We are proud to announce the start of the Tracks of Giants expedition TODAY! This 5 month journey will begin in the west coast of Namibia, and travel east to South Africa. Make sure you follow along this important journey which will promote a greater awareness of conservation, human community and leadership issues specifically relevant to southern Africa.
Expedition leaders Ian McCallum and Ian Michler will lead a small multi-generational, multi-racial, and gender diverse team, including two wilderness rangers from the Wilderness Leadership School (South Africa): Lihle Mbokazi and Mandla Mbekezeli Buthelezi. The team will be traveling by foot, bike and kayak on a route that follows ancient elephant clusters and migration routes through six countries including Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
Ancient migration routes of elephants were chosen as the general route indicators as elephants are a keystone species and play a vital ecological, social and economic role in many Southern African countries as they anchor conservation initiatives and attract tourists to protected areas. They also address the question “If we can’t effectively co-exist with and protect something this important, how can we effectively protect and promote the sustainability of other wild life and wild places?”
The initial team includes Ian McCallum, Ian Michler, Vance Martin (WILD Foundation president), Mandla Mbekezeli Buthelezi and 6 local Namibians.
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Support the team as they journey through South Africa to research the
impacts of climate change, study habitat fragmentation and record
indigenous knowledge of wildlife.
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    Ian McCallum is a medical doctor, psychiatrist, writer and a specialist wilderness guide. A co-founder of the Wilderness Leadership School in the Cape of Good Hope in 1983, he has subsequently written two anthologies of wilderness poems, a novel, and more recently, the award winning Ecological Intelligence – Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature (2005).Ian Michler is a top specialist wilderness guide, photojournalist and naturalist, and has lived and worked across Africa for the last 22 years. His feature articles, diaries and blogs documenting the major conservation challenges facing Africa are well known to readers of the award winning magazines, Africa Geographic and Africa Birds and Birding.Lihle Mbokazi is the Experiential Education Manager at the Wilderness Foundation, South Africa and holds many years of wilderness experience. Lihle will be joining the Tracks of Giants team on the Botswana leg of the expedition.
Mandlenkosi Mbekezeli Buthelezi, known as Mandla to his friends and co-workers, is a 40 year old Zulu family man of the royal Zulu bloodline. Mandla is the head Wilderness Guide at the Wilderness Leadership School where he has practiced his bushcraft and passion for wilderness for the past 13 years. |
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| Tracks of Giants is a project of: |
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Nature Needs Half is our answer, and all our programs demonstrate or illustrate the critical need for large, interconnected areas of wild nature that support all life on earth.
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Rock Environmental 