Wilderness Foundation Africa

Wilderness Foundation Africa The Wilderness Leadership School began in 1957 under Dr Ian Player, champion for conservation in South Africa.

We are an African conservation NGO dedicated to protecting and sustaining species and spaces, as well as empowering youth with skills development and experiential environmental education. With the endangering of certain species, the Foundation was born in 1972 and registered as a trust in 1989.

03/10/2026

Today we are appreciating the beauty of this unique landscape.

The Northern Cape is one of the most ecologically significant regions in southern Africa and one of the most visually extraordinary places on the continent.

Augrabies is one of southern Africa's most important conservation landscapes. Here are just a few of our favourite reaso...
02/10/2026

Augrabies is one of southern Africa's most important conservation landscapes. Here are just a few of our favourite reasons why.

There are landscapes that make you feel small in the best possible way.The Northern Cape is one of them.This is one of t...
30/09/2026

There are landscapes that make you feel small in the best possible way.
The Northern Cape is one of them.

This is one of the most ecologically significant regions in southern Africa, making it all the more important to protect its biodiversity and make sure the species and spaces that make this landscape so unique are still standing for the people who come after us.

The relationship between people and nature is central to South Africa's heritage - underpinning many of our traditions, ...
26/09/2026

The relationship between people and nature is central to South Africa's heritage - underpinning many of our traditions, shaping our identity and building communities.

Our wildlife is a thread that connects us directly to the people who were here before us, and to the rest of the natural world.

Heritage month is a good time to remember that, and a motivation to make sure that inheritance is still here for the people who come after us. 🌿🇿🇦

South Africa's heritage is in its cultures, its languages, and its history - it's also in its landscapes.The coastlines,...
24/09/2026

South Africa's heritage is in its cultures, its languages, and its history - it's also in its landscapes.

The coastlines, mountains and wild spaces that predate all of us. The places that have sustained life for millions of years. The habitats that belong, in the truest sense, to every South African.

Heritage Day is a reminder that we are inheritors of something remarkable. And that inheritance comes with a responsibility. 🌿🇿🇦

Happy Heritage Day from Wilderness Foundation Africa.

A future with Rhinos is a future worth protecting. 🦏🌍This World Rhino Day, we celebrate these extraordinary animals and ...
22/09/2026

A future with Rhinos is a future worth protecting. 🦏🌍

This World Rhino Day, we celebrate these extraordinary animals and the people working tirelessly to keep them safe.

At Wilderness Foundation, we believe every generation should have the chance to know Rhinos as part of our living, wild world.

Let today be a reminder that we all have a part to play. Raise awareness, support conservation and keep the conversation going, today and every day. 💚

21/09/2026

Highlighting one of our country’s heroes in conservation. 

Professor Lorien Pichegru is an Adjunct Professor in Marine Biology at the Nelson Mandela University who has dedicated her professional career to researching and protecting seabirds in South Africa, such as the critically endangered African Penguin. 

The footage above was captured on Bird Island in Algoa Bay, one of the African Penguin’s critical habitats. She often stays on the island for days at a time to monitor the population who has faced severe decline in recent years. 

Despite shrinking numbers, the continuous work of people like Lorien bring renewed hope in the fight to protect species like the African Penguin for generations to come.

The African penguin has lost 97% of its population since 1900. In Algoa Bay, the St Croix Island colony alone has declin...
19/09/2026

The African penguin has lost 97% of its population since 1900. In Algoa Bay, the St Croix Island colony alone has declined 90% in just ten years. The species is listed as Critically Endangered since 2024.

Swipe through what's happening and why Algoa Bay conservation is so imperative.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were an estimated 4 million African penguins in the wild.Today, fewer than 20,000...
17/09/2026

At the turn of the 20th century, there were an estimated 4 million African penguins in the wild.

Today, fewer than 20,000 remain.

Algoa Bay - South Africa's largest bay - is home to two of the most important African penguin breeding colonies in the world: St Croix Island and Bird Island. St Croix's colony has declined 90% since 2016. Bird Island's has halved in the same period.

The species is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. If current trends continue, African penguins could be functionally extinct in the wild by 2035.

This is not a distant problem. It's happening here, in our bay, right now.

13/09/2026

Partnerships turn visions into real outcomes - for nature, for communities, and for the next generation of conservation leaders.

Address

94 Main Road, Walmer
Port Elizabeth
6070

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+27413730293

Website

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