ivory trade extremely profitable, and has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants and it's easy to see why elephants are under threat.
An estimated 150 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts, leaving only short of 400,000 remaining.
Rhinoceros are a critically endangered species with less than 30,000 rhinos living in the wild today. At the start of the 20th century, there were over 500,000. Human activity has caused this dramatic decline in rhino numbers. Initially, numbers dropped due to hunting, but today the main threats to rhino are poaching and habitat loss.
Estimates in a unique analysis by our greatest conservation organization in Africa, African Parks, suggests that the cost of proper protection of Africa´s wildlife is a minimum of $1.2 billion per year. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, on average, parks spend just $30 per km2 on protection, when the need was between $145-300 per km2.
Close to 16% of Africa has some kind of protected status. That is more than 4 900 000 km2 set aside for natural reserves, national parks and other protected areas. (Half the size of the United States to put it into perspective.) Needless to say, funding for protection from most African government is extremely low, without income from tourism. This is a $34 billon industry that has now dried up, more or less completely.
So, who protects the wildlife now that the tourists are gone? Park rangers hired by local authorities and governments, like they always do. But no army of park rangers could protect an area as vast as ½ the size of the United States. Thankfully, there are many private organisation who do invaluable work to protect wildlife reserves all over Africa. But no matter how many rangers your hire, even if you had the funding, the job of protecting all areas are virtually impossible. So, who is then the ultimate protector? You. The visitors.
Not only through the money you bring for your adventure, but through your eyes! An active and frequently visited park, is the most protected park, since poachers stay away from highly visited areas where there is human activity.
The best way you can help with wildlife conservation and support anti-poaching? Select Africa for your next holiday, and you will help with protecting our amazing wildlife and have the trip of your life at the same time -we promise!
#SToPPoACHING
Conservation & Anti-poaching
Amazing projects we love, support & thank
AP
Probably the single most important organisation for wildlife conservation in Africa
ZEF
Important work with co-existance between elephants & humans
IAPF
International Anti-Poaching Foundation. All woman ranger unit
Naturally projects like these have ongoing initiatives and special project all the time. There are not a set or fixed schedule for when a rhino is going to be dehorned, when elephants in a certain area are going to be collared, or when a translocation of a certain species is going to me moved to a different park or region.
We follow many of the projects in this section closely. We partner with special organisations and projects that we do have the opportunity to join in on a project, bringing our conservation-minded traveler on board. If you want to be on our "on call" list, please get in touch with us, and we will keep you posted when opportunities come along.
If you are a group, we can also custom-make certain conservation trips. As most of these projects already have large teams, they try to the pressure to the animals down as much as possible. The way this works, is that we agree on a certain donation-fee, and a specific organisation, and then we can make a special trip based on the time you want to travel, and the specific need of a project at that time.
conservation travel
