As a tour operator sending guests to lodges and camps in national parks and wildlife reserves in Southern Africa, we feel a responsibility to give back some of our profits to a few carefully selected conservation and community projects in these areas.
Through your bookings at these lodges there is normally already a conservation and community fee added to the lodge rates that is directed to projects in the park or area where the property operates. Following on from the devastating effects of Covid on conservation and communities it became more important than ever for us to do something extra on top of this and as a result we have carefully selected a number of projects to support.
We are delighted to have contributed $38,000 to these projects during the course of 2022 and 2023 and look forward to further supporting everyone in 2024.
As our guest, you are welcome to also contribute towards these projects depending on where you are visiting and we will discuss further details at the time of your booking. If you would like to bring supplies to support one of the schools or communities in the area you are visiting, please let us know and we will happily advise you of what is most in need.
Our Projects
The Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit is at the frontline of protecting Zimbabwe’s threatened wildlife, on the shores of Lake Kariba & Bumi Hills where the illegal bush meat & ivory trades are rife. Their dedicated team has removed 20,000+ wire snares, investigated 250+ elephant carcasses, helped put numerous criminals behind bars & rescued scores of animals in distress. Help us keep boots on the ground, vehicles on patrol & rescue teams standing by to protect our dwindling iconic & endangered species.
For more information on the Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit please visit their website
Found on the outskirts of the Ng’ombe Compound in what was once an old bar and brothel stands Chikumbuso, a collective of individuals forming a widely successful integrated grassroots community project.
The team at Chikumbuso have dedicated themselves over an incredible 15 years to helping one person at a time and have since grown from one widow to seven and then on to changing thousands of lives. Chikumbuso runs a K-7 school at their centre, educates 150 secondary students, and puts over 80 students through college every year. The program also supports the growth of individuals' assets through micro-enterprise and job training for over 60 widows, 300 single moms and countless high school graduates. The community’s caregiving project ensures healthcare and monthly food stipends for 18 grandmothers and 18 girls lodging in their safe haven.
For further information on Chikumbuso, please visit their website.
Driven by the aim to connect local people to the wildlife and environment of the South Luangwa, Chipembele Wildlife Education runs extensive community appropriate programmes, teaching children and adult communities to protect and conserve their natural heritage.
These programmes focus on developing rural communities adjacent to the main entrance to South Luangwa National Park and empowering greater understanding, appreciation and protection of the wildlife they live alongside. In doing so, the youth can grow to become the next generation of informed and responsible stewards of the natural world we all so critically depend on. This innovative conservation education outreach programme has received five international awards.
For more information on Chipembele Wildlife Education, please visit their website.
Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) is a non-governmental organisation committed to the protection of wildlife and the sustainable use of natural resources in the Lower Zambezi, Zambia.
Established in 1994, CLZ's mission focuses on three main pillars of support – wildlife protection, environmental education and community empowerment – which all interconnect and work towards the organisation’s mission of "A valued, protected and thriving Lower Zambezi landscape". CLZ has worked in collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife for over 25 years to ensure the sustainability of species in the Lower Zambezi and their ecosystems.
For more information on Conservation Lower Zambezi, please visit their website.
The mission of Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) is to work with community and conservation partners in protecting the wildlife and habitats of Zambia’s South Luangwa ecosystem. As a non-profit organisation, CSL works in close partnership with the Department National Parks and Wildlife.
Founded in 2000 with just six scouts, CSL has grown into an organisation that supports 58 anti-poaching scouts, established the first detection dog unit in Zambia, employs a full-time wildlife vet, a pilot for aerial surveillance and a human-wildlife conflict mitigation team. CSL has been progressive in building and maintaining a majority Zambian staffed team, which is important in ensuring sustainability and ownership.
For more information on Conservation South Luangwa, please visit their website.
We first met Martin in May 2009 when he was one of the participants on a Children in the Wilderness Camp at Lufupa Camp in Kafue National Park, Zambia. Martin was 13 years old at the time and from the moment we met him he stood out. He was exceptionally bright, well-spoken and formed a good rapport with the adults in the group and his fellow campers. He loved his time on the camp and we stayed in touch.
Children in the Wilderness sponsored his school fees as his parents were deceased and he lived with his uncle who had financial difficulties. Over the years we stayed in touch with Martin and when he told us about his scholarship to the Copperbelt University to study Physics, we helped him with a second-hand laptop. During his school holidays Martin helps out Tours Africa at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport with ‘Meet and Greet’ and has quickly become a favourite with staff and guests alike.
As Martin continues his studies, we would like to continue to support him and are delighted that through the very generous donation of some funds from past guests we have been able to purchase a new laptop for Martin.
Emma is a Trustee for Children in the Wilderness Zambia. She knows and believes in what they do and initiated the Zambia programme and ran all their camps until she left Wilderness Safaris in 2012 to start People and Places.
For further information on Children in the Wilderness, please visit their website.
