This is an initiative from Sunworld Safaris in Kenya along with some other local organisations. It's great so that's why I am doing a charity e-Talk to support the UK GoFundMe page. There is nothing in this for them to do it, they are making no money, they are just very decent people. 

Covid 19 has affected each country in a different way.  The safari industry faces grave challenges throughout Africa.  In Nairobi alone, hundreds of safari vehicles are sitting unused in car yards. Camps and lodges are closed.  Safari guides, drivers and camp staff are without jobs.  Local communities, who used to work in the camps and lodges are sitting idle in their villages. Kenya faces a serious longer term reality that could take decades to recover from - the loss of wildlife and endangered species. Without tourist dollars, Kenya's game reserves, parks & conservancies are empty with no income. As a result, Conservancies cannot pay Rangers and staff members to keep the wildlife in the parks safe. Poachers of ivory,  rhino horn and bush meat are able to enter the parks more freely as the camps/lodges are closed and there are no safari vehicles present. Covid-19 starved communities and villages surrounding the parks, reserves and conservancies lack the income they normally receive from Tourism which supports their livelihood and that of their families.

The new Community Wildlife Fund proposes a solution. This project will allow for re-hiring guides, using their vehicles to enter the parks as "anti-poaching surveillance units" in order to reinforce the efforts of the reduced ranger presence.  Guides and vehicles will be paid to drive in the parks and also showcase the beauty that Kenya’s parks offer with its stunning scenery & unique game sightings. These sightings will be brought to your doorstep by our guides through our social media.  Our guides and vehicles will also act as deterrents against poaching. Empty camps and lodges will provide accommodation and food for the guides at low net cost -  just the cost for food, generators for electricity and a place to sleep. Use of these empty camps and lodges will also employ local communities again which is key to people’s survival.In short, this project will help protect vulnerable wildlife during the threat of Covid-19 in Kenya.  Wildlife is the gem of Kenya and Kenyans depend on these national parks and tourism for their livelihood. This project will not only save the lives of thousands of animals, but of many people in Kenya. 

In addition to monitoring the parks, the guides will deliver the most important food items to the villages (maize meal, lentils, rice, sugar, tea leaves, milk and soaps/ sanitizers) which will assist them with the most important and immediate needs. Most Kenyan communities eat little meat. These food packages cost around £25 and can last a family of five for two weeks. 

It's a great initiative and one that we are delighted to support. To see the UK GoFundMe page please click here. 

To find out more then click here for the website.

I am doing a 1 hour e-Talk to raise funds for this worthy cause. I will make nothing of course, all monies received will be made via a public donation in one lump to the fundraising site immediately after the webinar. We are gonna charge £10 only for this, so with 100 of you that's £1000.

The e-Talk will be on African wildlife and will showcase my top 20 African wildlife images from my career, alongside the tall stories on how I made them. Expect elephants, hippos, leopards, cheetahs plus gorillas and Madagascar wildlife too. The images will be a mixture of some of my award winning best, plus new stuff and some unseen ones too. A mixture of techniques and styles so it's applicable for anyone who loves wildlife photography and yes of course it's interactive and you can ask me questions too!

The seminar will be via Zoom, will be in the form of a lot of chat from me, showing images on screen, talking about the tech side and the aesthetic one too. As always it will be entertaining, fun and educational for all photographers out there. You don't need zoom to take part BUT it's very very very recommended for the best experience. We are now very experienced at running zoom webinars and talks, have learnt a lot in the past few weeks and now know how to make the event a success!