Volunteer Project
When the owner bought the farm in 2002 animal conservation was his strong desire. The rock painting on 3 sites within the property, existence of caves, two rivers flowing all year round through the park, natural existence of wild animals-Kudus, bush-pigs, common duikers, baboons and citing of leopards coupled by the 2,5km Makumbiri dam made him certain about animal conservation within this natural animal world. The passion intensified in 2019 and was intercepted by Covid. More animals (impalas, zebras, elands and giraffes) were introduced into the park and today is one of the finest private game park in Africa to join hands with for animal conservation, photographic and community work.
Why Makumbiri?
Makumbiri private Game Park is surrounded by 5 different communities (Nhangura, Musorodonhi, Three Sisters, Mvuranhema and Makumbiri) in which it supports mainly with a “free pre-school” and employment. Poverty alleviation and community support is what we believe in as a responsible organisation. We have gone the extra mile, it is now so important to joins hands with you to achieve greater goals- conserving wildlife, community support and poverty alleviation. If our goals are meeting your wishes, then let’s join hands and journey together in this great move.
More so, we are in line not only with Zimbabwe 2030 vision, “To become an upper middle class economy by 2030” but also with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, “A set of 17 goals that were adopted by the United Nations in 2015, designed to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Responsible travelling is the way forward- travelling to connect with the local people and supporting them, travelling to support conservation efforts and travelling to leave a place better than you found it.
Our team has different backgrounds from conservation, project development, tourism, finance and most importantly loves the people. The management and its stuff are by far the greatest asset we have and wildlife trail behind that. Opening the door to individuals and group support globally, we are very sure than ever that we will sustain the wildlife and the communities to achieve the 2030 visions and our staff are ready to receive you with open hands.
The natural resources of the private game park is unmatched- The caves, the rock paintings, wildlife, mountains, rivers lines, the people, the mountains and flat plains, our surrounding communities- is absolutely stunning. Contributing in transforming communities and their well-being balancing with wildlife conservation it’s a lifetime experience and it awakens us to view life with a better lance which is untold.
About
The volunteer programme of Makumbiri Game Park combines Wildlife conservation, photographic and communities into one.
- Conservation– Let us not make any of our wildlife species history:- instead let’s give them care, improve their habitat and protect them from diseases and other threats. Conservation is the ultimate goal in life for the young generation to enjoy the same resources.
- Photographic– Let your lens build the memories. Photographic helps you to build skills, to create memories and most importantly to help in data collection for INaturalist which Makumbiri game park is affiliated to. INaturalist is one of the world’s largest communities dedicated to explore biodiversity and Makumbiri Game Park is part of this. INaturalist is for nature lovers to share knowledge and generate irreplaceable biodiversity data. As the community grows in technology, the support to biodiversity become more vital than ever.
- Communities – Contributing directly to the communities in need, knowing the local culture, make the locals to realise their potentials is truly a worthwhile journey to take.
Distribution Of The Benefits
The benefits of responsible travelling of volunteers are distributed equitably amongst all stakeholders (The government, the wildlife, the community and the volunteer) hence the positive impact is next to none.
- The Government-Your presence also helps to increase the GDP of the nations as more people will be employed resulting in improved communities.
- The wildlife- Wildlife is key for tourism to the future generations and to our nations. All the wildlife activities you are going to partake in help in their wellbeing and improves our wildlife management.
- The community- Makumbiri is already engaged with local communities by providing employment, free pre-school and more can be achieved with the help of volunteers.
- The volunteer- Waking up with wildlife surrounding you, the experience is awesome. Volunteerism is by far the best experience to see Africa at its best and at its worst and in embarking on to that journey is truly an experience of lifetime.