The Musekese-Lumbeya region of Kafue National Park has historically been a hotspot for poaching. Limited access and a severe shortage of resources for anti-poaching efforts has previously meant no way of controlling illegal activities.
Musekese Conservation now operates two anti-poaching teams in the area and has a third team undergoing training and due to start active duty in November 2020. The presence of anti-poaching teams and the facilitation of their deployments has had a noticeable impact, with a huge decrease in animals found with snare related injuries or mortalities.
For further information on Musekese Conservation, please visit their website.
At the heart of Project Luangwa is the belief in empowering communities through the benefits of responsible tourism. Established in 2010 by some of the tour operators in South Luangwa, the project strives to improve standards of health and education, by providing a platform to help raise rural areas out of poverty.
As part of the programme, Project Luangwa has constructed and built infrastructure for 12 schools, which they continue to support. They have also improved educational impact to thousands of disadvantaged children, helped continued education through learner sponsorship and mentorship, and supported thousands of young women with safe, clean and washable sanitary products.
For more information on Project Luangwa, please visit their website.
Root to Fruit is a Malawi based social enterprise with a goal to give individuals and organisations the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint and combat deforestation in Malawi through community-based tree planting.
The project enables both the local environment and the communities’ lives to be improved by the benefits of trees. The project is based on the shores of Lake Malawi, where local Malawians are employed to run the operations from three tree nurseries. The trees are planted and the carbon offset rights are sold to individuals or organisations that care about protecting the environment and travelling consciously.
Although at the core of Root to Fruit is the opportunity to carbon offset, many additional and valuable outcomes have been enabled as a consequence of the project. Most notable has been the facilitation of significant community benefit from the planting of the trees at ‘Tree Clubs’. Tree Clubs are planting sites owned by communities, schools or churches themselves so that they can look after and benefit from the trees in their daily lives.
For further information about Root to Fruit, please visit their website.
The Siankaba Community Trust (SCT) is based in a village halfway between Livingstone and Kazungula in southern Zambia, which works to empower the local community by providing the tools to live sustainable lives. The projects include providing freshwater boreholes and seeds as well as giving local children a good basic education.
The village boasts a purpose-built fully resourced nursery and primary school, complete with teachers’ houses that are all connected to mains electricity. The children all receive a hot meal each day and regular outreach clinic visits from Livingstone General hospital. SCT offers support to older students through its further education scholarship programme, and future plans include the introduction of evening classes for the local community.
For further information on the Siankaba Community Trust, please visit their website.
The Jafuta Foundation is based in Victoria Falls and works with the surrounding rural communities. Areas of impact:
Twala Trust is a safe haven for all animals and birds in need, comprised of a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, a refuge for abandoned exotic pets, a farm sanctuary and a free running dog shelter. It is the only sanctuary of its kind in Zimbabwe, with more than 50 species of animals and birds resident on the property, from lions and serval cats to primates, reptiles, small mammals and antelope.
Injured, displaced, orphaned and abandoned animals are rehabilitated under the guidance of our resident veterinarian, and wherever possible, indigenous wild animals and birds are released back into the wild. Others, including their 5 rescued lions, have found a permanent home at the Trust where our focus is to provide the very best quality of life possible for them.
The Twala Trust does not breed, buy, source or sell animals. They are strictly a rescue centre. In addition they run several long-term community outreach programmes, providing free veterinary care to rural dogs in low income households, as well as conservation and animal welfare education to school children.
For more information on Twala Trust please visit their website
The Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and have been designated a World Heritage Site, under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The falls are surrounded by the 2 340 ha Victoria Falls National Park and the 57 000 ha Zambezi National Park.
VFAPU was established in January 1999, in an effort to fight the alarming levels of destruction that was taking place. Since this time, VFAPU has worked in close co-operation with the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authourity and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, to achieve many successes.
For more information on VFAPU please visit their website
ZAWS’ mission is to improve animal welfare and increase knowledge about animal welfare so as to relieve animal suffering and contribute to healthier, happier and safer communities for animals and people. They operate in Livingstone and surrounding areas, from crowded compounds to remote villages.
ZAWS runs a rescue/rehoming shelter which you can visit, education programs, mass vaccination campaigns and spay/neuter events throughout the year. They are based on a farm within Livingstone which has plenty of wildlife, so they also work closely with the local community to address human elephant co-existence. They regularly respond to calls for animals in distress, offer free veterinary care to vulnerable communities and find new homes for rehabilitated animals.
For more information about ZAWS please visit their website or Facebook page https://web.facebook.com/ZambeziAnimalWelfareServices
Zambezi Elephant Fund was formed to protect the elephants of the Zambezi Valley and the landscapes they depend on. And as they continue with this objective, alongside conservation support organisations on the ground, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and communities, they are adapting to an ever-changing scenario of threats and needs. With anti-poaching operations delivering a reduction in ivory trade, the challenge of their time has shifted to the preservation of the biodiversity and habitats that sustain elephants and other wildlife within their landscape.
For more information on Zambezi Elephant Fund please visit their website
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