African Bush Camps Releases 2025 Impact Report, Advancing
Community-Led Conservation Across Southern Africa
Cape Town, South Africa (May 1, 2026): African Bush Camps (ABC), operates luxury safari lodges across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and was created with a unique purpose to share Africa’s extraordinary beauty while actively protecting its wildlife and uplifting the local communities who call it home. For nearly two decades, the safari and lodge operator has measured success by what truly matters: flourishing landscapes, empowered communities, and meaningful journeys that resonate long after the safari ends, leaving a legacy of meaningful impact. African Bush Camps Foundation has released its 2025 Impact Report highlighting over $1,000,000 invested in conservation and community initiatives across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.The Theory of Change is the African Bush Camps Foundation’s roadmap for impact, and is a set of interconnected focus areas guiding their actions, programs, and partnerships to ensure they consistently work toward their intended outcomes. When communities are healthier, better-educated, economically advanced, and meaningfully included in conservation, they become long-term custodians of the ecosystems they live within. Conservation and community wellbeing are not parallel tracks; they are interdependent outcomes.
Ian Mills, the Chief Conservation Officer at the ABCF, shares his vision for 2030 and beyond:
"By 2030, we envision people and nature thriving together across Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Large, connected landscapes will allow biodiversity to flourish, communities will benefit from conservation, and households will be healthier, more resilient, and economically comfortable. In 2026, we also mark 20 years of shared impact with African Bush Camps. These are two decades of learning, deepening partnerships, and refining our approach.. Through every evolution, one thing has remained constant: our purpose of Sharing and Conserving Africa, Together.”
ABCF partners with communities, listening to their needs and working together to connect conservation with community development.These collaborations conserve habitats, reduce human–wildlife conflict, and enhance education, livelihoods, and healthcare in communities around African Bush Camps Experiences. Every initiative is developed with community members, local leaders, governments, and partners, ensuring results that are measurable, locally relevant, and sustainable. In 2025, they strengthened local capacity through education infrastructure, science laboratories, and scholarship support; expanded livelihood initiatives that reduce dependency on unsustainable resource use; and continued scaling human–wildlife conflict mitigation through mobile bomas and community guardians. Across their conservation landscapes, they worked alongside partners to protect biodiversity corridors and ensure that tourism remains a force for shared prosperity.
2025 Impact Report Highlights
Education: In 2025, ABC reinforced their commitment to education by investing in stronger school environments across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. They accomplished this by enhancing infrastructure, resourcing classrooms, elevating educators, and enriching student development. The Junior Ranger Program in Botswana is assisting nearly 50 young learners to connect with the land they call home, has successfully increased the attendance rate to 89% and has seen a 78% decrease in children dropping out of school.
Community: In 2025, they reinforced their commitment to community upliftment by supporting locally led initiatives across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These projects boost food security, create sustainable livelihoods, improve access to essential healthcare, and help build resilient, self-reliant communities that thrive alongside wildlife. In partnership with SAVE Wildlife Conservation Botswana, ABCF established the Ditshiping Community Garden to improve food security in one of the Okavango Delta’s most remote villages. Over the past three years, support from ABCF has strengthened the Maunga Health Centers’ ability to provide reliable, dignified care in Zambia. This has led to healthier children, safer deliveries, and a community that is confident in its local healthcare services. Nine services are offered at the clinic, they have assisted 1,134 patients and have delivered 29 babies with a 0% mortality rate.
Conservation: In partnership with Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ), ABC supports communities along the Zambezi River by creating safe, accessible washing points. These enclosed wash points help people meet daily needs while reducing the risk of wildlife encounters and mitigating human-wildlife conflict. In October 2025, ABCF supported a joint anti-snaring operation in the Khwai and Mababe area. The initiative brought together government authorities, conservation organizations, private operators, and local stakeholders to remove snares and protect wildlife in critical habitats.
The ABCF is proud to support the Ele-Collection, restoring elephant habitats by turning plastic waste into building materials. Support for this initiative was further strengthened through the 2025 World Elephant Day campaign where $300 from every booking between August and December 2025 contributed to scaling this work on the ground. Across many African landscapes, plastic pollution has become one of the most visible threats to wildlife habitats. Discarded plastic accumulates along roads, villages, and waterways — impacting ecosystems that elephants and other wildlife depend on for survival. Ele-Collection addresses this challenge by recovering plastic waste from the landscape and transforming it into durable building materials. Through this approach, the initiative helps restore elephant habitats while creating practical resources that support surrounding communities.
When Women Lead, Communities Thrive: Across communities in Zimbabwe and Zambia, many young women aspire to careers in tourism but face barriers to entering the industry. The Women in Tourism Program, launched by ABCF in 2023, provides accredited hospitality training, paid internships, and mentorship — creating pathways for women to build meaningful careers in safari tourism. Today, graduates are working across African Bush Camps Experiences in roles ranging from guest services to lodge operations — supporting their families and inspiring the next generation of women to pursue opportunities in tourism.
Strengthening Human–Wildlife Coexistence in Mola: Communities living near Bumi Hills Safari Lodge in Mola, Zimbabwe, share the landscape with wildlife, including lions. For many households, livestock represents both livelihood and food security, and losses to predators can place significant strain on families. ABCF supported initiatives that help communities protect their livestock while promoting long-term coexistence with wildlife. 42 predator-proof bomas were constructed leading to a 53% reduction in livestock predation by predators
In 2026, ABC continues strengthening governance, monitoring and evaluation, and financial stewardship to ensure that every dollar entrusted to them delivers measurable and durable impact. Through their bed-night levies and catalytic donor partnerships, they have demonstrated that conservation funding, when rooted locally, can crowd in further investment and scale meaningful change. As they celebrate 20 years of existence in 2026, the next 20 years will demand deeper collaboration, stronger partnerships, and courageous long-term thinking. Climate volatility, economic pressure, and biodiversity loss present undeniable challenges. Yet the resilience they see in their communities and landscapes reminds them that integrated, community-led conservation works. Together with community leaders, scouts, teachers, health workers, staff, donors, and partners, they are proving that thriving communities and connected landscapes are not aspirational ideals; they are achievable realities.
“Over twenty years, we have seen what is possible when conservation, wellbeing, and opportunity align. As we step into our next chapter, our commitment is unwavering. We will deepen our impact, strengthen our partnerships, and stand as stewards of Southern Africa for its people, its wildlife, and its landscapes,” shares Founder Beks Ndlovu.
For further details, statistics, and more, read the African Bush Camps 2025 Impact Report here.
About African Bush Camps:
Founded in 2006 by local Zimbabwean guide Beks Ndlovu, African Bush Camps connects travelers to Southern Africa through authentic, expert-led safari experiences. The company operates luxury safari lodges across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, set within UNESCO World Heritage Sites and iconic landscapes including the Okavango Delta, Victoria Falls, and Hwange National Park. Through The Collective, a curated network of partner properties across Southern Africa — including Mozambique and South Africa — guests can explore more of the region in one seamless journey. An independent, owner-operated safari company, African Bush Camps is guided by a mission to share and conserve Africa. This commitment is realized through the African Bush Camps Foundation, which supports conservation, community and sustainability.
About African Bush Camps Foundation:
African Bush Camps Foundation (ABCF) is a non-profit working alongside African Bush Camps to create meaningful, long-term impact across Southern Africa. The Foundation ensures that tourism success is directly reinvested into the communities and landscapes that make it possible, supporting conservation, education, and community empowerment.
