Meet the Team Behind: Wild Tomorrow

Wild Tomorrow is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting threatened and endangered species by safeguarding and restoring their habitats in South Africa. Beyond land conservation, Wild Tomorrow engages in community development by creating green jobs, supporting local education initiatives, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. Learn more here!

Why is your work necessary?

Did you know that one million species face extinction in our lifetimes? The number one reason for that is habitat loss. There is a solution that can change the fate of our planet’s diminishing biodiversity: protecting and enlarging wild spaces in areas rich with biodiversity. We cannot save elephants without saving termites, we cannot save pangolins without saving ants, and we cannot save any of them without saving the ecosystems they call home. The race is on to save what is left, and if we’re going to be successful, we must act now. 

How do we save habitats? 

Everyone and everything benefits from saving wild spaces, and that process occurs in three steps: protecting the habitat, restoring the habitat, and re-wilding the habitat. The first step in saving biodiversity is protecting ecologically important areas from destruction. Most of the time, this means purchasing land from the owner. Once we take ownership of the land, we must eradicate invasive plant species and create the growth of native grasses, bushes, and trees. Reintroducing wild species brings back ecological balance. Everything is then able to thrive in an environment that nature intended. 

What progress have you made? 

We are working to protect, restore, and re-wild a wildlife corridor in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where animals are struggling. We have secured over 4,000 acres of land as a protected area, meaning it can never be mined, farmed, or developed. Saving this land will have incredible benefits to the region’s biodiversity, including for lions, giraffes, elephants, vultures, eagles, and more. Wild Tomorrow provides supplies and equipment to state-run nature reserves to help them keep wildlife safe. We also practice in-field conservation and have various ongoing research projects to better understand how to protect the species in the area. 

What work do you do for the greater community? 

We are very strong believers in working with communities to create employment and educational opportunities. Our Green Mambas program includes 14 women who are single mothers— they are trained to start microbusinesses and learn about green farming. People living in the poor rural communities that surround our protected areas also benefit from conserving wild spaces. Assisting them not only improves their lives, but reduces their impact on natural resources while increasing support of conservation practices.