African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) hosted its first-ever virtual safari to Tanzania in October, which focused not only on giving participants a real taste of the safari experience but offered an opportunity to learn from experts about pandemic threats, including efforts to conserve wildlife and support wildlife communities.

The success of this event led to the creation of a virtual safari series to continue this year. AWF announced the additional events – guided online tours to Uganda on 28 January, and a third in Zimbabwe in March.

Virtual Safari Tours

The primary goal of AWF Virtual Safaris is to engage supporters with special access and offerings, providing tangible takeaways about the connection between the tourism industry, wildlife and community livelihood in African communities, working to protect endangered and threatened wildlife. This unique formula has made a difference over the past year and helped the organisation to conduct a highly successful emergency response to COVID-19.

AWF Safari Programme Manager Carter Smith said they launched the virtual safari series for members and future travellers, but realised along the way that there were benefits too, for other stakeholders.

These virtual safaris are not only a creative way to take our folks on a safari tour during this strange time of restricted travel, but they are a terrific way to show solidarity with our partners in the safari industry as well as to highlight the important work that we are doing.

According to AWF Trustee Stephen Golden, AWF created the Virtual Safari for their group of 12, whose planned in-person safari was squashed by COVID-19. On what would have been their first day in the bush, they were joined (on video call) by a top-rated Tanzanian guide and a couple of AWF staff members. The event was tailored like a fireside chat, complete with a drive through the Serengeti, right from their living room.

Conservation and Awareness

In addition to helping with awareness, the AWF Virtual Safari programme amplifies an emerging theme as part of their new ten-year vision strategy, which was launched in 2020. Conservation investments are currently dispersed and disjointed, protecting islands of wildlife and wildlands.

AWF believes funds must be redirected to larger landscapes and ecosystems. The group is also working on long-range solutions for rapidly developing youth leadership programmes, sustainable infrastructure and agriculture, and safaris provide a window into this philosophy.

Over the next three years, the AWF ten-year strategy calls for larger investments in programmes in Uganda and Zimbabwe, where virtual safaris are being held. In addition, the AWF conservation programmes in Cameroon and Kenya have the greatest potential to aid wildlife habitats and local communities that exist side-by-side.

Carter Smith added that Virtual Safaris has become a refreshing use of ‘Zoom’ calls and a creative way to introduce the AWF traveller to safari guides and wildlife experts, who have shown the most incredible resilience and commitment to wildlife and wildlands.

In order for virtual safaris to truly benefit both sides of the equation, they need to give participants an insider’s view to the wildlife conservation work on the ground, and we feel very strongly that the programme has met this goal.

About the African Wildlife Foundation

The African Wildlife Foundation is the primary advocate for the protection of wildlife and wildlands as an essential part of modern and prosperous Africa. Founded in 1961 to focus on Africa’s conservation needs, the organisation articulate a uniquely African vision, bridge science and public policy, and demonstrate the benefits of conservation to ensure the survival of the continent’s wildlife and wildlands.

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