ABOUT US
The Trust’s founder takes full responsibility for overseeing the process from the initial identification of projects to the eventual disbursement of funds.
Our Goals and Objectives
The overriding goal of the Conservation Action Trust is to save and protect specifically identified species of fauna and flora from threats of destruction or extinction by promoting widespread and impartial investigation and reporting on important conservation and environmental issues. We hope to foster broader awareness and bring about greater public support of vital conservation and environmental issues.
We accomplish this by:
- Assisting independent journalists to write pertinent, objective stories that might otherwise not have been written
- Obtaining credibility for these stories by having them widely published in appropriate media
- Ensuring a wider dissemination of the stories through syndication, along with electronic and social media
- Commissioning of conservation and environmental reports, investigations and information and dissemination thereof
- Creating a database of conservation and environmental related information for free access by the general public
- Promoting empathy and compassion for wild and domestic animals
- Directing support for specifically identified environmental or conservation projects.
Our Trustees
Francis Garrard
Francis Garrard has been involved with a number of conservation and animal welfare organizations for many years, predominantly in a donor capacity, but he has always invested considerable time and energy in making sure that his funds have been directed towards specific projects undertaken by those organizations and has ensured that all funds were effectively allocated and properly accounted for.
Conservation and animal welfare projects during the course of the last 25 years include The Vulture Study Group, Crane Working Group and Wild Dog Action Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT); Animals in Distress; the SPCA; the Highveld Horse Care Unit, the Vervet Monkey Working Group, and SA Mass Sterilization.
Colin Bell
Colin Bell is a tourism professional with 35 years of experience and co-author of “Africa’s Finest” a new book out on the good, the bad and the ugly of the tourism industry (www.africasfinest.co.za). His operations have successfully re-introduced rhino into the wilds of Botswana and pioneered sustainable partnerships with rural communities in Namibia that ensure that rhino thrive outside of protected areas.
Ian Michler
Ian Michler has spent the last 24 years working as a specialist guide, safari operator, photo-journalist and consultant across Africa, including a stint of 13 years based in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. His writing covers topics on conservation, wildlife management, ecotourism, and the environment in general, and he has been a regular contributor, columnist and blogger for Africa Geographic over the past two decades. Ian is a member of the International League of Conservation Writers and is the author and photographer of seven natural history and travel books on Africa. Prior to his life in the wilderness, he spent eight years practicing as a stockbroker in Cape Town and Johannesburg. He currently lives along the Garden Route where he runs Invent Africa, an inbound safari company that takes guests to 15 countries across Africa.
Charan Saunders
Charan Saunders grew up in Cape Town and studied a BSC in genetics and microbiology. She then went on to become a chartered accountant. She has worked in London as a finance manager in the forensic science field. Upon return to Cape Town she served as the CFO of a major vaccine manufacturer for 6 years. She has a strong interest in science, the environment and the long-term sustainability of natural resources.