Environment & Natural Resources News South Africa

Environmentalists aim to stimulate responsible tourism in East Africa, summiting seven peaks

From 4 November to 20 December 2017, nine environmentalists, journalists and mountaineers will attempt summiting seven mountains in Africa, back-to-back, in seven weeks. The team will cross five East African countries - Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, visiting Unesco World Heritage sites and key national parks in between climbs.
By Muhammad Mahdi Karim,
By Muhammad Mahdi Karim, Wikimedia Commons

Their mission for every summit is to raise awareness of crucial causes that affect the mountains and their surrounding natural environment, people and animals – from endangered mountain gorillas to melting glaciers.

Their overall goal is more challenging: to stimulate tourism to East Africa, because without sustainable tourism, there’s no chance of preserving the nature and wildlife of the regions.

Conservation needs money

“The hard truth is that conservation requires money – lots of it – and the best way to get this much-needed revenue for conservation is through responsible tourism,” explains Carel Verhoef, one of the expedition leaders and a director of title sponsor Great Migration Camps.

As a life-long wildlife specialist who has spent the last 13 years tracking and researching the two million wildebeest that form East Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle, the Great Migration, Verhoef is at the coalface of conservation in the region. He will be leading the #7SummitsAfrica Challenge team along with top African mountaineer Sibusiso Vilane, who belongs to the exclusive 7 Summits club (the mountaineers who have summited the highest peaks on each of the seven continents), and Ake Lindstrom, East Africa’s most experienced mountaineer.

For more info, go to www.7summitsafrica.com.

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