Wilderness Safaris is an

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

operator, headquartered in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. It operates camps and mobile safaris across six countries:

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Known for its ongoing conservation work, the company is helping to conserve some 33 species on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

and lists some 2.5 million hectares as being under protection. As a destination management company, Wilderness Safaris has its own bush air charter company, Wilderness Air, as well as touring arms in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia and Wilderness Safaris Private Journeys in Cape Town, South Africa. Through the Wilderness Wildlife Trust, Wilderness Safaris funds more than 20 conservation, community and anti-poaching projects every year, and it is also a primary sponsor of Children in the Wilderness, a non-profit organisation that facilitates sustainable conservation through leadership development and education of rural children in Africa. Wilderness Safaris was founded in Botswana in 1983 by two overland safari guides – Colin Bell and Chris McIntyre. It was the first tour operator of its kind to form a registered company in Botswana, with operations based out of Maun, south of the Okavango Delta. Wilderness Safaris’ interpretation of ecotourism is structured around the 4Cs, a concept adopted from the Long Run Initiative of Jochen Zeitz: a balance of commerce, conservation, community and culture. Wilderness Safaris’ philosophy is to minimise their impact on the environment and to proactively contribute to the conservation of threatened species in the areas in which they operate.

References

External links

* * {{Instagram, wearewilderness Organizations established in 1983 Ecotourism Charity fundraisers Community-building organizations Companies of Botswana 1983 establishments in Botswana