Today we celebrateEarth Day; a global environmental movement whose mission is to build a healthy, sustainable environment, address climate change, and protect the Earth for future generations. From fairly humble beginnings in the USA in 1970, the event has grown to include more than 1 billion participants in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
The purpose of Earth Day echoes Singita’s business philosophy, which is to conserve, preserve, and protect the land of which it is custodian through environmentally conscious hospitality, sustainable conservation and the empowerment of local communities. TheSingita Grumeti Fund, based on our 350,000-acre concession in Tanzania, is one such example of this vision in action.
The Serengeti plains teem with wildlife, including vast herds of plains game, the Big Five and the spectacle of the annual wildebeest migration. It is Singita’s task, through the Singita Grumeti Fund, to ensure that this pristine environment under its care is closely protected and that the Serengeti’s natural cycles continue as they have for millennia. To do this, we partner with local communities to build capacity and thereby help them to realise their development aspirations. We believe that by doing this we can help to create a world in which people and wildlife live together, sustainably, forever.
The Fund employs 180 dedicated staff who work to not only rejuvenate and preserve the landscape, but also partner with government, local communities and other stakeholders on various conservation projects, ranging from the re-introduction of locally extinct animal species, to managing wild fires and reducing the impact of alien plant species. Anti-poaching, community outreach, local education and environmental research projects are also underway, and helping to contribute to the protection of the Serengeti ecosystem, its natural landscape and its wildlife. This short film explains more about the success of the Fund over the past decade:
Find out about more about Earth Day and how you can get involved atearthday.org, and visitSingita’s Conservation pagefor more details on our work in some of Africa’s most precious wilderness areas.