All-female conservation expedition
Mission to educate, empower communities in southern Africa
‘The women on this expedition represent different countries and backgrounds’
AN ALL-WOMAN South African-led conservation mission into southern Africa kicked off at the weekend, bringing together 13 women from around the world to educate and empower communities about human-wildlife conflict.
Led by Carla Geyser, a Durban adventurer, humanitarian and eco-warrior, the “Journeys with Purpose: Rise of the Matriarch” expedition will see the crew travelling 9 000km across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia
The women will also raise funds for conservation and meet phenomenal women who either lead or are involved in extraordinary conservation projects at grassroots levels.
Geyser and team members on Sunday headed out in 4x4s from the Getaway Show in Johannesburg amid much excitement and many wellwishes.
For the next 50 days, they will journey to raise funds for four causes: Elephants Alive (South Africa), Rare and Endangered Species Trust (Namibia), Eco-Exist Project (Botswana) and the Soft Foot Alliance Trust (Zimbabwe).
“It is clear that the essence of enabling real change in the world lies in the ability of groups of women to motivate and mobilise as many other individuals as possible, to align their goals, and to attract the attention of a global market,” Geyser said.
“The women on this expedition represent different countries and backgrounds but we are united by a passion for wildlife conservation. Together we will educate women and girls from disadvantaged communities in the region and hopefully give them a reason to join the growing number of women from around the world who are leading the fight for conservation in Africa,” she added.
This is Geyser’s second all-woman conservation mission. In 2016, she led South Africa’s first all-female team to Kenya, raising nearly R300 000 for various environment protection projects.
Geyser’s team members range in age from 19 to 71 and will join her on different legs of the trip.
The team includes four Americans including wildlife biologist and conservation scientist Jennifer Palmer and nurse and travel blogger Emily Scott; nine South Africans including Lungile Dimba, an education administrator at wildlife body Wessa in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Cape Town documentary maker Sam Suter, Pietermaritzburg photographer and eco-warrior Stephanie de Wit; and Peter Eastwood who heads up The Tanglewood Foundation, a New Zealand environment advocacy and conservation group that has funded two expedition members, said he fully supports Geyser’s vision of aligning values of education and awareness of the serious conservation issues facing the planet.
“We hope to make Carla’s expedition even more successful and effective. These booklets leave a lasting legacy of her expedition wherever she goes and are likely to each be read by many people,” Eastwood said.
The journeys ends on October 28. You can follow the crew’s journey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, @ Blueskysociety