andBeyond's Africa Foundation Rebrands as Wild Impact

For 32 years, Africa Foundation has been the non-profit community and conservation development partner of andBeyond. Africa Foundation’s existing areas of operation mirror andBeyond’s footprint of lodges across Africa.  

December 2024 marks the formal relaunch of Africa Foundation as Wild Impact. This shift will allow the two entities to grow their long-term partnership and collectively pursue their fully aligned Scaling Impact 2030 strategy as Wild Impact expands to Asia and South America alongside andBeyond.

“As andBeyond has grown and expanded in terms of the geographical areas where we operate, so Wild Impact has followed us into those remote and protected landscapes,” says Joss Kent, andBeyond Executive Chairman & CEO. “This latest development, which sees Wild Impact expanding outside of Africa, means that our two brands are more than ever completely aligned in terms of our vision and impact strategy. We are thrilled to witness the growth of Wild Impact to benefit partner communities in Asia and South America.”

 Founded in 1992, Wild Impact’s vision has always been to uplift, up-skill and empower partner communities living close to core conservation areas. In Africa, they are active in 78 communities across six countries, in thirteen conservation landscapes and seascapes. The non-profit organization believes that supporting the sustainable development of these communities will underwrite the conservation of these wild areas. Wild Impact invests in long-term relationships with communities and facilitates the delivery of projects identified by those communities. They work in collaboration with community members, government and other stakeholders to ensure that the appropriate structures are in place to guarantee the long-term sustainability of those projects. While the Wild Impact name is changing, the organization's methodology will continue to anchor their work and inform all their impact activities.

 “Our partnership with andBeyond is defined by the wild areas that we work in,” says Dr. Andrew Venter, Wild Impact CEO. “Our rationale — our reason for existence, our partnership, our vision — is about underwriting the long-term conservation of the Earth's wild places, through best business and not-for-profit practices. Our new name underlines our purpose to work collaboratively with our partner communities and key stakeholders to conserve these irreplaceable wild places across our global footprint.”

 The roots of the partnership between andBeyond and Wild Impact run deep, with both entities founded in the early 1990s at andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. From the beginning, they have shared a common vision that a successful luxury ecotourism company could draw wealth and investment into remote areas and use that wealth and investment to catalyze the conservation of those landscapes and seascapes, as well as the sustainable development of the communities that are the custodians of these areas.

 “Our long-term deep impact and partnership approach with both communities and conservation stakeholders are what differentiates us,” explains Venter. “We are anchored in these areas by our long-term commitment, alongside andBeyond, to sustainable impact that will leave a lasting legacy”.

 The Wild Impact methodology encompasses a philosophy of ‘listen, learn and co-create', recognizing that it is their privilege to work with partner communities and conservation stakeholders. Their vision for each landscape is based on its conservation and community potential. This potential has been organized into a framework called the Theory of Change. This framework is a circular, long-term model based on the premise that resilient communities are needed to conserve the earth’s wild places and that conserving wild places ensures resilience for humankind. Wild Impact’s Theory of Change builds on a hierarchy linked to four focal areas:

• Conserving Ecosystems, with the emphasis on formal and community-based conservation initiatives
• Future Foundations, with emphasis on improved access to quality primary health care, as well as early, primary and secondary education
• Tomorrow's Leaders, with emphasis on tertiary education and environmental awareness
• Thriving Communities, with emphasis on unlocking the potential of the youth in their partner communities, climate change resilience and enterprise development

  “The ultimate outcome of our collective journey with andBeyond will be a future that finds the wild spaces in which andBeyond operates resilient, vibrant and healthy, and their custodian communities actively advocating for their conservation and protection for generations to come,” concludes Venter.