Saruni Basecamp Foundation For responsible tourism and ecosystem protection

While Kenya’s wildlife and rich biodiversity are the backbone of the country’s tourism industry, they are under threat due to human activity, which is often shaped by poverty as well as climate change. Saruni Basecamp Foundation is a non-profit organization working with local communities in Kenya to safeguard nature through ecosystem restoration and biodiversity protection across four landscapes: Maasai Mara, Samburu, Northern Kenya Coast and Amboseli. Saruni Basecamp Foundation works to ensure that wildlife habitats are secured in collaboration with key partners and communities living in marginal areas.

Basecamp Explorer, Maasai in the field
Saruni Basecamp foundation PPl Natr logo

Our commitment 

We invest in Saruni Basecamp Foundation as part of LGT Venture Philanthropy ’s environment strategy to scale up the protection and regeneration of threatened and destroyed ecosystems. We provide comprehensive support across three areas:

Business expertise

  • Close, ongoing collaboration with the founder on strategy, growth, partnerships and change management

Partnership

  • Help in finding additional funders  
  • Set-up of education facility in the Maasai Mara with funders  
  • Expansion of impact into new ecosystems e.g. Northern Kenya 

Capabilities  

  • Set-up of first-ever mixed-use conservancy model to serve as a pilot demonstrating the peaceful coexistence of humans and wildlife within conservancies  
  • Funding for core infrastructure  
  • LGT Impact Fellows  


LGT Venture Philanthropy has become one of the key players in preserving and scaling the protection of the Maasai Mara Serengeti wildlife ecosystem, home to 40 percent of Africa’s larger mammals.

Svein Wilhelmsen Founder of Saruni Basecamp Foundation
Svein Wilhelmsen

For more information

Learn more about how Saruni Basecamp Foundation works in the field