Charities and Trusts

We support a number of conservation charities, trusts and research projects who are involved in work throughout the African bush. In this section we provide some brief details about each organisation, along with information on how to donate funds directly to these projects, or how to join them as a volunteer. For more information about the many other projects and trusts, please see our Wildlife Blogs page.

The Elephant Research Project

Based in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Elephant Research Project studies the local elephant populations and devises ways to manage these populations for the benefit of the species. This is an important project and they appreciate donations to aid with their equipment purchase and support. A blog of their progress can be found in our Wildlife Blogs section.

The Leopard Research Project

Based in the Lajuma Private Conservancy in South Africa, this research project is studying the local wild leopard populations living outside the game reserves, and looking for ways to manage these populations to avoid conflict with the local farmers. The project is privately funded by the owners of the Lajuma Conservancy and they greatly appreciate donations of any size. Visit their website for more details.

Endangered Wildlife Trust

The Endangered Wildlife Trust works to protect and sustain the endangered species and ecosystems of Southern Africa, through government lobbying, corporate support and major research and conservation projects. The EWT is involved in a number of working groups and partnerships to protect the different species, and they also offer public membership and accept voluntary donations from individuals and organisations. To learn more about the EWT or to donate or join them, please visit their website.

The Wilderness Foundation

This trust was founded by the former game ranger, Dr. Ian Player in 1972 to protect and sustain Africa’s wilderness areas, through community-driven conservation, training and education, bringing people to wild places as part of the social awareness initiative.

The Wilderness Foundation has trusts in South Africa, the UK and the USA. The South African foundation is involved in a number of projects, as follows:

Umzi Wethu

The first conservation programme to directly address the HIV/AIDS crisis by training and mentoring orphans and vulnerable children for a sustainable role in the nature tourism industry and elsewhere.

Imbewu

A national environmental and cultural awareness programme among emerging young previously disadvantaged community leaders. Retired local game rangers (elders) facilitate the wilderness experience, in the storytelling modality of indigenous culture.

Pride

An urban-linked programme introducing township youth leaders to their nearest wild areas and training them as guides to peer mentor other youth.

Baviaanskloof Mega Wilderness Reserve

A project creating one of the largest wilderness and wild land areas in South Africa through the consolidation and collaborative management of 500,000 hectares of land owned by government and the private sector in the Eastern Cape.

The Foundation also established the Wilderness Leadership School that takes people from all over the world on wilderness trails through areas such as the Imfolozi Game Reserve, sleeping under the stars and experiencing the true beauty of nature.

To donate to the foundation and to join as a member, please visit their website.

African Wildlife Foundation

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is one of the leading international conservation organisations focused solely on Africa. They believe that protecting Africa’s wildlife and wild landscapes is the key to the future prosperity of Africa and its people – and for over forty-five years they have made it their work to help ensure that Africa’s wild resources endure.

The organisation has played a major role in ensuring the continued existence of some of Africa’s most rare and treasured species, including the elephant, the mountain gorilla, the rhinoceros and the lion. To do so, AWF has invested in Africa’s people by training and educating conservation professionals and developing conservation enterprises to improve peoples’ livelihoods while also conserving wildlife. To donate or to become a member of the AWF, please visit their website.

Fauna & Flora International

This organisation is one of the world’s oldest conservation groups, dedicated to preserving threatened species across the globe through economic, sustainable, locally integrated conservation programmes.

In South Africa they have worked on the Flower Valley project that is aimed at conserving the Cape’s Fynbos floral kingdom. Flower Valley was a land purchase of 550 hectares in the Cape, which is now a protected conservation area with an impressive display of wild fynbos species.

In Mozambique, they are working in the Niassa National Reserve on a conservation project studying the lions and other carnivores of the reserve. They are working with the park authorities to establish the best management plan for the carnivores, which includes studying the population counts, the prevalence of feline AIDS known as FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus), and monitoring the movements of the big cats.

If you would like to learn more about Fauna & Flora International, donate funds or become a member, please visit their website.

Save the Rhino International

This organisation is the premier rhino conservation charity, raising funds for projects across Africa and Asia to protect rhino populations and to ensure there is a constant and healthy gene pool for the ongoing wellbeing of this species.

The organisation has been involved in many projects over the years and continues to work in areas such as the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in South Africa and the Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe. To join the charity and to donate funds to their cause, please visit their website.

Tusk Trust

This is a UK based organisation that supports the protection and conservation of African wildlife, through education, fund raising and public awareness. They support a number of conservation projects throughout Africa, including flamingo and rhino conservation programmes in Botswana, and a wild dog initiative in Zimbabwe, among many others. To donate funds to the Tusk Trust or to become a member, please visit their website.