Mount Kenya doesn’t make conservation easy. It’s cold, steep (the mountain’s highest peak reaches 17,057 feet), and unpredictable. Patrols move through dense forests, across open moorlands, and over rivers that swell without warning. In some areas, communication drops off entirely. In others, the only way to reach a fire is by helicopter, because on foot, […]
Growing up, Toast Coetzer spent most weekends on his family’s farm in Cradock, Eastern Cape. His parents would pack a picnic, drive to a far corner of the farm, and spend the day walking with little plan. They’d stop to turn over rocks, look at tracks, and identify birds. “You don’t realise it at the […]
In Zambia’s vast Game Management Areas (GMAs), where people and wildlife share the same space, conservation is less about boundaries and more about balance. Musekese Conservation works across landscapes where legality, livelihoods, and wildlife protection intersect in ways that are often messy, political, and human. “We’ve always found that the traditional ‘boots on the ground’ […]
Chrisjan Visser is on the road when we speak, driving back to Hoedspruit. He spent six years there, first as a field ranger, later as a dog handler, before moving on, as many in conservation do. “I’m just going back to see some old friends,” he says. Hoedspruit is where his career took shape. He […]
“You’re in the forest for a minimum of seven days at a time,” says Yoann Galeran. “Sleeping out there. Moving constantly.” Galeran has been working deep in the Congo Basin, in Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, since 2018. He started as a ranger trainer, supporting law enforcement operations through a specialist conservation organisation. Today, he serves as […]
At twelve years old, sitting in the back seat of a game viewer in northern Kruger, John Kinghorn didn’t know he was starting something that would shape the rest of his life. The drive had been quiet. Somewhere near Shingwedzi, a spurfowl flushed from the side of the road. “I didn’t quite know what it […]
Some of the most important conservation work happens out of the spotlight. It’s the behind-the-scenes effort that makes everything else possible on the ground. The Great Plains Foundation (GPF) is a perfect example. Based in the United States but operating across Botswana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe, the Foundation functions as the non-profit arm alongside Great Plains […]
At 22 years old, Mark Heystek already speaks about the land like someone who has walked it for a lifetime. He’s currently based at Brandwacht Game Reserve, home to Garden Route Safari Camp, where he works full-time as a field guide and also lives on the reserve. “It’s my workplace and my place of residence,” […]
Situated just outside Gqeberha, Addo Elephant National Park was established in 1931 to save the last remaining elephants in the region, and has grown into South Africa’s third largest and one of its most ambitious national parks. More than 600 elephants roam its valleys and spekboom-covered hills, but the park’s significance stretches far beyond its […]
“Conservation is for the people.” It’s a line Kganya Moseneke repeats often, and it shapes every decision he makes at Great Fish River Nature Reserve. As Security Manager on a World Bank–backed rhino protection project of 45,000 hectares, he works in a landscape bordered by 14 rural communities, where protecting black rhinos starts with understanding […]
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