12-women team to travel 9 000km for wildlife awareness

TWELVE women from around the world are gearing up for a 50-day conservation adventure from South Africa into southern Africa next month.

The Journeys with Purpose: Rise of the Matriarch expedition will see the all-women crew travel 9 000km across four countries to raise awareness about the contentious human-wildlife conflict.

Headed by Carla Geyser, a KwaZulu-Natal-based eco-warrior and humanitarian, the team will fan out across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in an epic 4x4 adventure that will see them meeting women conservation heroes involved in extraordinary projects to help conserve Africa’s nature and wildlife.

Crew members will distribute 30 000 educational booklets, connect with anti-poaching groups, visit conservation groups and schools, and meet with incredible women.

Funds raised during the expedition will benefit four causes: Elephants Alive (SA), Rare and Endangered Species Trust (Namibia), Eco-Exist Project (Botswana) and the Soft Foot Alliance Trust (Zimbabwe).

For Durban-born Bronwyn Laing, this will be her second conservation mission with Geyser.

Laing, who now lives in Tanzania, was part of South Africa’s first all-women expedition to Kenya in 2016 that was also headed by Geyser.

“Having done this before, I know what an incredible experience it is.

“Carla puts a lot of time and effort into getting to know the organisations that we support. This allows us to have a unique behind the scenes look at the exceptional work that is being done to conserve our animals and wilderness,” Laing said.

She will join the team for the final two weeks of the trip.

Cape Town documentary-maker Sam Suter, from Black Bean Productions, and Alize Jireh, a camera person, from the US round, will also join the crew.

Geyser said: “Our conservationists and brave anti-poaching units put their lives on the line and grapple this issue on a daily basis as they seek to educate the youth about conservation and in the process empower communities with skills needed to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

“We can’t simply sit back and do nothing. We owe it to future generations to do as much as we possibly can to protect our precious planet. If we each do a little, we can accomplish a great deal.

“Every little bit counts,” she said.

For more information on the upcoming expedition, visit www.blueskysociety.org/