Wilderness Safaris steps up impact programmes
Leading travel and tourism group, Okavango Wilderness Safaris (OWS), has recommitted itself to uplifting the communities within which it operates and boosting the growth of local businesses through its activities.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement last week, the group’s chairperson, Kabelo Binns noted that the business operates in remote, rural areas, on land set aside for conservation by government and/or communities.
“These areas have few sustainable economic alternatives, and the communities also suffer from limited access to education, health care and basic utilities,” he said.
“These factors lead to heavy reliance on the environment and can be threats to biodiversity conservation. But these areas, and the people living in and around them, are the foundations of our business and so our Impact Strategy is designed and implemented in an effort to provide promising opportunities and address key threats to biodiversity.” Binns said the Impact Strategy’s focus was on empowerment, education and protection. He explained that the business creates value for wilderness and wildlife, while also providing employment, small business support and integration to reduce reliance on natural resources.
This, he said, allows OWS to create a positive footprint for people in its ecosystem in a sustainable manner. “We support Botswana businesses across the value chain not only of tourism and hospitality, but in the associated needs therein. “We are proud to not only carry the Botswana Pride Mark as a symbol for support of local trade and industry, but to be able to engage with likeminded and ambitious organisations from CEDA to the Local Enterprise Authority and many in between,” he said. For 20 years, OWS has been running the Children in the Wilderness initiative, which aims to ensure conservation through education, particularly on environmental matters as well as leadership development, for rural children. The programme has reached large numbers of children, with a total of 2,100 attending annual camps and nearly 2, 700 participating in eco-clubs.
“Wilderness has a mission to make a positive impact on the world and we work tirelessly to achieve it,” Binns said.
“We believe in creating a better future for all and we invest daily to make it happen.” OWS’ engagement was attended by Trade and Industry minister, Mmusi Kgafela, diplomats and other key stakeholders. The event was part of a series of engagements with stakeholders, which began with a gathering of local CEOs. At the recent event, OWS officials stressed the need to sell the country abroad and noted that the group intends to go beyond Africa and is exploring opportunities in Asia.