Latest
Impact Stories
When you visit Londolozi you are contributing to developing the socio-economic wellbeing of a whole human ecosystem. Here are your Impact Stories...
- July 22, 2026
Mandela Day has become one of our favourite days in the Londolozi calendar. Each year it offers us something far greater than an opportunity to complete a project or contribute 67 minutes of service. It invites us to pause together as a village. To reconnect with the values that have shaped this place, and to […]
1
July 22, 2026 - July 8, 2026
There is a story Jean Giono wrote in 1953, about a shepherd named Elzéard Bouffier who lived alone in a barren stretch of Provence. Each evening Bouffier sorted acorns by lamplight, keeping only the perfect ones, discarding the cracked and the small. Each day he walked the dead hills and planted them, a hundred at […]
2
July 8, 2026 - April 27, 2026
Twenty-seven April 1994. For South Africa, it was the day the door swung open. Freedom Day marks the first democratic elections in this country’s history, a turning point that still echoes through every generation that followed. It is a day not just for remembering what was won, but for asking: what have we built with […]
3
April 27, 2026 - November 1, 2025
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” – Henry Ford Earlier this year, I shared an update on the incredible momentum building across the various Ripple Fund projects – from flourishing farms to expanding educational programs. The response from our Londolozi family was heartwarming, and I am absolutely […]
4
November 1, 2025 - September 24, 2025
A Story of Sacred Trees, Shared Wisdom, and Sustainable Futures For as long as Londolozi has existed, the marula tree has stood as a quiet sentinel – its wide, welcoming canopy a witness to laughter, tears, decisions, and dreams. It is said that at Londolozi, all problems are solved beneath a marula tree. Here, in […]
5
September 24, 2025 - August 21, 2025
Where the airwaves meet education and young leaders rise to change their communities In the heart of rural Mpumalanga, something extraordinary is happening. Young voices are breaking through the static, not just on radio waves, but in classrooms, communities, and leadership roles across the region. This is the work of the Good Work Foundation (GWF) […]
6
August 21, 2025 - June 27, 2025
An extraordinary institution is transforming conservation with passion and purpose! Tracker Academy is breathing life into the ancient art of wildlife tracking while creating life-changing opportunities for rural communities and standing strong against poaching threats across southern Africa. Preserving Indigenous Knowledge, Creating Modern Careers Since its inception in 2010, the Tracker Academy has trained an incredible […]
7
June 27, 2025 - April 27, 2025
Community, conservation, and connection – how the Londolozi Ripple Fund is transforming lives beyond the reserve boundaries. Growing Impact What happens when passionate conservationists extend their care beyond wildlife? Magic! The first quarter of 2025 has been nothing short of extraordinary for our community projects. From flourishing farms to educational breakthroughs, your support has helped […]
8
April 27, 2025 - April 4, 2025
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has – Margaret Mead As a family business, we’ve long understood that conservation extends far beyond the boundaries of our reserve. True sustainability takes root when the communities surrounding wild spaces thrive alongside […]
9
April 4, 2025 - January 17, 2025
For millennia, tracking has been woven into the fabric of African life. What began as a crucial survival skill – enabling communities to find food and navigate vast landscapes – has evolved into a sophisticated craft that now stands at the intersection of eco-tourism, conservation, and wildlife protection. At Londolozi, this ancient practice isn’t just […]
10
January 17, 2025
Fighting Global Warming, How Elephants Play Their Part
June 1, 2022
People travel across the world to spend at least six to eight hours per day in the vehicle finding all kinds of species in the animal kingdom. We spend as much time as we can tracking them, admiring them and learning about their various behaviours and characteristics. However, these animals go beyond just beautiful things to look at. And I think it's important to start valuing these creatures as important engineers to our environment.
One thing we don’t realise is just how important each animal species is in the balance of their environment, with some even having a role extending far beyond their own ecosystem. In the current context of climate change, I think it’s important to dive into the differences that certain animals make and how they contribute to a cleaner and greener earth.
Take elephants, for example. Elephants across the continent fight climate change by contributing in unexpected ways to natural carbon capture.
Global warming and carbon capture
The world is currently facing the substantial issue of global warming - a phenomenon caused by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. CO2 is a natural gas that allows sunlight to reach the earth but also prevents some of the sun’s heat from escaping back into space. Humans are causing more CO2 to be released into the atmosphere and as a result, the atmosphere traps heat and makes the planet hotter.
To balance out CO2 in the atmosphere, the planet has natural sinks that can capture carbon and remove it from the air.
Carbon sink:
Anything, natural or otherwise, that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period, thereby removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Globally, the two most important carbon sinks are vegetation and the ocean.
The natural landscape can sequester carbon by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and transforming it into biomass through photosynthesis. In addition to this, all living things are made of carbon and thus also serve as carbon sinks throughout their lifespans.
Carbon Capture:
The process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it is released into the atmosphere.
Elephants as Environmental Engineers: How they Capture Carbon
As elephants make their way through the landscape in search of food, they thin out young trees that are competing for space, water, and light — by consuming some and stepping on others. Elephants must eat about 5% of their body mass every day to sustain themselves, and so naturally they have large appetites. This means that they dramatically reduce the density of vegetation wherever they go. The trees that are left behind uneaten and unbroken, however, have a massive advantage over other trees in the bush. They have much better access to light and water thanks to the elephants thinning out surrounding vegetation, meaning that they grow taller and larger than other trees. Therefore, wherever elephants wander, they stimulate the growth of larger trees.
These trees — which biologists call late-succession trees — store more carbon in their biomass (roots, trunks, branches, and leaves) than the trees that would have grown in their place. All trees capture carbon in their tissue — the equivalent of about 25kg a year. But because of the greater height and overall size of late-succession trees, there is more tree biomass capturing more carbon in these trees than in those that would have grown in their place without the presence of elephants.
So elephants actually increase the amount of carbon stored in the Lowveld by tilting the biological balance in favour of certain tree species. By doing this, elephants can be granted the commendable title of Environmental Engineers.
The valuable work of elephants
A July 2019 study by ecologist Fabio Berzaghi predicts that if forest elephants disappeared, African forests would lose 7% of their biomass — a mind-blowing 3 billion-ton loss of carbon. Although this statistic is based on research on forest elephants in central Africa, the increase in carbon storage caused by savannah elephant activity is also huge — as well as valuable. In the current context of climate change, we need to start valuing these creatures as more than simply pretty animals and start seeing them as valuable assets in restoring balance in our ecosystems.
Join our global tribe:
As a Londolozi Ripple Fund supporter you join a global tribe of people who hold the belief that the restoration of the planet can only come out of a profound shift in human consciousness.
We have established a Londolozi Ripple Fund Impact site where you can follow regular updates of projects and donations as they unfold.
For more information or if you would like to make a donation and start your own ripple effect, please reach out to us on ripple@londolozi.co.za
landscape
desktop