Support Our Ecotourism Partners During the COVID Pandemic

Wildlife is threatened under the best of normal circumstances, and this crisis will bring extraordinary challenges to communities whose livelihoods are intertwined with the travel industry. Learn how some of our partners are responding to sustain conservation and community programs in the absence of tourism revenue.

Bwindi Porters Association Food Project

While most porters are subsistence farmers, the bulk of their income comes from assisting visitors as they track the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Without tourists, they are not receiving support from the government, UWA or salaries during this time.

Natural Selection

The COVID-19 Village Support program will be transporting food parcels to remote villages to improve the nourishment of communities in the face of this unprecedented viral threat.

Northern Rangelands Trust

The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) will continue to deliver essential and priority services which our conservancy members rely on, and that we have commitments to our communities, wildlife and funding partners.

Wildlife Conservation Network

WCN is investing $1 million dollars through the Pangolin Crisis Fund specifically to tackle wildlife consumption and trade in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Cottar's Safaris

The drastic reduction in tourism revenue is jeopardizing the wellbeing of Maasai people, the endangered wildlife and the wild lands that CWCT and AWF support. In Olderkesi, about 6,000 families rely on tourism + conservation for their well-being.

Gorilla Doctors

Gorilla Doctors has been at the forefront of international surveillance and research on the very factors that have led to this moment in which we now find ourselves – facing the reality of the intersections among wildlife, people and emerging pathogens.

Wilderness Safaris

Wilderness Safari's Sustainability Fund has allocated urgent funds to ensure that Hwange’s Scorpion Anti-Poaching Unit can continue to operate for the next eight months, and we commend Zimbabwe's government for including wildlife security as an essential service.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Lewa’s priorities in these challenging times will focus primarily on the following four areas: Security and Anti-Poaching, the Health Programme serving 50,000 people, the Women’s Micro-Credit Programme and the Education Programme.

Tswalu - SAFT

The South African Future Trust (“SAFT”) is an independent trust set up by Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer to extend financial assistance to South Africans who are at risk of losing their jobs or will suffer a loss of income because of COVID-19.

Mara Elephant Project

We’ve taken the proper steps to ensure our rangers and headquarter-based staff are all safe during the COVID-19 outbreak. We have implemented strict new protocols to ensure that MEP is an example of an organization taking the correct measures to deal with the virus.

The people and wildlife in Africa’s wilderness areas are the economic engine that drives a virtuous cycle, supporting and servicing entire communities. We all have a responsibility to protect this fragile model for future generations. — Dave Bennett – CEO Wilderness Safaris