Couch Conservation
Help support communities, wildlife, wilderness, and conservation efforts throughout Africa with Couch Conservation – making a difference from the comfort of your couch.
“Now, over half of us live in an urban environment. My home, too, is here in the city of London. Looking down on this great metropolis, the ingenuity with which we continue to reshape the surface of our planet is very striking. It’s also very sobering, and reminds me of just how easy it is for us to lose our connection with the natural world. Yet it’s on this connection that the future of both humanity and the natural world will depend. And surely, it is our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth.” – David Attenborough
The Ant Collection
The Ant Collection is an owner run safari property in South Africa’s Waterberg region. It’s one of our personal favourites as it offers a few different accommodation styles and caters brilliantly to families, couples, solo travellers, and grey nomads. There’s a huge diversity of activities on offer too, from horse riding, game drives, walking safaris to night sky safaris and birding. Did I mention the rhino protection program?
Staying with The Ant Collection means you are supporting a handful of charities that are making a difference on the ground locally, from the Save the Waterberg Rhino, African Community Outreach supporting local families, and The Fold – providing refuge to children in need. Find out more by clicking the button below!
The Ant CollectionImage courtesy of Ant Collection
Kenya Wildlife Trust
Kenya Wildlife Trust (KWT) was established in 2007 with the principal aim of strengthening the connection between conservation and tourism. Fast track 13 years and today KWT is Kenya’s principal predator conservation trust. Dedicated to the three Ps – people, partnerships and predators – the team understands the critical conservation needs across the country and can create links between wildlife research, community needs, monitoring and conservation efforts.
KWT’s famous ambassadors Jonathan and Angela Scott have been involved and champions since 2013. Their commitment and focus is finding solutions to protect the welfare of predators and the people who live with them.
“The Mara is one of Africa’s most robust ecosystems, yet it’s also fragile. The cats that live here, especially the lions, seem invincible, but they’re not. We know these lions better than some of our friends, but we cannot afford to take their survival for granted. It’s time to learn more about the challenges they face.” – Jonathan & Angela Scott
Find out more about Jonathan and Angela Scott by clicking the button below.
Kenya Wildlife TrustImage courtesy of Kenya Wildlife Trust
Zambesia Conservation Alliance
This is one of the new kids on the block and already doing great things on the ground to make a difference in multiple countries in Southern Africa. They call it “Zambesia.”
ZAMBESIA [ zam-bee-see-uh]
noun: a wildlife-rich area of great environmental and economic importance, stretching from the Southern shores of Lake Tanganyika in the North to the Limpopo River in the South. It is within this band from the coasts East (Mozambique) to West (Namibia and Angola) that the river systems drain into the great Zambezi River. In this region there is the largest surviving herd of elephants, over 200,000 and 13% of the world’s African Black and White Rhino, plus 20% of Africa’s lion population and 400+ species of African birds.
Zambesia Conservation Alliance has been set up as a not-for-profit trust that drives awareness through creative and impactful movements and campaigns connecting people to conservation. These movements and monies raised will directly and profoundly benefit those on the front-line championing conservation in Africa.
Their first two initiatives are exciting ones –
#WeShareAfrica and #SportForConservation.
#WeShareAfrica is an inclusive movement for wildlife and habitat conservation, acting as an umbrella for uniquely engaging initiatives.
#SportForConservation brings sport and conservation together through a series of entertaining head-to-head games with top African sports heroes.
Zambesia Conservation AllianceImage courtesy of Zambesia Conservation Alliance
Adopt a Plot
Our friends at Offbeat Safaris in Kenya’s Masai Mara along with 11 other tourism partners directly fund the Mara North Conservancy, transparently paying over 700 individual Maasai families and providing management and security of the Conservancy. With no income from tourism for many months, there’s the challenge of keeping the wildlife safe and local communities supported.
The Maasai communities, wilderness and wildlife depend on tourism to survive. So with your support, we can contribute some funds to protect this beautiful land and the huge numbers of wildlife that come with it. 1 Maasai land plot is US$10 for a year, 3 plots US$50 and so forth. Any donation of US$800 or more can be used as a travel credit with Offbeat, going towards a future stay at the Mara Camp or Riding safari until the end of 2022.
Adopt a PlotGorilla Doctors
The Gorilla Doctors are dedicated to conserving wild mountain and eastern lowland gorillas through life-saving veterinary medicine, science and a One Health approach in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There is an international team of veterinarians and the only group providing these animals with direct, hands-on care in the wild. From health checks to snare removals and emergency surgery, these vets are putting their lives on the line – and it’s working. Numbers are growing again. The thing is, they need our help to continue saving these species, one gorilla at a time. Take a look at their wonderful video by clicking below.
Gorilla DoctorsChildren in the Wilderness
Children in the Wilderness (CITW) is an independent non-profit organisation established and supported by Wilderness Safaris, one of the biggest safari companies on the continent.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Africa quite late in the spread but what became clear early on was the sheer volume of kindness and generosity needed to help the most vulnerable in Africa.
Wilderness Safaris kicked into gear offering their services to assist rural communities by delivering food parcels, essentials like toilet paper and water and even seeds for rural schools to grow produce to feed the children.
Find out more about the great work of Children in the Wilderness by clicking the button below.
Children in the WildernessImage courtesy of Children in the Wilderness
Uthando
Uthando (meaning love in Xhosa) is a unique non-profit and Fair Trade in Tourism accredited organisation which aims to raise funds for life changing development projects in South Africa.
Despite its breathtaking natural beauty and diverse cultures, South Africa has many acute social challenges – millions of its citizens live in extreme poverty and face daily struggles to survive, let alone flourish. Motivated by love, compassion and respect for our common humanity, Uthando seeks to form part of the solution to meet these challenges.
As an award winning model of Responsible Tourism and Travel Philanthropy, Uthando is drawing on an extensive network of cherished partnerships in tourism and community development, with the ultimate goal of linking these two sectors in a myriad of innovative, sincere and meaningful ways.
Through their deeply respectful and culturally-sensitively tours and experiences, Uthando celebrates their Proudly South African culture, while shining a light on the many deserving but hitherto unsung community heroes whose efforts so often go unrecognised and unrewarded.
Uthando